Posted 2 years ago
Rebecca.ar…
(18 items)
Various antique Victorian amulets: carved bovine skull with Ruby eyes, mother of pearl cornicello and figa with solid gold findings, multiple coral figas and cornicello's/Italian horns, and a pair of coral fingers with evil eyes (one blue, one green).
Incredible!! I've never seen anything like this until now. Wonderful post!!!!
Oh My ! They must be rare to get even one. I learned something here and it is another collectible I know nothing about. You really have some beautiful examples !~
Hi All: thanks for your appreciative comments! You can find these one of a kind, hand carved coral figa pendants on eBay and Etsy but the prices have more than doubled with recent inflation. There are several different kinds of hand gesture pendants made in Victorian times with symbolic meanings-- the figa is the thumb between the index/middle finger and was considered offensive (it is named after the fig, or fig leaf, pointing to women's fertility) which gave it protective powers against bad ill will. My favorite is the mano cornuto or the horned hand, which is the thumb holding the two middle fingers down and the index and pinkie are raised. Haven't found a coral one in tact from the Victorian era, because typically one finger breaks off and is either missing or glued back on. I did just find a very rare banded coral cornicello though -- when it is delivered I'll change the bail to solid gold and post a pic.
These are truly amazing and thank you for the interesting info. It's always refreshing when one tells of their finds not just post!