Gold Earring with Pearls
#48322

     This wonderful object was recovered by John Brandon and the crew of the M/V Endeavor on the Douglas Beach wreck site. This gold earring features 10 seed pearls that have survived in remarkable condition (see figure 27 for obverse and reverse photo and figure 28 for illustration).

Figure: 27 - #48322 Photo obverse and reverse	Figure: 28 - #48322 Illustration

 
     Six of the ten seed pearls are part of a dangle that begins in a tri lobed floret, the six pearls and at the terminus of the earring a dangling higa was added. The higa as a symbol was thought to bring good luck, ward against evil spirits and the evil eye. The higa as a symbol have been found on several items from the 1715 Fleet and some were included in the Florida East Coast Shipwreck Project 2000 report, pages 163-167.

Figure: 29 - #46243 Photo	Figure: 30 - #41562 Photo	Figure: 31 - #41563 Photo

     The Earring catch bears a resemblance to one found in 1991 #46243 on Corrigans wreck site, that was donated to the State of Florida (see figure 29 previous page). The general appearance of these items are also similar to #41562 and #41563 found on the Anchor wreck site (see figures 30 and 31 previous page) which were in the Florida East Coast Shipwreck Project 1998 report pages 177-179. It may be that the items were being produced in the same workshop. Both the current single earring and the two recovered during previous years may have been manufactured in workshops in the Philippians. This type of jewelry was covered extensively in the report on the Nuestra Senora de Concepcion, a Manila Galleon, lost off Rota. (see Mathers, Willam, Archaeological Report; The Recovery of the Manila Galleon Nuestra Senora De Concepcion, Pacific Sea Resouces,1990)