Details: A delightful Pietra Dura round pendant with a floral motif plaque. The lovely carved stone Commesso or Florentine mosaic, features finely inlaid stone forget-me-nots flowers and leaves. The richly colored motif provides a vivid contrast to the moody black stone background. The plaque is enclosed in a milgrain frame and backed in 14k gold. This is a wonderful treasure and a highly collectable example of Italian craftsmanship made popular during the "Grand Tour" period of Victorian jewelry. 

Pietra Dura literally translates to "hard stone" in Italian, referring to the careful cutting and inlaying of stone into a hard background to create beautiful scenic treasures. The stone work is done in larger pieces with precise skill and very tight seaming. The Pietra Dura compositions often appear at first glance to be paintings and the natural grain of the stones is used to great effect. The skill that is required to create these pieces renders it more valuable than other mosaic work. Florence, Italy is known to have had  many of the most skilled Pietra Dura artists producing the most intricate and lovely pieces. 

Measurement: The pendant is 2 1/2" tall, including bale, by about 1 1/2" wide. 

Origin: Italian.