Ernesto Pierret (1824-1870) was born in Paris but was registered in Italy as a goldsmith by 1847. His use of mosaic work and gold strip inlay could point to an apprenticeship in Castellani's workshop, and John Murray's guidebook to Rome published in 1869 describes him as 'one of the first artists of Rome, second only to Castellani, whose copies of antique jewellery are of the highest order'. Cf. G. Munn, Castellani & Giuliano (1984) and H. Tait (ed) 'The Art of the Jeweller', The Hull Grundy Gift to the British Musuem (1984)