Beautiful Antique Necklace Made of Red Mediterranean Coral, c. 1900

“Behold this lovely creation, / which I dedicate to you as a gift; Red branches from the depths of the sea / provided the material for this string of pearls. This, as jewellery for joyful youth, / where the songs of mermaids rang out, was wrested by the diver / from a mighty coral tree!” For centuries, coral jewellery was not only a precious adornment but was also associated with numerous legends. This material from the depths of the Mediterranean Sea has always carried with it a sense of mystery. Thus, the story of coral’s origin told that it arose from the blood of Medusa when Perseus severed her head on the seashore: her blood dripped onto seaweed and transformed it into a red coral tree—just as her gaze had previously turned people to stone. In this necklace, we see red corals arranged in a row. The beads are all of a uniform medium red colour. They are individually knotted in a gently graduated pattern and become thicker toward the center. The necklace is fastened with a clasp made of lightly gold-plated metal and another coral bead. The poem is quoted from Jeanette Bramer, “Accompanying Poems to Objects from the Goldsmith’s Luxurious Workshop,” Deutsche Goldschmiede-Zeitung, 15 (1910), p. 136.

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