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Source Description
Throughout the 1700s, the growing trade for personal luxury objects transformed the material culture surrounding marriage and courtship. Gifts such as perfume, sheet music, books, textiles, portrait miniatures, and jewelry often demonstrated the status of the gift giver and their investment in the relationship. While intended to be seen and admired, this glittering and ostentatious necklace disguised a system based on the labor and suffering of enslaved or indentured people, whether in gold and stone mines or the shop where it was made.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
140406
label
Necklace
core
obj
dtoType
object
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
140406
contentType
object
title
Necklace
description
Throughout the 1700s, the growing trade for personal luxury objects transformed the material culture surrounding marriage and courtship. Gifts such as perfume, sheet music, books, textiles, portrait miniatures, and jewelry often demonstrated the status of the gift giver and their investment in the relationship. While intended to be seen and admired, this glittering and ostentatious necklace disguised a system based on the labor and suffering of enslaved or indentured people, whether in gold and stone mines or the shop where it was made.
date
c. 1775–95
citation
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q80038541
genreSpecific
Jewelry
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Part 1: 29.6 cm (11 5/8 in.); Part 2: 12.1 cm (4 3/4 in.)
cul
England or France
accession
1964.35
Source extras
tec
gold, silver and brilliants
tombstone
Necklace, c. 1775–95. England or France. Gold, silver and brilliants; part 1: 29.6 cm (11 5/8 in.); part 2: 12.1 cm (4 3/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Mrs. Severance A. Millikin, 1964.35
collection
Decorative Arts
didYouKnow
This type of necklace, with its single large pendant, is known as a<em> lavalier</em> and was popular among aristocratic women during the 1700s. Queen Charlotte, wife of George III, was known to have several necklaces of this type.
creditline
Gift of Mrs. Severance A. Millikin
updatedAt
2026-05-29 07:12:34.138000
sourceId
140406
dept
Decorative Art and Design
coll
Decorative Arts
med
gold, silver and brilliants
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
87a0ed8d74f26b87