A gem-set gold double-headed eagle pendant, Morocco, 18th century

This double-headed eagle pendant, set with gemstones, is remarkable for its opulence and regal connotations. The eagle is a symbol of power and representations of double-headed eagles have been used in heraldry closely associated with both the Byzantine and Roman Empires.

These items of jewellery belong to a tradition dating back to the seventeenth century in Morocco "...in which Muslims and Jews participated as both artisans and patrons of each other's art, and in which Jews and Muslims shared paths to spirituality" (V.B. Mann, Morocco, Jews and Art in a Muslim Land, New York, 2000, p.23). Jewellery manufacture was predominantly a Jewish profession, and the craftsmen adapted stylistic elements from a number of Berber and Arab designs. 

A related gem-set, double-headed eagle pendant on a gold necklace composed of numerous strands of seed pearls alternating with enamelled cylindrical gold beads, from the collection of Mr Y. Benyaminoff, is illustrated in R. Hasson, Later Islamic Jewellery, Jerusalem, 1987, p.61, no.78. Further examples of double-headed eagle pendants, on gem-set and enamelled necklaces, were in these rooms, 25 April 2012, lot 655; 24 April 2013, lot 234, and 31 March 2021, lot 101.