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Oval Locket with the Four Elements
(Baroque Europe )
This very refined painted enamel represents female personifications of the four Elements: Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. It was probably produced in the French city of Blois, possibly in the Toutin family workshop, which had developed new techniques that permitted the use of a white background for enamels instead of the earlier black or dark blue. The locket contained a watercolor miniature of a lady (by another artist) and could have been worn on a chain around the neck or hung from a sash or girdle.
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object.
George Robinson Harding, London; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1910, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Geographies
France, Blois (Place of Origin)
Measurements
H: 2 13/16 × W: 1 3/4 × D: 3/16 in. (7.2 × 4.5 × 0.5 cm)
Credit Line
Acquired by Henry Walters, 1910
Location in Museum
Not on view
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
44.323