#antique jewellery
Unique …
Philippe Wolfers (1858-1929), Art Nouveau ‘Glycines’ choker. Gold, carved watermelon tourmaline, carved opal, ruby, garnet; marked Ex: Unique’ for Unique Issue, number 126 of the Catalogue of Unique Items by Philippe Wolfers and numbers 108 and 111 of the workshop Brussels - Designed circa 1900-1901. Fine Jewels Period
Image: © TEFAF 2018
Hidden in plain sight …
Gold spray brooch of three enamelled flowers. The floral spray incorporates a tiny miniature portrait of King Charles I, set under a flat crystal at the centre of an enamelled rose. It is a fine example of trembler jewellery, which allows the flowers to move, or “tremble”, imitating the movement of natural flowers. c. 1650.
Image: National Museum of Scotland
https://www.nms.ac.uk/explore-our-collections/collection-search-results/?item_id=20873
Unusual …
Brooch by Georges Bastard (1881-1939): Mother-of-pearl & pearl, with an engraved vegetal decor. Circa 1906.
Image: Robert Zehil Gallery, Monaco
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Sacred Hawthorn …
Art Nouveau diamond, enamel and glass Hawthorn brooch by Rene Lalique (Circa 1899 - 1901) Christie’s
(In Celtic mythology the Hawthorn is one of the most sacred trees and symbolises love and protection. It is also known as the Fairy Tree, as fairies apparently live under the Hawthorn as its guardians)
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Enchanting Emeralds ….with the power to expose spells or illusions & reveal the truth or falsity of a lover’s vows.
Queen Victoria’s Diamond & Emerald diadem. Designed & commissioned by Prince Albert; Created by the Queen’s Jeweller, Joseph Kitching, and presented to Victoria in 1845
On display at Kensington Palace as part of Victoria revealed. © HISTORIC ROYAL PALACES
Source:https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/queen-victoria-and-jewelry
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A rock crystal ball talisman mounted as a pendant in silver and decorated with stylised roses at each end. The sling mount is early seventeenth century and is decorated with punching in the form lozenges and pellets. Abrasions to the ball suggest that it might be considerably earlier then the silver work. It is contained within a fitted wooden case lined with velvet and covered in shagreen. English?, c.1620. Photographs: Author.
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A Symbolist necklace, by Charles Boutet de Monvel, circa 1900. Composed of gold, silver, opals, glass, rubies, pearls and diamonds . © The Richard H. Driehaus Museum
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Royal Jewels from the Bourbon Parma Family
Burmese Ruby and diamond bow brooch/hair ornament, circa 1900. Gift from Archduke Friedrich of Austria to his daughter, Archduchess Maria Anna (to mark the births of her two sons?). Courtesy of Sotheby’s, Geneva November 2018
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Gift from an angel …John Dee’s crystal, Europe, 1582.
So the story goes…
In 1582 John Dee (1527–1609), mathematician, astrologer, magician, and antiquary, claimed that he had been given a magic crystal by an angel called Uriel. Eventually this slightly purple rock crystal, secured in a crude silver mount, passed to Dee’s son Arthur (1597-1651), who in turn gave it to Nicholas Culpepper (1616-1654). A physician and alchemist, Culpepper used it as a cure until 1651, when a fiendish spirit burst out of the stone and nearly frightened him to death. The same rock crystal is now in the Science Museum but, according to the curatorial staff, the demon seems to have moved on forever.
Text source: https://innerlives.org/2018/03/19/the-sphere-of-magical-thinking-the-enchanting-history-of-crystal-balls/
Image:https://collection.sciencemuseum.org.uk/objects/co104490/john-dees-crystal-europe-1582-amulet
Archangel Uriel: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uriel
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“Sumer Is Icumen In ” ….
‘Loves Garland’ …brooch by Arthur & Georgie Gaskin, 1912
Silver, gold, opal, pink tourmaline, blister pearl and emerald paste
Tadema Gallery
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Early Anglo Saxon gold shoulder-clasp …inlaid with garnet cloisonné and glass. 6thC-early 7thC (c. AD 560/70-610). From the Sutton Hoo ship-burial
Further detail & images:
http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=86906&partId=1
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Beetle Necklace, Rene Lalique,
Glass, gold, enamel.
Paris, circa 1900.
http://www.wartski.com/collection/necklace-rene-lalique/
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Butterfly …symbolic gift of wings
Gem-set and diamond brooch, circa 1900
Designed as a butterfly, the head and thorax respectively set with a step-cut sapphire and an emerald and oval and pear-shaped diamonds, the wings set with variously shaped rubies, opals, emeralds and diamonds.
The XVIII Duke de Plasencia and Doña María de la Concepción lived during the very troubled and politically unstable years of the Spanish Civil War. They first met in Madrid on the terrace of the Hotel Universal in 1931 and it was love at first sight, however, the political situation separated them: the Duke took refuge in the Rumanian Embassy while Doña María de la Concepción moved to San Sebastian. Only twenty years later did they manage to formalise their union in holy matrimony in the famous Chapel of Santiago de Compostela.
This butterfly brooch was a present from the Duke to Doña María de la Concepción when during this very difficult period they managed on one occasion to meet in Biarritz, it was a symbolic gift to give her wings to escape the difficult political situation and a sign of a mutual oath and commitment to each other.
Sotheby’s Geneva 2013
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‘I am yours without leaving’ …
Late Medieval gold enamel brooch - part of the Fishpool Hoard, Nottinghamshire, England. 1400-1464.
Contains French inscription 'je suy vostre sans de partier’, translated as 'I am yours without leaving’ or 'I am yours forever’.
Further images & Information:
http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=43740&partId=1
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The heart ….centre of the soul …
For all you romantics out there ..
“In all the world, there is no heart for me like yours.
In all the world, there is no love for you like mine.” (Maya Angelou)
Enamelled gold heart locket from the French Napoleonic era by Gabriel-Raoul Morel, Paris, circa 1815.
(James Robinson)
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Pendant
Natural pearl, enamel, gold, ruby and diamonds.
‘Of lozenge form, finely enamelled opaque black and white in the renaissance taste. mounted with pearls, old brilliant cut diamonds and centred by an oval ruby’.
Attributed to Carlo Giuliano, London, circa 1890.
Source: wartski
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Jewish Betrothal ring…a prized memento
17th or 19th century, Eastern European or Italian Gold, enamel
Inside hinged gold ornament: Hebrew letters for the words Mazel Tov (Good Luck)
Evidence suggests that examples such as this one were exchanged during Italian Jewish weddings. The groom would place it on the bride’s finger, but after the ceremony the ring would have been kept as a prized memento by either the family or the temple community.
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/17.190.996/
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