French regional jewellery - Auvergne. The regional jewellery from Auvergne is characterised by enamelled crosses and Holy Spirit pendants of varying shapes, depending on the exact area of production and use.
The crosses always had three drop-shaped pendants hanging from the arms and the base which most likely represented the tears of Christ who was said to have wept three times though some say they represent the lead tips on the whips used by the Romans to flagellate Christ. These tears are sometimes missing from the crosses and it is likely that they were removed by their owners either to keep up with fashion or to balance out the design when one of them was lost.
The Holy Spirit pendants are very stylised and in some cases, such as those from Brioude or Clermont Ferrand, they look more like crosses and it is possible that they indeed evolved from crosses. These pendants are set with garnets and sometimes with citrines which are backed with foil. The foil is generally embellished with a red spot in the centre, and this gives the citrine a colour which changes according to the angle from which it is viewed.
Jeweller "A la Topaze" d'Aurillac, specialising in reginal jewellery from Auvergne. Jewllery shop of Mr. Camps fromAurillac, specialising in reginal jewellery from Auvergne In the section of this site devoted to Savoy, you can see an invoice made out to him showing that he bought antique and modern regional jewels from Mr. Holy Spirit cross from Clermont-Ferrand. AHoly Spirit from Clermont-Ferrand in gold and garnets. The Holy Spirit cross of Clermont-Ferrand is set with five pear-cut garnets and garnished with three drop-shaped pendants.
The pendants are sometimes smooth, sometimes striated. The Holy Spirit is sometimes suspended from an additional pear-shaped element with small garnets.
