MOROCCO, SECOND HALF 19TH/EARLY 20TH CENTURY

Details

A MOROCCAN DIAMOND AND EMERALD-SET GOLD DOUBLE-HEADED EAGLE
MOROCCO, SECOND HALF 19TH/EARLY 20TH CENTURY
The double-headed eagle worked in repoussé and filigree, set with rose-cut diamonds, emeralds and other gems, the reverse fluted, associated gold chain
3 ½in. (9cm.) across

Special notice

These lots have been imported from outside the EU for sale using a Temporary Import regime. Import VAT is payable (at 5%) on the Hammer price. VAT is also payable (at 20%) on the buyer’s Premium on a VAT inclusive basis. When a buyer of such a lot has registered an EU address but wishes to export the lot or complete the import into another EU country, he must advise Christie's immediately after the auction.

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Lot Essay

Eagles have been a symbol of royal power since pre-history, in Morocco as well as in other countries. The founder of the present dynasty, Moulay Isma'il, was said to wear a royal eagle on a chain at his side as his emblem. Three other eagle pendants are published, all of which have two splayed heads but are of considerably more stylised form. One is in a private collection (Maroc, les trésors du royaume, Paris, 1999, p. 184). Another, formerly in the Benyaminoff collection and exhibited in the Israel Museum (Rachel Hasson, Later Islamic Jewellery, Jerusalem, 1987, pl.78, p.61), was sold at Sotheby's on 16 October 1997, lot 34, while a third was also at Sotheby's on 13 April 2000, lot 138. An example that is executed in a more similar style and technique to that offered here is in the Collection Thau (Marie-Rose Rabaté and André Goldenberg, Bijoux du Maroc, Aix-en-Provence, 1999, pp.70-71).

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