Superb Victorian Neoclassical Sapphire Ring size 10.5
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Victorian:
Pre 1900 item# 691013
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At size 10.5, this astounding antique ring was fashioned either for a man or for a woman to wear over gloves. Certainly it was hand-made, most likely in the 1860s or early 1870s. That's when the Neoclassical Revival was going full-tilt and the paintings of Lawrence Alma-Tadema took the world by storm.
The Greco-Roman beauty pictured here in a toga-like garment and classical headband could easily have stepped from one of his luxurious ancient scenes -- and even the heavenly blue of an Alma-Tadema sea is captured by the four sapphires that adorn the carved portrait. "Sapphire" means blue in Greek, BTW, and there's nothing bluer than the Aegean. It's known as "The Stone of Destiny" and, as such, is said to promote mental clarity and good fortune.
Besides being neoclassical to the max, the ring shows Arts and Crafts influence in its meticulous artistry, as well as the graceful simplicity of the mounting and the choice of silver, rather than gold.
These sapphires were represented to me as genuine gems of 5 point size. I'm no jeweler, but they appear real and are set as gems should be, open at the back for optimal sparkle. The only mark visible is Sterling, which suggests American origin. A European jewel of the same age and exquisite quality would have a row of symbolic hallmarks. There's a lot of silver involved, as the ring's face measures about 3/4 of an inch by 3/8 and total weight is in excess of 8 grams. Condition, as you see, is lovely and provenance is a Minnesota estate.
Whether you choose this as a special gift for your favorite gentleman or prefer to have the shank reduced to your size, you'll be very proud of it, indeed. It's a one-of-a-kind jewel worthy of those who collect the finest and it wouldn't be out of place in a museum display.
A maker mark may well lie under the deep patina on the ring's reverse, but the decision on far to go with cleaning rightly belongs to the next owner. Someone has recently polished the rest of it, thankfully with great sensitivity and intelligence. You wouldn't want it stripped back to made-yesterday whiteness.
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Mid-19th c. Victorian Malachite & Silver Pendant
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Pre 1900 item# 556955
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Egypt took Victorian England by storm around 1850, when Thomas Cook launched the first Pyramid Tours. This hand-made pendant of unmarked silver inlaid with malachite -- much of the stone pyramid-cut -- dates from this era. It was actually the second Egyptian Revival period, the first being in Napoleonic times (due to military campaigns there). A third and a fourth arose when King Tut's treasures toured the world in the 1920s and again in the late 20th century.
This spectacular jewel, which measures 1 7/8 inches tall and half an inch at its widest, may have begun life as an earring. Keeping a pair of those together for more than 150 years is hard. We acquired it at auction in England. Enjoy it on your favorite antique chain or a ribbon of black or malachite green.
There's no charge for insured U.S. Priority shipping (with an equivalent discount for international delivery) and gift-wrap is always free when desired. Please e-mail to confirm availability, order or request more photos. Thanks for looking!
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Victorian Arts & Crafts Silver Butterfly Wing Brooch
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Pre 1900 item# 471889
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Sometimes you just can't improve on nature. Garden-loving Victorians knew this well and featured the jewel-like colors of butterfly wings in jewelry, particularly in the Aesthetic Period. That era is usually dated from 1880 or 1885 until Queen Victoria's death, but change was afoot *far* earlier. Rejecting mass production and ostentation in favor of simpler jewels made by hand, the Arts and Crafts movement emerged in the 1860s. I believe this wonderful antique brooch dates from around 1870, for several reasons.
First, it shows the purity of an original concept. It's nothing like the wildly stylized "pictures" made from wings of various colors in the early 20th century. Instead, it forever preserves the flight of one gorgeous blue butterfly behind domed crystal, its iridescent colors changing with the light from shades of aquamarine to deep sapphire.
There's also the way in which it's framed, set in a hand-wrought bezel on an unelaborated bar pin with an early safety pin-type clasp of the type introduced in the 1850s. The bar pin is a form popularized by Alexandra, who became Princess of Wales in 1863 and was the trend-setting Di of her day. She favored high collars to hide a scar on her neck (and wore wide "dog collar" chokers with lower evening necklines) and was also a patroness of the Arts & Crafts spirit, in reaction to her mother-in-law's formality.
