BERNARDO ANTICHITA'

At the end of the nineteenth century the family settled in Florence where it opened the prestigious shop on the Ponte Vecchio, where you could find collections of jewels and selected high-level art objects. Adolfo Melli , Caterina’s great-grandfather, continued the business by developing and maintaining relations with foreign countries, to the point of making the company a point of reference also for the royal families of Europe, whose testimonies are still preserved today. Our shop, still a privileged destination for a refined clientele, passed to Gustavo Melli , Caterina’s grandfather, and it was he who passed on his knowledge to his nephews and introduced them into the world of antiques. Today Caterina Pasquinucci and her husband Fabio Bernardo with her son Duccio continue the family tradition and continue the activity in the historic shop on Ponte Vecchio, at n.44r.

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INSTAGRAM

  • Italian Renaissance Early 17th Century Rock Crystal & Enemal Devotional Pendant #bernardo 

In 18kt yellow gold with a triple chain suspending a carved rock crystal medallion surrounded by polychrome enamels which holds on one side a Salvator Mundi in enamels and on the other an Agnus Dei surrounded by a blue enamel border.
  • Late 18th Century Enamel Gold Poison Ring Circa 1790’s #bernardo
  • Archaeological Revival Gold And Coral Bangle Bracelet 1860’s #bernardo 

Bracelet decorated with three coral buttons in a geometric and floral pattern. 18K yellow gold setting. Width of central pattern: 3.7 cm. Gross weight: 39.77 gr.
  • Ancient Roman Gold Ring With Deer And Cypress Intaglio 2rd Century AD #bernardo 

The deer is the symbol of vital regeneration due to the periodic renewal of its horns (also compared to the branches of trees) and takes on an allegorical value of development and union between the superior and inferior forces. Even depicted next to the Buddha, who is said to have been reincarnated in a previous life as a golden deer, this graceful and elegant animal is also connected to the alchemical Mercury, a psychic substance that acts as an intermediary, a bridge between the conscious and the unconscious, providing us with the extraordinary possibility of illuminating the interior and allowing the deep self to manifest itself. In medieval bestiaries it is said that the animal, a bitter enemy of snakes, to flush them out fills its mouth with water, pours it into the den and with a breath drags them out and kills them by trampling them with its paws: religious iconography takes up this concept to allude to good triumphing over evil. The Latin poet Ovid tells of Cyparissus, who spent his days in the woods in the company of a deer with golden antlers and who was transformed into a Cypress after asking the Gods to remain in eternal mourning following an accident that led him to kill his beloved deer. For this reason the cypress has been associated with pain and called “the tree that grows near those who suffer”. The Persians instead considered it the “first tree of paradise”, as it established a sort of connection between the world of the underworld and that of the heavens: its roots grow in the depths of the earth, while its crown rises towards the sky.

INSTAGRAM

  • Italian Renaissance Early 17th Century Rock Crystal & Enemal Devotional Pendant #bernardo 

In 18kt yellow gold with a triple chain suspending a carved rock crystal medallion surrounded by polychrome enamels which holds on one side a Salvator Mundi in enamels and on the other an Agnus Dei surrounded by a blue enamel border.
  • Late 18th Century Enamel Gold Poison Ring Circa 1790’s #bernardo
  • Archaeological Revival Gold And Coral Bangle Bracelet 1860’s #bernardo 

Bracelet decorated with three coral buttons in a geometric and floral pattern. 18K yellow gold setting. Width of central pattern: 3.7 cm. Gross weight: 39.77 gr.
  • Ancient Roman Gold Ring With Deer And Cypress Intaglio 2rd Century AD #bernardo 

The deer is the symbol of vital regeneration due to the periodic renewal of its horns (also compared to the branches of trees) and takes on an allegorical value of development and union between the superior and inferior forces. Even depicted next to the Buddha, who is said to have been reincarnated in a previous life as a golden deer, this graceful and elegant animal is also connected to the alchemical Mercury, a psychic substance that acts as an intermediary, a bridge between the conscious and the unconscious, providing us with the extraordinary possibility of illuminating the interior and allowing the deep self to manifest itself. In medieval bestiaries it is said that the animal, a bitter enemy of snakes, to flush them out fills its mouth with water, pours it into the den and with a breath drags them out and kills them by trampling them with its paws: religious iconography takes up this concept to allude to good triumphing over evil. The Latin poet Ovid tells of Cyparissus, who spent his days in the woods in the company of a deer with golden antlers and who was transformed into a Cypress after asking the Gods to remain in eternal mourning following an accident that led him to kill his beloved deer. For this reason the cypress has been associated with pain and called “the tree that grows near those who suffer”. The Persians instead considered it the “first tree of paradise”, as it established a sort of connection between the world of the underworld and that of the heavens: its roots grow in the depths of the earth, while its crown rises towards the sky.

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