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| Earring ca. 400-500 Pearls, carnelians, amethyst, gold Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
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| Earring ca. 500-700 Pearls, emerald, amethyst, gold Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
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| Frog ca. 1300-1500 Gold, ruby Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
Ode on Melancholy
No, no, go not to Lethe, neither twist
Wolf's-bane, tight-rooted, for its poisonous wine;
Nor suffer thy pale forehead to be kiss'd
By nightshade, ruby grape of Proserpine;
Make not your rosary of yew-berries,
Nor let the beetle, nor the death-moth be
Your mournful Psyche, nor the downy owl
A partner in your sorrow's mysteries;
For shade to shade will come too drowsily,
And drown the wakeful anguish of the soul.
But when the melancholy fit shall fall
Sudden from heaven like a weeping cloud,
That fosters the droop-headed flowers all,
And hides the green hill in an April shroud;
Then glut thy sorrow on a morning rose,
Or on the rainbow of the salt sand-wave,
Or on the wealth of globed peonies;
Or if thy mistress some rich anger shows,
Emprison her soft hand, and let her rave,
And feed deep, deep upon her peerless eyes.
She dwells with Beauty – Beauty that must die;
And Joy, whose hand is ever at his lips
Bidding adieu; and aching Pleasure nigh,
Turning to poison while the bee-mouth sips:
Ay, in the very temple of Delight
Veil'd Melancholy has her sovran shrine,
Though seen of none save him whose strenuous tongue
Can burst Joy's grape against his palate fine;
His soul shalt taste the sadness of her might,
And be among her cloudy trophies hung.
– John Keats (1819)
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| Brooch - Helmeted woman (France) ca. 1500-1600 Baroque pearls, rubies set in enameled gold Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
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| Ring - Heart flanked by unicorn and lady above clasped hands ca. 1550-1600 Diamond set in enameled gold Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
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| Ring (Germany) ca. 1580-1600 Ruby set in enameled gold Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
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| Pendant - Frog (Spain) ca. 1600-1620 Baroque pearls, rubies set in enameled gold Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
Desert Motel with Frog Amulet
Fairweather thunder smote. Who then
(The old man I had become wondered)
From every height and hollow of the scene
Glowed like a flame cupped by seductive features?
Rarely so rosy an incognito,
A stirring, dream-flushed child – I mean,
Were there many loves or only one?
The eyelids burned and guttered, light from lips
Broke, a voice in answer. "You
Who happen on me here, return
To the chamois pouch around my neck
That stone charm. Small but powerful,
So often shattered and made whole,
It kept me young in either element."
Deep in the waste one room was green as water
And tall erosions rippled what it faced.
– James Merrill (1971)
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| Pendant - Mandolin (Germany) ca. 1600 Pearls, rubies, other jewels set in enameled gold Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
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| Brooch - Bow (Netherlands) ca. 1650-75 Baroque pearls, rubies set in enameled gold Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
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| Pendant - Rest on the Flight into Egypt (Netherlands) ca. 1675-1700 Carved coral set with turquoises in enameled gold Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
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| Pendant - Cupid (Germany) ca. 1700 Topaz, rubies, pearls set in enameled gold Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
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| Pendant - Amphitrite on Dolphin (Germany) ca. 1730-50 Baroque pearls, other jewels set in enameled gold Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
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| Pendant - Renaissance-revival Mermaid (Italy) ca. 1800-1900 Pearls, rubies, other jewels set in enameled gold Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
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| Brooch - Dragonfly (Germany) ca. 1890 Green garnets, diamonds, rubies, pearls set in gold Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
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| Banjarmasin Diamond (South Borneo and Amsterdam) ca. 1875 (in this form) Rectangular diamond of 36 carats Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
"This diamond once hung on a chain around the neck of Sultan Panembahan Adam van Banjarmasin (South Borneo). After problems arose in the succession, the Netherlands decided in 1859 to – forcibly – seize control of the sultanate of Banjarmasin. The diamond was declared Dutch state property. In Amsterdam the 70-carat rough diamond was later cut into a rectangular-shaped diamond of 36 carats. . . . On loan from the Ministerie van Kolonien."
– curator's notes from the Rijksmuseum