Description
Intended to protect the neck, by the late 16th century the gorget had also become a symbol of rank, as men wore the pieces in civilian contexts as a fashionable allusion to military prowess or status. This example is painted with red and black translucent glass enamel, a rare and fragile decoration that has all but shattered off the fine interlace pattern.
Provenance
Léopold Double (1812-1881) before 1881; sold Double Collection, Paris, 31 May 1881, lot 224, ill. Possibly Sigismund Bardac, Paris. S.E. Kennedy by March 1918; sold Christie, Manson and Woods (London), 18 March 1918, lot 95, ill. George F. Harding, Jr. (d. 1939); transferred to the George F. Harding Museum; transferred to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1982.
Gorget
1590/1600
Accession Number
106378
Medium
Steel, gilding, brass, translucent enamel, and leather
Dimensions
H.: 22.9 cm (9 in.)
Classification
arms and armor
Credit Line
George F. Harding Collection
