Necklace

Most Italian traditional necklaces are made of beads, in designs which have been worn for centuries. This necklace is made from hollow gold beads, as thin as paper. The beads are decorated with applied filigree decoration, which is always described as Etruscan work in Victorian sources. The same decoration is found on many other kinds of jewellery from northern Italy.

This necklace was bought as part of the Castellani collection of Italian Peasant Jewellery at the International Exhibition, Paris, 1867.