E letter love locket-brooch from th Metropolitan Museum

As the February is considered to be the month of love - today I got a medieval lover gift.

It is a brooch but it is also a locket - it has a hinge and after turning a small lock, it opens and shows the inscription: 

 • V/REWELININ • VRME DEI + HERZE • LEVE• /NSTE • MOIS IC IN • /•SIN 

 which means

"Fair lady, may I always remain close to your heart."

 

Those words are safely kept from the sight of others and only a wearer knows about them.
Inside the brooch there is some space which might be used for storing some kind of a small gift, a reminder of the adorer, like a piece of hair - secular love relict.
All that features together creates a very intimate piece of jewellery and something far more precious than gold and all pearls it is made of.

The copy of the brooch unlocked and in two parts, before fixing the hinge rivet.

 The cover of the brooch has a shape of letter E and in its centre bears the figure of a man holding arrows aimed at his heart. The small holes seen on the top are the places where six small pearls will be set (there is still one remaining at the original brooch)

  

It was probably originally manufactured in second half of the 14th century in Southern Germany (the inscription is giving some hints as it seems to be written in a Saxon dialect).

The original brooch from the Metropolitan Museum- closed
Material: silver, gold plated
Dimensions: 32mm x 22mm x 38mm
Dating: late 14th century.

The original brooch from the Metropolitan Museum - open.

A few more photos of the making process so far.

I started with preparing the wax models. The corpus of the letter was cut and carved hollow inside and the figure of the man was made with a wax build-up technique.

Wax models

After casting, all elements were assembled together. The figure was riveted on place, the hole for a closing lock was cut in the back panel and the closing "hook" with a silver bead was set. The pin was installed inside.

Putting on this brooch is probably not the most convenient, but after it is made you can be sure it is safe and quite difficult to lose.

 How to wear it? First, the lock have to be open, than the piece of cloth has to be pulled thru the hole in a back panel and punched thru with a pin. After straightening the cloth brooch is on and you need only to close it again to keep the inscriptions hidden.
Here are photos of the brooch just before the engravings were made were you can see how it is constructed.

Closed brooch without pearls.

  

Bibliography

http://www.metmuseum.org/collections/search-the-collections/70009901

Metropolitan gothic pendant- finished

The next piece of jewellery done! And it is a reliquary again.

It has an elaborate gothic architectural design on a front and a hunting scene with hounds chasing a rabbit on the back panel. The holly relicts would be safely kept inside and always stay visible thru two small windows. It is possible to open the pendant - the panel slides down to show the precious content.

The front panel of the reliquary pendant copy from the Metropolitan Museum.
Material: silver, gold plated
Dimensions: 57mm x 27mm x 7mm
Dating: late 14th century.

  

The back panel with a hunting scene.

The front panel slides down to reveal the relicts stored inside.

   

For the comparison - the photo of the original pendant.

The original pendant from the Metropolitan Museum in New York
Material: silver, gold gilt
Dimensions: 57mm x 25mm x 7mm
Dating: late 14th century

The previous post about the making of this reliquary can be found here.

Metropolitan gothic pendant

Another example of wearable reliquary. The construction is very similar to the IHC reliquary I already made.

I assume this was also open-able, slide up one although I did not find information about it.

The front panel with a architectural motive of gothic windows was made with a cast. The back panel  engraved with a hunting motive - rabbit being chased by three hounds.

This is still "work in progress" project but photos already give an idea of how it will look finished.

Front and back panel of the pendant.

   

Here are also some photos of the making process. I made the wax model mostly with a "build-up" technique and then made engravings in the background. Some wax, alcohol burner, a few metal instruments and some hours is all what is needed.

 

Making the wax model of the front panel.

  And for comparison:

The original pendant from the Metropolitan Museum in New York
Material: silver, gold gilt
Dimensions: 57mm x 25mm x 7mm
Dating: late 14th century

The museum catalogue says that it got also inscriptions on the sides de Sca Barbara de Sco Giorgio [Saint Barbara Saint George] unfortunately I have no pictures or drawings of the inscriptions. That means I will not make any engraving until I obtain some more photos or before I will go for trip to New York and see it on the display myself.

If you maybe have some more photos of it please do not hesitate to contact me!

Bibliography

http://www.metmuseum.org/collections/search-the-collections/70009893