Garnet necklace

Status

On view

Label Text

Throughout the 1760s and 1770s Martha Washington amassed a large set of garnet jewelry for herself and her daughter, Martha Parke Custis. Miss Custis' first purchase consisted of "1 pr Garnet Earrings […] 1 Garnet Hoop Ring […] 1 Garnet Necklace" from London jeweler Benjamin Gurdon & Son in 1764. Although the earrings are no longer associated with the set, this necklace and a ring survive. Originally designed with close-coupled clusters and a matching drop pendant, the necklace was likely refashioned to suit period tastes in the 1820s by Miss Custis's namesake, Martha Parke Custis Peter.

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Date1764

Maker Benjamin Gurdon & Son

Retailer Benjamin Gurdon & Son

Geography Possibly made - EnglandRetailed - England

Medium/TechniqueSilver, gold, garnet

DimensionsOverall: 20 1/2 in. x 7/8 in. (52.07 cm x 2.24 cm)

Credit LineGift of Mrs. Walter Gibson Peter, Jr. in memory of Agnes Peter Mott, 1975

Object numberW-2687/A

DescriptionNecklace featuring one hundred and seventy-eight almandite garnets set in fifteen sections, each suspended from two gold chains attached to soldered bars with rings. The necklace is secured by a tongued clasp embellished with three garnets. The sections alternate between six lobed-petaled flower clusters and six diamond-petaled flower clusters embellished with C-shaped extensions mounted on either side. The sections mirror one another from the central oval wreathed rosette. Beneath the center of the rosette is a horizontally mounted bar made to receive a pendant. Each gem is backed with foil in a closed setting.
Published ReferencesLousia E. Brouwer, "What Martha (Washington) Wore: The first First Lady's jewelry and the story of Susanna Passavant, retailer," Magazine Antiques 181/6 (November/December 2014): 130-133.

Carol Borchert Cadou, The George Washington Collection: Fine and Decorative Arts at Mount Vernon (New York: Hudson Hills Press, 2006), 36, 250.

Martha Gandy Fales, Jewelry in America: 1600-1900 (Woodbridge, Suffolk, England: Antique Collectors' Club, 1995), 35, 37, 38.

Martha Gandy Fales, "The Jewelry," Magazine Antiques 135/2 (February 1989): 513, 517.

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