691
A pair of traditional earrings
Estimate €1.500–2.400
690
Cross pendant
Estimate €420–720
Description
Gold of approximate fineness 740/000.
Pierced and chased work depicting a rayed cross with Christ.
Gold assay mark of Cosme Martins da Cruz Júnior (1821-1855) and partially legible goldsmith's mark, possibly of José Teixeira Leal (reg. 1773) (Vidal 1680).
Restruck with Lisbon hallmark and responsibility marks in use from 1985 to 2020 for gold of 585/000, struck partially over the 19th-century marks.
H.: 5.5 cm
4.7 g
Notes
Between 2015 and 2017, it was compulsory in Portugal to re-mark antique pieces, even if those pieces already bore official hallmarks predating 1887. As the Assay Office only has punches to mark gold fineness of 375, 585, 750, 800, 916 or 999, pieces that fell slightly below 750/000 were struck with the punch indicating 585/000, even though the actual gold content was much closer to 750/000, as is the case with the present piece (three assays of the gold content, using XRF analysis, indicate a purity of between 740/000 and 760/000 in different areas of the piece).
Additionally, on some small pieces, this legal requirement led to the hallmarks being struck over the antique marks. In this instance, although the available space was minimal, the care taken by the technician who re-marked it is evident, as he avoided rendering the nineteenth-century marks illegible.
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