Design for a Pendant with IHS Monogram

Design for a Pendant with IHS Monogram

Master P.R.K

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This finely wrought pendant was designed by the Dutch goldsmith known as the Master P.R.K. It consists of fine openwork with an IHS monogram in the middle. The fact that this part is executed in blackwork indicates that it was meant to be executed in enamel. Three pearls are attached to the bottom of the pendant. The goldsmith also added small quirky details to his design, like the monkeys with musical instruments and the two rabbits below. In the lower left and right corners of the sheet, two small scenes are depicted: on the left a man using a bird of prey to hunt, and on the right a man who is fishing. The print is part of a series of six published by the goldsmith in 1609.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Design for a Pendant with IHS MonogramDesign for a Pendant with IHS MonogramDesign for a Pendant with IHS MonogramDesign for a Pendant with IHS MonogramDesign for a Pendant with IHS Monogram

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.