PROVENÇAL REGIONAL JEWLERY AT ITS MOST FASHIONABLE

Double-sided gold cross, plain on the reverse with rounded cross arms terminating in flat bowl-shaped ends. On the front, the terminals are surmounted by conical forms with beaded surrounds at the base, each set with an irregularly faceted diamond. At the center is a slightly oval domed setting containing a larger diamond. The cross arms are further embellished with six box-set diamonds. The triangular pendant loop appears to be a later replacement and bears an indistinct eagle's head hallmark facing right, the French guarantee mark for 18-carat gold assayed in Paris between 1838 and 1919. The pendant shows signs of wear through age and remains in good wearable condition.

Literature:

This elegant cross belongs to a distinctive group of Provençal devotional jewels known as Croix Capucines. While regional jewelry across Europe often remained conservative in design, French traditional jewels frequently embraced contemporary fashions. The present cross reflects the eighteenth-century taste for diamond-set jewelry, blending regional identity, personal devotion, and contemporary fashion. Its rich gold setting and profusion of small diamonds suggest that it was made for a wealthy Provençal woman, most likely to commemorate an important occasion in her life and worn as an expression of religious devotion.

The earliest known reference to the Croix Capucine dates to 1732, and the type remained popular throughout the nineteenth century. Its name derives from the capuce, or hood, worn by the Capuchin friars, whose monasteries were widespread throughout Provence. Worn suspended from a ribbon, often with an additional ornamental bow or loop, crosses of this kind served as both expressions of religious devotion and fashionable ornaments.

For an overview of French regional jewelry and the tradition of wearing crosses, see J. Perry, Traditional Jewellery in Nineteenth Century Europe, London, 2018, pp. 68–73. For further examples of the type, see M. C. W. Fieggen, Les Bijoux des Français, vol. I, 2021, p. 203; R. Kertenian, Bijou provençal, Aubanal, 2003, pp. 61–62; Museum examples include the Musée national des Arts et Traditions Populaires (M. Poulenc and A. M. Margerie, Bijoux Traditionels Français, Paris, 1998, p. 18, no. 78) and the Musée des Civilisations de l’Europe et de la Méditerranée (inv. no. 1901.1.756).

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