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Antique Spanish Jet Amulet Pendant with Figa

$22,000List Price

About the Item

AMULET PENDANT WITH FIGA Spain, c. 1620–1630 Jet, silver, and enamel Weight 60.7 grams; dimensions 85 × 49 × 18 mm Large pendant in the shape of a hand carved from jet with a clinched fist in the figa (Spanish higa) gesture. In the palm of the hand is a heart carved in relief and on the back a six-ray star in a circle. The silver mount covers the wrist like a cuff and is decorated with a frilled border, and on the front with collet-set bosses with silver C-scrolls against blue enamel; on the back is a roundel in relief with floral motif. Domed base for the pendant loop in pea-pod form. The figa (also fica or higa) represents an age-old symbol of protection against the evil eye and other demonic threats. Its origins were pagan and buried deep in antiquity. Roman examples, such as one found recently in an archeological excavation in London, also make it clear that the protective qualities are based in a sexual symbolism–particularly the power of the phallus. The Roman bone figa/phallus in effect represents the phallus twice; that is, the gesture made by the figa hand is generally explained as fingers representing the female genitalia (vulva) penetrated by the phallus of the thumb. But other interpretations are less specific, including explanations that the left hand is the feminine principle, and the right hand is the masculine. In Spain, jet figa are common; we see one in the portrait of Anne of Austria the infanta (p. 75). That is not to say that the objects are not sumptuous or treasured. Jet was a very valuable material, and in many examples like this one, the figa is embellished with beautiful enameling or is even gem-studded. Comparable objects occur in equally sumptuous materials such as rock crystal. The enameled setting allows a dating of these objects that otherwise might prove difficult, given that the production of such objects in Spain is so consistent over centuries. Indeed, there is another, even more elaborately carved example in this collection, attached to the “magic belt” (no. 9). That example may belong to an earlier group. That figa includes deeply excavated carving, including on the upper surface, an M-shaped design that Walter Leo Hildburgh links to the heart shape (as it occurs more explicitly on this example). Hildburgh argues that its presence is especially common on these objects and that it originally represented the Sacred Heart of Mary, only eventually changed to her initial. He notes that the heart, along with the moon–also associated with Mary as the symbol of the Immaculate Conception–and the five- or six-pointed star were common forms found on figa. Hildburgh, a famous American collector and scholar of folklore and amulets who donated more than five thousand objects to the Victoria and Albert Museum, noted that the six-pointed star was considered amuletic by both Jews and Muslims. Here, however, in combination with the heart, it must be Christian. Finally, in referencing Hildburgh’s comment we raise the question of why such an amulet defending against the evil eye should occur in a Christian context. Perhaps it seems logical on a “magic belt,”’ but examples occur in paintings of the Christ Child, together with reliquaries and crosses, and some figa even contain images of saints or are attached to crucifixes. Clearly the meaning has been Christianized. And defense against the evil eye is an activity as normal as crossing oneself against demonic influence or evil. Comparisons and Literature: The closest example for the jet hand is in the Museo Arquelógico Nacional, Madrid (Franco Mata 1986, p. 159, figs. 29-30, first half seventh century). For the more stylized hand with figa, cf. no. 9 and Franco Mata 1986, pp. 158-62; Roman 1987, pp. 27-28. Further for the use of jet in Spain, see Muller 1987, pp. 101-12. The blue enameled boss suggests a date for the pendant around 1620 to 1630; this ornamental motif can be found in sacred and secular silver and is described as the austere style of Philip II (1527-1598), though more prevalent under Philip III and IV; see Oman 1968, pp. xxviii-xxxi, figs. 237-45, all dated about 1620-30.

Metal:
Silver
Weight:
60.7 g
Dimensions:
Width: 3.35 in (85 mm)Depth: 0.71 in (18 mm)Length: 1.93 in (49 mm)
Place of Origin:
Spain
Period:
Early 17th Century
Date of Manufacture:
1620-1630
Condition:
Wear consistent with age and use.
Seller Location:
Chicago, IL
Reference Number:
Seller: J-350351stDibs: LU2334213915382

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