Object Description
A French gold necklace by Wièse c.1890, designed in the archaeological revivalist style, the fringe-style necklace strung with alternate polished spherical beads and phallic motifs with rope twist and hammered decoration, all to a clasp designed as an ouroboros, the ancient Greek symbol of a snake eating its own tail. The snake and the phallus motif were both used as fertility symbols in classical antiquity, the phallus was also a symbol of good fortune and the snake, particularly the ouroboros, represented life, rebirth and infinity. Wièse has cleverly used a gold alloy with a reddish patina for this piece (as he did with others) to give the impression of an ancient jewel that has been in the earth for many hundreds of years.