Necklace 1865 - 1875

Eugène Fontenay crafted this necklace from gold; it resides in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The necklace strikes an immediate visual tension between decoration and defense. Its upper portion features a dense array of sharp, spear-like projections, conveying a sense of strength. Conversely, the lower section presents a more ornamental arrangement with delicate, miniature paintings encased in decorative settings. This juxtaposition invites a semiotic reading, where the 'spears' may symbolize power, status or protection, while the paintings suggest beauty, culture or personal narrative. It is a negotiation between asserting dominance and signaling refined taste. The necklace’s form destabilizes the conventional associations of jewelry as mere adornment, suggesting a deeper interplay between display, identity and perhaps even a challenge to fixed social meanings.