I am trying to track down the origins and meaning of a piece of jewelry made in
England, (Maker's Mark is JHW).  It is a gold cross, made of six
links, each in a pyramid shape, that fold into a ball.  It seems like
it may be from medieval times when Christians were forced to hide
their faith.  Each pyramid link is enscribed with different etchings. 
Have you ever come across anything like this?  I have searched the
internet and found one word - encopia (a folding cross) - that may
describe this type of jewelry.

Thank you

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Request for Question Clarification by jackburton-ga on 03 Mar 2004 11:38 PST

Hi jewelofdenile,
   
It sounds rather interesting. Even more so, because a friend of mine
knows someone who's an expert on early Christian artifacts, and he
will be visiting later this week. It would be very helpful if you
could provide a picture of this cross.
  
If you have a picture, perhaps you can upload it on 
  
Yahoo! photos:
http://photos.yahoo.com/
  
or here:
http://www.momentoffame.com/add_mof.html?id=226
  
I look forward to hearing from you.
   
   
Jackburton

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Request for Question Clarification by czh-ga on 03 Mar 2004 12:24 PST

Hello jewelofdenial-ga,


THE ABBEY OF MONTECASSINO: The Museum - Hall B: Etruscan and Roman finds 
"... encopia of the 7th century, i.e. devotional oriental Crosses used
to keep the relics of martyrs."

Is this on the right track?

~ czh ~

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Clarification of Question by jewelofdenial-ga on 03 Mar 2004 12:45 PST

To czh-ga:  That is the website where I found the word "encopia" but I
did not see anything that resembled this piece of jewerly/pendant. 
What I have is a ball on a chain -- the ball folds out to a crucifix
made of six pyramid shaped links, with each link etched with symbols.

---

Request for Question Clarification by tutuzdad-ga on 03 Mar 2004 13:38 PST

The term you are referring to is actually "encolpia" or "encolpion",
alternatively spelled, "enkolpia".

Regards;
tutuzdad-ga

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Request for Question Clarification by tutuzdad-ga on 03 Mar 2004 16:41 PST

If you can take some detailed photos and put them on the internet,
then come back here and tell us where we need to go to see them, I'd
be delighted to give it my best shot.

Regards;
tutuzdad-ga

---

Clarification of Question by jewelofdenial-ga on 08 Mar 2004 11:58 PST

To jackburton-ga and tutuzdad-ga:  I may have a picture to post later this week.

---

Clarification of Question by jewelofdenial-ga on 12 Mar 2004 12:02 PST

I posted pictures at http://photos.yahoo.com - under Medieval Jewelry.
 Because I'm not that familiar with posting pictures, I am not sure
you can access them, although I did make viewing public.  Let me know.
 Thank you.

---

Request for Question Clarification by tutuzdad-ga on 12 Mar 2004 12:09 PST

We're going to need the actual links to the pictures themselves. The
address to them should look like this for example:

http://www.whereevertheyare.com/jewelry.jpg

(this link doesn't actually go anywhere but your should)

Go back to your page where you have the photos stored. Click on each
one and copy the URL address to each image (their individual
"www.pagename.com/imagename.jpg" address) and post each of them them
here.

tutuzdad-ga

---

Clarification of Question by jewelofdenial-ga on 12 Mar 2004 12:25 PST

Okay, here is the URL (I hope) for each picture.

http://us.f2.yahoofs.com/users/4052109b_1266f/bc/7e1d/__tn_/d73d.jpg?ph.BiUABdVQgW6nN

http://us.f2.yahoofs.com/users/4052109b_1266f/bc/7e1d/__tn_/b6c2.jpg?ph.BiUAB9FStCAig

http://us.f2.yahoofs.com/users/4052109b_1266f/bc/7e1d/__tn_/8dd3.jpg?ph.BiUABN7t6LKY3

---

Request for Question Clarification by tutuzdad-ga on 12 Mar 2004 12:29 PST

Thank you.

It's very hard to tell much from the photos because of their small
size. I was hoping to see the etchings or maybe see the material that
the links were made of. Also, is the chain original?

Any chance we can get some close-ups of larger, more detailed images?

tutuzdad-ga

---

Request for Question Clarification by tutuzdad-ga on 12 Mar 2004 12:50 PST

I can tell you with relative certainty that what you have here is not
an example of enkolpia. These are normally reliquaries or hollow
pendants worn as pectoral medallions and often the space inside was
large enough to hold a scared object such as a blessed fabric, bead or
something upon which scripture was written.

I think the key to the origin of yoru piece is going to lie with the
inscriptions or etchings on the "links" and the material that the
links are fashioned from but of course we'd have to see a MUCH larger
and closer image of them to pursue that further.

Regards;
tutuzdad-ga

---

Clarification of Question by jewelofdenial-ga on 12 Mar 2004 12:50 PST

Okay, you know I'm a computer neuter here -- the pictures I have on my
desktop are larger, but that's the way they ended up at the posting. 
Not sure how to enlarge but, again, the one on my desktop does show
the etched detail.  Let me know.  Thanks.

