Ostentatious? Perhaps. Visually stunning? Oh yes. Let’s admire them. I saw this first one is the book Mermaids: Art, Symbolism and Mythology:
Pendant in the shape of a double-tailed siren, Germany, 2nd half of the 16th century. Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Dresden.
The twin-tailed sea creature, a siren, holds an arrow in her raised right hand, and in her left a shield or a heart made of a freshly set ruby. The scales are painted in black enamel on a white and gold ground, and the wing feathers are fused in alternating red, blue, and green on both the front and back; the front is also set with rows of table diamonds. Below the fishtail sits an empty box setting, and above the siren is a winged putto on a chain with stone-studded links. A large stone is also missing there. The empty eyelets indicate that the piece was probably once fitted with hanging pearls.
The detail and ornamentation fascinated me, and I was reminded of this necklace:
Two tailed siren pendant, around 1610-1620. Made in the Netherlands. Materials: gold, diamonds, sapphires, pearls. Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg.
There’s also this one, also from Mermaids: Art, Symbolism and Mythology:
Pendant in the form of a double-tailed mermaid, enamelled gold set with diamonds, pink tourmaline and rubies and hung with pearls, possibly Germany or Austro-Hungarian Empire, 1850-1900. Victoria and Albert Museum.
Then I got curious: are there more necklaces like these? Here’s what I found, from art auction websites:
While I don't think they carry meaning like these two-tailed siren pendants to ward off the evil eye, they're still lovely.
I'll wrap this post up with a drawing of a similar pendant:
Mermaid pendant, wings spread, link, chain. 1908. By Enguerrand du Suau de la Croix. Orsay Museum, France.
Further reading
Müller, Axel, et al. Mermaids: Art, Symbolism and Mythology. University of Exeter Press, 2022.
