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 pendant has the monogram IHS entwined in the decoration, the first letters of the name Jesus in Greek. It is called a sållakors, which means a sieve cross in Swedish. It is unmarked, but predates the unpierced IHS pendants, stamped from a sheet of thin silver.