Featured Millefiori In Beastie Setting

You may have seen this on the old ebay boards... if so I apologize in advance for not taking notes on your very helpful responses then.

This piece is one of my favorites, but I have forgotten everything I have ever known about it. Except that finding a beastie with a dragon/lion's head, women's breasts, wings, and a serpent tail has proven difficult. The closest I've found is the Vibria... which doesn't always have an eagle's beak.

So there's that.

Anything you can tell me about age, point of origin, etc. is appreciated. Also, opinions on the beasties are always welcome. (And yes, I realize it's missing a drop.)

 

Beautiful pendant!
Lamia, perhaps?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamia

 

You've certainly got me intrigued. It's an unusual assemblage: head of a lion; wings of an eagle; torso of a woman, who is wearing a belt with a shield protecting her midsection; ending in a serpent. It's not likely meant to be one of the more obscure hybrid creatures. Even the Chimaera is composed of parts from only 3 creatures; 4 is really unusual. Probably there is a fountain somewhere in Italy with these beasts. Will stay on the lookout because now I want to know!

 

The millifiori looks 1970s or after, as does the setting.

 

Could you uncover the text for us?

 

It's probably
GES.
GESCH.

For patented or registered. German in origin most likely.

 

Yep, I was thinking geschütz too

 

Thought the abbreviations were German for something that way but could only think of Gesellschaft.

 

@Bronwen , as you may have guessed by now, I can't uncover it. The graphic I posted is a representation of what I see in the bail -- letters under a metal blob (looks like a bit of strengthening for the bail -- added after the stamped GES GESCH (which is exactly what people told me last time... this time I'm writing it down).

But yes, isn't she a fascinating beastie? And, indeed, what is it with that shield belt? I love her. I've asked a couple of "mythology" people about her and they weren't nearly as fascinated as I thought they should be.

@clutteredcloset49 I admit, she feels older to me. But in no way that's meaningful -- I would have guessed no later than the 1950s and I have wondered if the back is a later addition.

But if the glass looks 1970s, I suppose there's no getting around that!

 

Almost certainly Bohemian/Czech (not particularly unusual to find pieces marked with both 'Czechoslovakia' and 'Ges. Gesch.'), probably first quarter of the 20th century, the finished back is indicative of a better quality piece - the large center cabochon may be glass, but it looks to me like it might be millefiori enamel...

~Cheryl

 

the back..bale and front casting does reek of a quality piece....No ?

 

I d like to see the little bottom hanger, looks asif it had a crest on it. Helps perhaps if it is really from the Sudetenland.

 

I've seen the winged woman with lion head on European furniture, like Belgian Mechelen furniture.

Sekhmet, the ancient Egyptian lion headed warrior goddess and goddess of healing, is sometimes depicted with wings. This is a modern take on her, inspired by ancient Egyptian iconography:

http://www.iconsofkmt.com/sekhmet-the-eye-of-ra.html

 

Oh you guys! Thank you for checking in on my beastie. @DragonflyWink , I would love for her to be first quarter of the 20th century because I have always thought she had a little age to her.

@Fid I will post some more pictures (taken in sunlight, for a different perspective), just as soon as I find the right USB cable for my camera (the original pics were already on my hard drive).

@Any Jewelry, I was hoping you would pop by. I'm going to check out Sekhmet. I can't remember for certain where I picked her up, but I think it was the same auction lot with my little bronze lovely -- that lot was filled with all sorts of interesting things.

 

AJ, I think theres no conection to Egypt. rather a mixture of lindworm and harpy

 

For a moment there I read 'lintworm', which is Dutch for tapeworm.

But there is still the lion head, which does not conform with the usual concepts and depictions of lindworm/dragon or harpy. I'll see if I can find some info from Mechelen furniture sources.
Maybe @verybrad or @James Conrad can shed some light on the identity of the lady beast.

 

Could it be a simple adornment figure for a crest ?

 

The elements are stamped brass rather than cast, the quality of the stamping is typical, what makes it a better piece is having the cut-to-size piece on the back to finish it more attractively, along with additional twisted wire trim - if the millefiori is enamel, it would be fairly uncommon, and they weren't really used much after the 1920s.

Might be the figures are just the designer's fanciful version of some female warrior mythological beast, not really seeing any Egyptian influence.

The dangle from the bottom is missing, only the fancy stamped bail remains. Probably just had a bead or two hanging, perhaps with caps - might look for some nice faceted beads in similar color to the prong-set stones on the pendant (maybe a teardrop?)

Here are a couple of millefiori enamel pieces from Jargstorf's 'Baubles, Buttons and Beads: The Heritage of Bohemia' (1993) - she calls them 'mosaic enamel' there, but in her earlier 'Glass in Jewelry' (1991), she refers to the technique as the more typical 'millefiori enamel':






Here a couple of pieces marked 'Czechoslovakia Ges. Gesch.' ('Ges. Gesch.' was also found on Austrian goods, as well as German), the first from the Meredith's book 'Buckles' (2011), the second from an Art Deco-ish zodiac brooch:





~Cheryl

 

Not a clue! Sorry! wish i could add something but, if it ain't very old american furniture i am pretty much lost! Brad might be able to though, nothing beat a try but failure!
Hey @Any Jewelry , was that early box on furniture thread, carved in USA or Netherlands?

 

Austria never had Gesetzlich geschützt, but simply Geschützt.