Pendant

Although traditional jewellery was worn throughout Sweden, and has a distinct Swedish character, there are marked differences between the different provinces. Skåne province, in the extreme south of Sweden, has the richest tradition, and more jewellery was worn there than in any other district. Almost all the Swedish traditional jewellery at the V&A comes from Skåne.

When Sweden became Protestant in 1527, Swedish women continued to wear crosses rich with symbolism and religious pendants like their medieval predecessors. These round pendants were also called 'crosses', and had a strong religious character. This one is stamped with the monogram IHS, the first letters of the name Jesus in Greek. The Swedish word trillekors means a wheel-shaped cross.

This pendant is marked with the maker's mark IIA. Jonas Aspelin the younger was a member of a family of silversmiths who specialised in traditional jewellery. They worked in Ystad from the middle of the 18th century onwards.