A gold and enamel Renaissance Revival pendant with the Resurrection of Christ
Silver and 14k gold pendant designed as a ring decorated on both sides with foliate designs in black "taille d'epargne" enamel and set with five rose-cut diamonds in square settings flanked by scrolls. To the centre a bas relief scene of Christ rising from the tomb with Roman soldiers, a devil, and a skeleton. Both sides decorated with "ronde bosse" enamel, the reverse inscribed "CIAS" (presumably for "Christus Jesus Ascendans Sepulchro"). Minor damage to the enamel. Diameter of ring ca. 5 cm. Total H 8.5 cm. Weight 33.67 g.
Second half 19th C.
This pendant belongs to a series of very similar pieces showing an identical scene, which indicates that they all originate from the same workshop. The use of historically inspired taille d'epargne enamel technique combined with the coloured enamel of the central design is reminiscent of the Revival styles of the Vienna based artists Hermann Bohn and Hermann Ratzersdorfer.
Literature
An identical piece published and illus. in: Truman, 19th Century Renaissance Revival Jewellery, in: The Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies, vol. 25,2, Chicago 2000, no. 46. Further examples in the Metropolitan Museum, New York; the Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore and the Wallace Collection, London.