France, Paris
Boucheron Jewelers

This remarkable sinuous snake necklace was apparently made as a working model by Paris jewelers Boucheron. The finished necklace—made with diamonds instead of glass paste—was custom-fit to twine perfectly around the neck of the princess for whom it was intended. The model originally featured a spring mechanism that opened the hinged mouth so that the snake’s tongue darted out (now missing).

 

Gold, silver, and glass (paste), 1885
Purchased with funds from the Florence Scott Libbey Bequest in Memory of her Father, Maurice A. Scott, 1998.9