Lady Gloria Dale, a carnelian and silver gilt necklace, 1970s

Lady Gloria Dale, a carnelian and silver gilt necklace, 1970s, designed as a series of spherical and cylindrical carnelian beads to a chain composed of ropetwist and cylindrical links, the centre suspending a trapezoid carnelian bead pendant, 82.5cm

Lady Gloria Dale (1922-2013) was a British textile designer, member of Britain's Contemporary Applied Arts and a long-standing British Crafts Council patron. She amassed an important collection of antique beads on her travels throughout the Middle East, and started designing jewellery around the collection upon her return to England in the early 1970s. The present jewel was featured in an exhibition of necklaces by the noted London-based merchants of antique and ancient jewels, Cameo Corner, founded by the jeweller Mosheh Oved (1885-1958).