Just picked this up after winning it through a local online auction. It's a darling 1½" (3.8 cm) pendant consisting of two sterling scallop shells with plique-a-jour enamel that rotate open to reveal a tiny sterling turtle with an enameled shell ... the interior of the shell appears to have a gold wash on the silver ... if it was once also on the outside, it has long been polished off. No maker's mark on it anywhere ... just the word "sterling". While looking for similar pieces, I came across pictures of pendants that open made by Meyle & Mayer of Germany ... but they used a dragonfly mark ... not present on my piece. I'm looking for suggestions of other jewelry manufactures, who did similar work, that I can explore to try and find who or even where this was made. Thanks!
Thanks Debora! If that's the one sold from Tadema Gallery, I have. I tried to find it in their archived 'sold' photos to get more info ... with no luck. Gosh, they (Tadema Gallery) had some beautiful pieces - it was a pleasure trying to find this among all those gorgeous goodies!
Hey - that's a snapping turtle! Do you think there's any significance to the choice of that particular turtle?
Thank you! Probably will wear it a few times to decide if it's a 'catch and release, or a 'keeper' ... would love it on a long (30" or so) chain, but I think it would be safer on a choker.
Hmmmm ... Good question. They're yummy in soup with a splash of sherry on top! I enjoy watching them swim around the lake at a local park, but also suspect they're one of the reasons that the number of baby Canada geese never equals the number of eggs in the nests
Look at that! You found it, Cheryl ... Thank you! I'm bookmarking that page. Well, I guess if they knew the maker (or if it were printed on the fitted case for it), they'd certainly mention it.