Now filled with natural loose diamonds! 
Wonderful Georgian early 19th century gold snake mourning pendant with exciting provenance, the snake set with natural graduated well matched pearls, and he coils around a glazed locket compartment with inscription to the reverse ‘ Sarah Parker 1821’ 
Sarah Parker was an ancestor of Philip Morrell, a British Politician , and this piece came from the collection of Lady Ottoline Morrell, who was married to Philip. They socialised with the Bloomsbury Group, Bertrand Russell, (with whom she had a stormy love affair) writers such as T.S. Eliot and Aldous Huxley. 
Her intrigue, unusual beauty and style was parodied in several novels; most famously as Hermione Roddice in DH Lawrence’s ‘Women In Love’ Aldous Huxley satirised her home Garsington Manor, and Ottoline as Priscilla Wimbush, in ‘Chrome Yellow’ 
Her epitaph at Garsington Church was composed jointly by T.S. Eliot and Virginia Woolf, her memorial by Eric Gill.
I bought the twin of this piece in 2017 from Woolley and Wallis. So there were two made to honour her death
 
Measures 30 x 24mm 
Weight - 7.9g 
Condition - excellent, converted from a brooch