Earrings

Italian women have always loved lavish display. Even for the poorest, a rich show of jewellery was all important. Italian goldsmiths were expert at making a little material go a very long way. Many pieces seem too large to wear comfortably, but they are usually made of very thin gold, and are much lighter than they appear.

All Italian women wore gold earrings. Their shapes varied widely in different places. These earrings come from the Veneto, the area around Venice. Venice had been famous since the Middle Ages for its fine gold and filigree work, and Venetian traditional jewellery often has pendants decorated with enamel and seed pearls. The design of these earrings, with a bunch of grapes hanging from a stylised palmette, may date back to Classical times. Similar earrings are found throughout the old Venetian colonies of the Adriatic and eastern Mediterranean.