The Moretto

This year I wear a replica of the family heirloom that gets passed down to each female cousin to wear for a year.  Mine came with some papers on the history and rotation order and a lot of grime wedged in all the intracies.  I wanted to know everything about this earring, since it's black face and gold turban are unusual.  This is the result of some of that search. 

The Moretto

The word “Blackamoor" (in Italian Moretto, Moretti) refers to a specific type of motif - that of a black African. According to An Illustrated Dictionary of Jewelry by Newman, a Blackamoor is a figure of a young male or female black African depicted in jewelry in a head or bust. Morcic or Moretti jewelry has been produced for centuries as a specialty item in Venice and Rijeka, Croatia...In the past it was the jewelry that our grandmothers wore....

The creation of the Moretto was greatly influenced by Venice which was obsessed by the Orient in the 17th and 18th centuries. This prompted many Venetian goldsmiths into making decorative pins in the form of a black man called "Moretto" with a turban and a golden bust, richly decorated with gems. At the same time, the Moretto of Rijeka appeared, as a modest version of the Venetian Moretto.

Two legends exist concerning the origin of this unusual piece of jewelry. The first legend goes back to the 16th century and tells this story of the origin of the Moretto:
The Turks are invading Croatia and the women and children have taken shelter within the tower and are praying for salvation, for God's help - May stones falling from the heavens bury this evil and may our lives be spared... The heavens open to answer the prayers of the women of Rijeka and showers of stone bury the Turks. In memory of this victory, the men of Rijeka had Moretto earrings made for their wives."
The other legend from Peljesac relates this story:
"An Italian baroness had a black servant girl for whom she cared deeply. She granted the girl her freedom and in her memory had earrings with the girl's image made."
In the second half of the 19th century, Rijeka with it's well-known Moretto goldsmiths and fine craftsmanship became the largest center for the manufacture of such jewelry, and so the word "Rijeka" began to precede the word "Moro" (yet another name for Moretto) in order to signify the indigenous character of the jewelry. The image of the black man and the turban spread from earrings to other pieces of jewelry such as rings, brooches, necklaces, pins, etc. Famous Moretto jewelers were Tominich, Rollandi and Karlo Venazi.