The Salamander Pendant and the Magnificent Jewellery of Queen Elizabeth I

This little beauty dates back to the 16th century and is a contemporary of the most bejewelled monarch in English history – Queen Elizabeth I.

Among Elizabeth’s fantastical jewellery collection, there were a couple of salamander jewels, probably similar to this piece. Apparently, the Tudor and the Jacobean adored jewellery that imitated nature.

This piece is particularly charming because the maker used the natural exaggerated curve of this baroque pearl to dictate how the salamander’s body zig-zags. And that little square emerald piece in its’ mouth is just an extra special delight.

It was thought that salamanders could live in flames so the piece could have symbolised ardent love. Could the salamander pieces Elizabeth owned, have been given to her by Robert Dudley? I think it’s possible. In 1574 he has given her a New Year’s gift, imbued with erotically charged meaning. It was a white feather fan with a gold handle with on which there was a lion (symbolising Elizabeth) and a bear (Dudley’s heraldic emblem) muzzled at its’ feet.

Unknown maker, Pendant (salamander), circa 1575-1600, enamelled gold, set with pearls and an emerald, Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

Queen Elizabeth with a Fan, c.1592, Artist Unknown, Toledo Museum of Art, Ohio.

Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, c. 1564, Steven van der Meulen, Waddesdon Manor