Victorian Micro Mosaic Dove Pendant Necklace

A Victorian micro-mosaic pendant featuring a dove against a deep red field, surrounded by daisies and forget me nots, flowers traditionally associated with sincerity, virtue and devotion. The mosaic and setting are both most likely of Italian origin, possibly originally a collar button or small brooch.

Perfect as a friendship or love token gift.

Details: Measuring approximately 3/4" in diameter. The mounting is yellow base metal. Hung from an 16" gold filled cable chain.

Condition: In excellent antique condition, with moderate patina and some light oxidization to the metal, with some subtle marks on the back where pin findings may have been. 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.