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Jewelry

ca. 1500-1700
Spain
Rosary bead or pendant with the annunciation, ca. 1500-1600: agate and gold (top left). eagle pendant, ca. 1600-25: gold, enamel, emerald, and pearls (top right). pendant with the virgin and child in a niche, ca. 1500-1600: gold, enamel, coral, and pearls (top center). collar ensemble (necklace), 16 medallions, oval cartouche with image of st. ferdinand and crucifix, ca. 1500-1700: gold, enamel, pearls, rubies, garnets, emeralds, engraved sapphire, and paint (center). pendant in the form of a centaur, ca. 1575-1600; gold, enamel, white sapphire, rubies, and pearls (lower left). columnar reliquary pendant, ca, 1600-1700; gold, enamel, and rock crystal (lower right)
Rosary bead or pendant with the annunciation, ca. 1500-1600: h. 2.5 cm (top left). eagle pendant, ca. 1600-25: h. 6.6 cm (top right). pendant with the virgin and child in a niche, ca. 1500-1600: h. 5.5 cm (top center). collar ensemble (necklace), 16 medallions, oval cartouche with image of st. ferdinand and crucifix, ca. 1500-1700: l. 38 cm (center). pendant in the form of a centaur, ca. 1575-1600: h. 8.6 cm (lower left). columnar reliquary pendant, ca, 1600-1700: h. 8 cm (lower right)

During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, when Spain dominated most of Europe, Spanish aristocrats set international fashions and goldsmiths eagerly sought their patronage. Further, the arrival of each fleet From America brought the raw materials of jewel manufacture in abundance: silver from Mexico and Bolivia; gold and emeralds from Colombia; and coral and pearls from Central and South America. This supply was enhanced by merchant vessels returning to Portugal from Africa and the Indian Ocean, which brought rubies from Southeast Asia and other precious gems from Brazil and India.

The Hispanic Society possesses an impressive array of Hispanic jewelry From the pre-Roman period to the present, including examples from ancient Iberia, Spain, Portugal, Latin America, and the Philippines. The selection illustrated here indicates the quality of the collection, notably in examples such as the late Renaissance emerald Eagle pendant and the enameled collar. Spanish pendants, such as the one illustrated here with the Eagle and Centaur, were ubiquitous secular adornments throughout Europe. Spain's fervent Roman Catholicism permeated all aspects of Hispanic culture, and it is equally common to see religious motifs in jewelry, such as images of Christ, the Virgin Mary, and saints.