News and Views from Scotland
Fettercairn Jewel Brings a Sparkling Price
The Fettercairn Jewel
A 16th Century Scottish jewel has been bought at auction by National Museums Scotland for more than £236,750 flying above the auctioneer's estimate of £30,000 to £50,000 The Fettercairn Jewel is an enamelled gold pendant locket set which was made around 1580.
It was from the private collection of the Forbes family whose ancestral home is Fettercairn House in Aberdeenshire (pictured on the right © Gilbert Scott via Wikimedia Commons).
The piece would have been worn as a pendant on a chain and has a locket with a jacinth stone which was thought in the 16th century to protect the wearer from lightning - and the plague. It has an image of Mercury on the reverse.
As with many such items there had been concern that it would be purchased by an overseas buyer and exported from Scotland. But with donations from the Art Fund, the National Lottery and the National Museums Scotland Charitable Trust it will now be on display in the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh (illustrated on the left).
David Forsyth, principal curator of the Scottish history and archaeology department at National Museums Scotland said: "The Fettercairn Jewel is a rare and outstanding piece of Scottish Renaissance jewellery. "The purchase of this piece will significantly enhance the national collections and present new insights into the magnificence of the Renaissance in Scotland."
Please give me whatever feedback comes to mind via david@rampantscotland.com.
David
8 April 2017Return to News and Views Index
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