Extremely beautiful artisan made statement necklace featuring a magnificent natural amber piece, that is partly clear and full of intriguing inclusions. The cognac tone is softened with rich golden honey hues, the shape is like an perfect pear. The handmade chain has been painstakingly crafted with reticulated rondell shaped textured beads suspended from a handmade chain. This really enhances the whole piece and adds to its unique look. The setting for the amber is bestowed with grapevine leaves and grapes, softening the bold setting.
The pendant is stamped on the jump ring near the pendant bale with the artists initials, A.K. This piece is from a collection recently acquired and was purchased in Poland around 1963 - 1970s. Every part of the pendant is all handmade and with great creativity and skill. The piece is not stamped with any silver marks but tests as minimum .800 silver.
Dimensions are as follows:
Height of pendant 7 cm x width 4.3 cm x thickness 21 mm
Length of chain 130 cm
Weight 119.36 grams
A Little History of Polish Amber
Polish amber Jewellery had a major resurgence from the 1960s onwards. Though historically, the oldest traces of amber workshops on Polish soil date back to over 6000 years ago. Examples of which were found in the Niedźwiedziówka settlement, near the coastal city of Gdańsk. Ambers origins were a mystery at that time and could only be explained with a myth.
This myth became a popular Polish legend that the amber nuggets found washed up on the beaches were actually debris from the sea goddess Jurata's underwater palace. Her residence had been destroyed, in a fit of jealously by a mighty god called Perkin, who was infuriated by her relationship with a fisherman. She dared to fall in love with a mortal and he sent a lightning bolt from the sky, sadly killing her and shattering her amber palace into pieces.
from Lucjan Siemieński, Polish, Ruthenian & Lithuanian Legends and Tales, 1845
It is more widely known about the origins of amber today, that before it washed up on the shores of the Black Sea, it originated from a coniferous tree called 'Araucarias of the genus Agathis' in what we now call Scandinavia. These trees were prolific producers of liquid gold tree sap that fossilised into precious amber over 400 million years. The trees produced the sap to protect from boring insects and heal injuries. The name Amber is essentially restricted to fossil resin of Baltic provenance.
