Watch List notes:

Gold-and-pearl "Madonna" brooch, large and ornate, from the 1715 Fleet, plated in Dreamweaver. 59.79 grams, about 3-1/2" x 2-1/4". A large and very ornate pendant of an articulated type known as a "venera," featuring a crowned female over an angel face superimposed over an upward-facing crescent moon (topped with small posts, one of which still bears a pearl), all in a central open oval surrounded by twenty-two sunrays tipped with pearls, fastened to a frame of alternating large and small five-point ornaments with more pearls on top (on loose posts fastened with Y-backs) and on ends, with small loop at bottom, that whole piece suspended from a moving "crown" of similar ornaments encrusted with more pearls, the back showing a large horizontal ring for wearing as a brooch or pendant. This piece has popularly been referred to as the "Madonna" brooch, but more accurately the central figure appears to be Our Lady of Guadalupe (similar to the medallion from the 1733 Fleet plated on pages 158-9 of Weller's Galleon Alley book of 2001). The pearls (fifty-two remaining) are all a bit worn and quite a few are missing, but more egregious is the absence of eleven gemstones (presumably emeralds) from now-empty sockets that show traces of light encrustation (hence they were lost or removed before salvage), although it is possible the gems were to be added later when this relic made it to Spain. The gold itself is all intact and visibly high grade. Clearly a museum piece, one of the most important 1715-Fleet artifacts we have ever offered, reportedly recovered by John Berrier and Duke Long in 1989. From the "Rio Mar" site, with Fisher photo-certificate #1611 and hand-drawing by K. Amundson, and featured in color photo on page 193 of Dreamweaver (1996), by Bob "Frogfoot" Weller.
($15000-30000)