Another thing that helps date the jewel is the fact that marks of silver fineness were introduced in America around 1870, due to the new prevalence of plating. There were no U.S. government requirements until 1906, but jewelers felt the need and began stamping on their own. Had this item been made in England, where marking had long been mandatory for high-quality silver and gold, it would've had four or five stamps. But there's only a single, curious one, unlike anything then being used in Europe. Normally we see "sterling" on 19th century American jewelry, if it's marked at all (the 925 mark with no decimal point being a later variation). However, this mark is .925 -- a technical notation that would've been valued here, where the usual standard was just .900 and sometimes even .800. Since the jewel absolutely can't date from a time when 925 appeared without the decimal point, it can be attributed only to the days when silver-marking in America was at its most idiosyncratic.
Despite great age, this brooch is in lovely condition, measuring 2 1/4" across. We've left most of the rich patina of age in place, but it will of course polish off if you prefer a brighter look.
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Victorian Shell Cameo Vermeil Filigree Drop Earrings
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Victorian:
Pre 1900 item# 410902
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GlitzQueen History and Art to Wear
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Cameos are supposed to represent the Feminine Ideal, and yet most of them look too severe to please us girly girls. Well, these are different - not a bit matronly or too stately. Look at those lacy wide ruffles of gilt silver filigree and the carved cameo portraits of lovely young ladies with bows in their hair. The portraits, BTW, are unusually well-matched, showing little variation in features and the caramel background color. It's quite common for a so-called "set" of cameo earrings to look nothing alike and, even if they don't, they're very valuable, since cameo earrings are lot harder to find than brooches and pendants.
The hairdo our two pretty girls wear was stylish in the 1870s, so the cameos were most likely carved around then - in Italy, of course - and framed during the same period, probably in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Our clue to the mountings' origin, since those heavenly frames aren't marked, is the 835 hallmark that appears on the screw-back findings. Screw-backs didn't appear much before Edwardian times, so they were added 25 or 30 years later (replacing what would've been shepherds' crook earwires), but their mark tells us where the owner lived and presumably purchased the earrings or the mountings for cameos she'd brought home from Italy. The 835 silver grade, approaching sterling purity but sturdier, was also used in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands, but this lavish filigree metalwork is more in the East European style.
Impressive both for quality and size, these enchanting earrings measure 3/4" wide and 1" tall (or 1 3/8" to the ear fastener ). The cameos measure 1/2" x 3/8" and rise in domed shape, as do their settings (raising the top surface about 1/4" above the back). The earrings are in lovely condition, showing no damage - just light wear to the vermeil (gilded silver) surface, which created a pleasing two-tone effect that makes the earrings wearable with silver or white gold, as well as yellow gold.
Since the findings aren't really worthy of these cameos and frames, you'll probably want to add new posts or wires of gold or sterling - an inexpensive task for any jeweler or you could easily do it, yourself, by slipping them through the loop at the top of each frame. We'd have done that, but wanted to leave the color and style choice to the lady who'll wear them. Please e-mail to confirm availability, order or request more photos. Thanks for looking!
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Superb Victorian Sterling Fleur de Lys Brooch
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Pre 1900 item# 339869
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Highly dimensional and rich with repousse work, this antique brooch is certainly hand-made - and almost as lovely on the reverse as on the front. Its T hinge, even more than the open C clasp, tells us we're looking at a *really* old one. Based on those details of fabrication and the restrained scale, probable dating is circa 1870 or older. There's a slight hint of early Art Nouveau in the decorative forms evoking flowers and feathers. No doubt the pinstem was originally a very long one, snipped at some point for comfort's sake (not a bad idea, since those things could easily draw blood). Size is about 1 3/8" tall by 1 1/4" wide, with a "puffed" depth of about 1/4" exclusive of fittings. The "Sterling" hallmark is present, suggesting American origin (despite the French motif). Condition is almost miraculous, given the delicacy of high-grade silver.
