A rare necklace by Rene Lalique in the form of a gold mermaid cradling a pearl, her tail spread behind her evocative of a gigantic wave, hung with an elongated pearl, the whole suspended from lengthy chainwork.  The tail is composed of plique-a-jour enamel, its gold cloisons irregularly formed to represent the scales within, the palette delicately selected to emulate sea-green.  The pearl that she cradles is emblematic of Venus, also being born of a shell.

Metamorphosis is a distinctive component of Rene Lalique's oeuvre, usually connected with the insect world and epitomised in the famous dragonfly/woman corsage ornament in the Gulbenkian collection.  This is the only known example of a jewel by Lalique to focus on a mermaid as its principal motif.