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How did Renaissance jewelers use baroque pearls in pendants?

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jewelry Stomacher brooch with emeralds and enamel flowers on gold, from the treasure of the Virgin of Pilar, mid-17th century; in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

Renaissance jewelers highly valued baroque pearls for their unique, irregular shapes, viewing them as exquisite natural forms rather than misshapen objects. In the context of pendant design, these pearls were frequently exploited as the central structural element for the bodies of figures.12

Jewelers would adapt the pearl's specific contours to form the torso of a human or animal figure, such as a mermaid, a centaur, or other mythological sea creatures. The remaining parts of the figure—such as the head and limbs—were then meticulously modeled in gold and finished with enamel to complete the composition.23

A renowned example of this technique is the 16th-century Canning Jewel, which features a large baroque pearl serving as the torso of a sea figure, mounted in enameled gold and accented with rubies, diamonds, and smaller pearls.1