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Rococo Revival Painted Portrait Earrings c 1850
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Pre 1900 item# 321863
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These exquisite antique dangle earrings are highly unusual and beyond-belief romantic. Each features the image of an aristocratic 18th century beauty - the sort painted by Fragonard and Corot, complete with powdered hair, ruffles, flowers and bows. The portraits show no signs of transfer dots, so appear hand-painted. In fact, the earring fronts seem entirely hand-made, based on variations in the size of the ivory or early plastic cabochon drops and their wide, beaded-edge casings, as well in the position of the portraits. The open filigree cutwork backs which provide a "ruffled" edge around the earring bottoms, may possibly have been stamped (a process that began around the mid-19th century) and then hand-assembled.
These details indicate probable dating as the 1840-1860 Rococo Revival Period. "Modern" kidney-shaped earwires didn't appear until the 1870s, but those could easily have been added later. So many variations in fabrication really wouldn't exist in 20th century jewelry, ruling out the idea that they're Victorian Revival pieces from the 1920s or 1930s. Originally I thought they were fairly recent, given their superb condition. To notice any flaws, apart from slight rippling of one casing, requires very close inspection. Even under high magnification, only age-appropriate surface scratching is evident.
While I'm no jeweler, the absence of tarnish (except in a few worn spots on the reverses) leads me to believe the mountings are of unmarked silver heavily plated with rhodium or another hard-wearing metal in the platinum family. And I believe the cabochons are of natural ivory, based on "tubelike" structures that resemble long lines and disappear when they're rotated. Likely origin is French, based both on style and the fact that the ear wires have security clasps; provenance is a Deep South estate; and overall size is about 1 3/4" x 3/4". Despite their impressive size, they're surprisingly light and comfortable to wear.
As you know if you follow fashion news, dangle earrings with an antique look are all the rage now. Why not wear (or give) the Real Thing, especially when it's less expensive *and* sure to rise in value? I just saw several made-yesterday reproductions in a retailer's catalog that are only glass and silver and yet cost as much as $250.
There's no charge for insured U.S. shipping and gift wrap is also free whenever desired. Please e-mail to confirm availability, order or request more photos. Thanks for looking!
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Victorian Sterling Cufflinks, 4 Blister Pearls
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Victorian:
Pre 1910 item# 129925
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Price of $165 includes insured shipping anywhere in the U.S.
This rare and spectacular pair of antique cuff links *screams* Arts and Crafts, both in the maker's choice of such unusual stones and in the style of their settings. Probable dating is Late Victorian or Edwardian, circa 1900 - 1910. The first cultured blister (and spherical) pearls date from the 1890's, when French scientist Louis Bouton began his work with abalone pearl cultivation. His remarkably shaped and colored "blister" pearls quickly captured the imaginations of innovative jewelry designers. Each pearl, BTW, took about two years to cultivate.
These highly collectible links are in exceptional condition and could be worn with equal panache by a man or a woman. Perhaps the two of you would like to share them. Of good size, their fronts measure 7/8" x 5/8". Backs are slightly smaller, since those two pearls have simple bezel mountings. Sterling hallmark is present on each.
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Antique Silver Lady Portrait Drop Earrings c 1900
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Victorian:
Pre 1920 item# 126690
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Representing an Arts & Crafts spin on an Art Nouveau theme, these fascinating earrings depict a flowing-haired beauty with more simplicity than the traditional Nouveau manner. The scrolled outline with its characteristic whiplash curves is treated with a similarly light hand. It's extremely interesting when those two design currents intersect, as they sometimes did around a hundred years ago.
Solidly crafted and in immaculate condition, the earrings measure about 1 3/8" wide and 1 1/2" tall, including early clip-on fittings. Dating would be Late Victorian, Edwardian or transitional (1900 - 1920). I believe the metal is unmarked silver, possibly sterling. Each clip has a pretty textured front that suggests a pinecone and their backs show a pattern of casting ripples and hammer strikes. Provenance is an East Coast estate.
Dangle earrings with an antique look are fashion's darlings now, so why not wear (or give) the Real Thing, especially when it's LESS expensive? Made-yesterday reproductions in silver are selling elsewhere online for $250 and more, but will only lose value until they're antiques, too.
There's no charge for insured U.S. shipping and gift wrap is also free when desired.
Please e-mail erinharris@comcast.net to confirm availability, order or request more photos. Thanks for looking!
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