This pretty acorn and flower design is inspired by a copy of an Etruscan gold necklace from Ruvo in the Naples Archaeological Museum, dating from around 1860.
The original piece was discovered in the early 19th century and was one of the most famous jewels in the Naples Archaeological Museum, then known as the Museuo Borbonico. The copy was purchased in Italy by Martha Mary (Eustacia) Eustace Smith, an adventurous character both in her collecting and in her private life. When she gave the necklace to the British Museum in 1906 she recalled buying it 'about forty years ago'.