Victorian Micro Mosaic Dove Pendant

A sweet Victorian micro-mosaic pendant, most likely of Italian origin, featuring a dove or love bird in a sky-blue field at the center of a pattée-style cross with accents of spring flowers at the end of each arm. 

A wonderful gift for an anniversary or perhaps the perfect "something blue" wedding accessory for someone seeking romantic antique flair.

Details: Measuring approximately 7/8" in diamtere not including the bail. The mosiac is set in the 900 silver cross form, and hung from a contemporary 17" silver chain with secure lobster clasp.

Condition: In excellent antique condition, with moderate patina and some light oxidization to the metal. The mosaic has no obvious missing pieces.

History: Mosaics, fashioned of small pieces of glass or hardstone called tesserae, have been produced for literally thousands of years, with earliest examples attributed to the Ancient Greeks. Micro-mosaics were developed in the late 18th century by the Italian craftsman Giacomo Raffaelli to cater to the "Grand Tour" crowd; in the 18th and 19th century a tour of archeological and historial sites throughout Europe was considered an essential part of an upper-class person's education, and this rite of passage became known as the "Grand Tour".

As these tiny treasures grew in popularity craftsmen in Rome teamed with jewelers in Florence to produce beautifully designed and sometimes impossibly small-scale mosiac art to set in decorative objects and jewels for the elite to purchase as a remembrance of their trip.