SLAVERY NECKLACE in multi rows of yellow gold... Lot 8

SLAVERY NECKLACE in multi rows of yellow gold chains, some with enamelled crosses or baskets of flowers, and decorated with gold plates set with imitation stones. The clasp in chased gold pearl. 19th century, Poitou. An enamel, glass and 18k gold necklace, 18th Century, Poitou (West of France). Note: a similar model is kept in the museum of Niort. Slavery" necklaces were gifts from young engaged couples to their brides before marriage in the 19th century. It symbolized the future condition of the bride, not in a pejorative sense, but as an attachment of one to the other. This tradition was widespread in some regions: Normandy, Bresse, Auvergne, Poitou, Manche, Calvados and Paris. The necklace consisted of one or more chains decorated with enamelled plates. The number of chains could signify the wealth of the family and the importance of the dowry, or in Normandy, the number of children. The chains were decorated with sentimental motifs: cornflowers, baskets of flowers, doves, altars of love, enameled, often in blue; and punctuated with one to three oval or rectangular plates (the central one being the most important), set with imitation stones. By the end of the 19th century, this practice had gone out of fashion. RC : The clasp in hollow yellow gold pearl: sinking. Length : 47,5 cm approximately. Weight: 20.3 g (18k - 750).