---

Request for Question Clarification by tutuzdad-ga on 12 Mar 2004 13:13 PST

You might try a different places besides Yahoo. It may be something
related to them and how they resize the images to get them online. Try
one of these free sites:

http://www.mydocsonline.com/

http://www.streamload.com/

Or any of these:
http://www.freewebspace.net/guide/diskstorage.shtml

Then come back here and post the new links (the image addresses) here
and let's try it again.

tutuzdad-ga

---

Request for Question Clarification by tutuzdad-ga on 12 Mar 2004 13:20 PST

Do you know or can you guess what the links (the "pyramids") are made of?

Does the chain appear to be as old as the pendant?
(If so, please include a closeup of the chain and the clasp - if any -
in particular)


tutuzdad-ga

---

Clarification of Question by jewelofdenial-ga on 12 Mar 2004 14:35 PST

The chain came with the necklace but since it was from an estate sale,
I'm not sure if it is the original.  Someone suggested perhaps its
from the Victorian era when spiritualism was popular.  The pyramids
are a tarnished silver, almost pewter-like.  One of the etchings is a
five-pointed star.  Another looks like a golf flag and another looks
like an envelope.  Maybe a "spiritual/Tarot" type code?  Hope this
helps.

---

Request for Question Clarification by tutuzdad-ga on 12 Mar 2004 16:23 PST

Can you tell us what Yahoo DIRECTORY your photos are in? It will look
something like this:

http://f1.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/YOUR:USERNAME:GOES:HERE/my_photos

Maybe we can see the larger versions of them them way.

tutuzdad-ga

Dear jewelofdenial-ga;

Thank you for allowing me an opportunity to answer your interesting question.

FINALLY!

I was beginning to think I was going to be stumped on this one but I
finally found it after all. It appears that your cross is actually a
Masonic ball pendant. Each ?link? or segment is engraved with
traditional Masonic symbols such as stars, compasses, flags, pennants
and other figures as seen here:

Once I found the piece of jewelry I was looking for I confirmed my
suspicions that the engravings would tell the tale. If you look at the
lowest link in this photo you?ll see the universal Masonic symbol:
http://www.shopnta.com/photo-a/P35159.JPG
(Image from NTA CUSTOM JEWELERS)

This set me on the path to find others and learn more about them. Here
are some various examples of the cross fashioned in a variety of
metallic contents:

Napoleon and Kent Pty Ltd
http://www.napoleonandkent.com/prod133.htm

DIAMENSIONS
http://www.diamensions.com/masonic/item_of_the_month.html

NTA CUSTOM JEWELERS
http://www.ntacustomjewelers.com/55+1.htm

PIECES OF TIME
http://www.antique-watch.com/stat/o201.html

Ball pendants are not uncommon as a quick search of any major search
engine will reveal. In this case the pendant was made for someone who
has some Masonic affiliation but beyond that the pendant is just a
beautiful example of cross-related jewelry. Unfortunately, there is no
real religious or historical significance to this object other than
it?s symbolic inscriptions relative to the masons and is purely
ornamental. The example you have probably dates to the turn of the
20th Century or some time thereafter (I suspect around 1920 or so,
maybe a decade earlier or later). More than likely the one you have
sterling silver or sterling gilt and the chain may or may not be
original. One thing you can look for on yours (and it may be there and
it may not) that would certainly set it appear from medieval jewelry
is a content stamp. If your piece says "9ct" or "14k" or something
along that line stamped anywhere on it as many of these often do,
indicative of the precious metal purity or value, this in itself would
certainly place the piece in the 20th Century well beyond medieval or
Victorian times.

Assuming that there is no significant provenance associated with it ?
meaning unless it belonged to a historical or otherwise famous or
important person and retains some value from that prior association
alone ? it is reasonably valued in the range of $150.00 to $850.00.

Below you will find that I have carefully defined my search strategy
for you in the event that you need to search for more information. By
following the same type of searches that I did you may be able to
enhance the research I have provided even further. I hope you find
that that my research exceeds your expectations. If you have any
questions about my research please post a clarification request prior
to rating the answer. Otherwise, I welcome your rating and your final
comments and I look forward to working with you again in the near
future. Thank you for bringing your question to us.

Best regards;
Tutuzdad ? Google Answers Researcher


INFORMATION SOURCES

Defined above


SEARCH STRATEGY


SEARCH ENGINES USED:

Google ://www.google.com




SEARCH TERMS USED:

Masonic ball pendant

The response I received was thorough and right on target.  I am very
pleased and think my researcher did a GREAT job!

It sounds as if you may have a version of the Latin Cross (also called
the Tau Cross, Immessa or Capitolata) that has been clevery designed
to fold away for whatever reason.

Here is one such geometric design that would enable such a puzzle:
http://www-cabri.imag.fr/abracadabri/Coniques/Panoplie/Dissect/CxOctGif.htm

I hope this helps you or some researcher down the right track.

regards;
tutuzdad-ga

PS: There are 85 known ways to fold such a cross:

http://theory.lcs.mit.edu/~edemaine/aleksandrov/cross/

tutuzdad-ga

Thanks for the info (no wonder I couldn't find it in the dictionary).

This is six square links, each with a three-dimensional pyramid face
that "folds" into a ball-- the "arms" fold in, the lower part of the
cross folds up, and there is latch to fasten which leaves the cross in
the shape ofa ball pendant.