Rare Antique Lincoln Imp Brooch Victorian or Older
Catalogue:
Estate Jewelry:
Silver:
Victorian:
Pre 1900 item# 942813
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GlitzQueen History and Art to Wear
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$160
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The whimsical form of this delightful English brooch identifies it as a souvenir from Lincoln (county town of Lincolnshire). The original owner would have visited its famous cathedral, the world's tallest building from around 1300 to 1549 but far better known for a piece of stonework called the Lincoln Imp. According to legend, the little demon was sent by Satan to make mischief in medieval England and outdid himself here -- dancing on the altar, tripping up a Bishop, knocking over the Dean, smashing furniture and tormenting the choir. It's said he paused to gloat atop a column, whereupon the fed-up angels turned him to stone!
For centuries, Lincoln's imp has been admired by pilgrims and tourists, who took home keepsakes featuring his likeness. Most date from the Victorian era, when railways made travel widely affordable, but some are earlier -- made for well-heeled Brits whose usual Grand Touring was curtailed by wars in Continental Europe.
Whether Victorian or Georgian, the brooch is an exceptional find, since imp items are generally useful things. Door knockers, bells, tea caddy spoons and toasting forks turn up in antique shops and at auctions, but I've never even seen a pin before!
Highly dimensional and beautifully detailed, it's in such splendid condition that it can't have been worn much. Given its dainty size -- just an inch long, as was suitable for for a girl or teenager in days when large jewelry was considered vulgar except on married women -- the first owner probably tucked it carefully away with the other treasures of her youth, where it remained long forgotten.
Now it's ready to become your favorite conversation piece, after a light polish. (I strongly advise against dips that would
remove the patina of age and the darkness of the crevices.) The metal appears to be of a grade slightly sturdier than sterling, since it's simply stamped "silver," lacking the usual array of British hallmarks. It has the elongated pinstem and open C clasp indicative of great age, along with a large hand-made hinge. Provenance is a Midwestern estate.
Please e-mail to confirm availability, order or request more photos -- and, if you like this, please run a search to see our imp door knocker, too. Should you be interested in both, we can work out special pricing. Thanks for looking!
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Victorian Enameled Gilt Silver Filigree Butterfly Pin
Catalogue:
Estate Jewelry:
Silver:
Victorian:
Pre 1900 item# 865540
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GlitzQueen History and Art to Wear
Phone: 505.205.1404
$98
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Whether we're longing for spring or welcoming it, a colorful butterfly brooch suits the mood. Here's an especially charming antique one, fashioned of hallmarked 800 silver with panels of exquisite plique a jour enamelwork. That's the transparent kind, which lets light gleam through like stained glass. You can even glimpse the fine filigree through the colors -- artful blends of yellow, green, aqua and violet.
We can date the brooch precisely by its pin mechanism, a type used circa 1890, yet its condition is superb. I can't find any enamel losses. The filigree shows age patina, of course, and you might want this brightened a bit. A gentle polish by your jeweler would do it. (Please don't try cleaning enameled jewels at home, since even water can be damaging.)
Particularly clever is the sturdy understructure that supports these gracefully fluttering wings; it looks rather like a bi-plane. There's also an unusual early safety catch, the type with a v-shaped lever. The clasp is an old open C.
Size is about an inch in each direction and half an inch high. Probable origin would be Austro-Hungarian or Italian, though it reached us as a Texas estate find. The reverse has, besides the 800 stamp, a lozenge-shaped maker mark we haven't yet been able to interpret.
Please e-mail to confirm availability, order or request more photos. Thanks for looking!
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Ornate Antique Victorian Pearl Pendeloque Earrings
Catalogue:
Estate Jewelry:
Silver:
Victorian:
Pre 1900 item# 816165
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GlitzQueen History and Art to Wear
Phone: 505.205.1404
$635 SALE (Reduced from $885)
Free delivery to any country where we ship
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On sale this month - think ahead to holiday gifting!
These spectacular antique pearl earrings from an English estate dangle almost 2 inches below the ear and are highly dimensional. Minor variations between the two attest to hand-craftsmanship -- most likely in Spain or Portugal, where colorless gems were set almost exclusively in ornately worked silver. Jewels of this type were eagerly collected by British travelers to southern Europe. It's easy to imagine these earrings as a honeymoon gift for a young bride from her husband, who delighted in how the dangling drops gleamed and swayed as they strolled in the Mediterranean moonlight.
Both upper and lower domed elements of the lovely setting twinkle with pyrites (mistakenly called marcasites, which are chemically the same but crystallize differently and are too soft to use as gems). The silverwork is thick, sculptural and lavished with beaded detail. Above, it's fashioned into leaves and, for the drops, into flower petals framing two sizeable, lustrous pearls. The stones were represented to me as natural sea pearls and I believe them to be, since pearls weren't cultured until around 1900. They seem to be full rounds, not halves, nestling into silver cups that protrude from the back.
Probable dating of the earrings is no later than 1880, yet their condition is superb. Even the lever-back fasteners appear original. If they aren't, the earrings would have hung from wires and are probably even older. Pendeloque (pear-shaped) drop earrings have been with us since the late 18th century, retaining popularity throughout Victorian times, and the fully closed backs and other details of construction here are more Georgian than Victorian. The Georgian traditions did hang on longer in Spain and Portugal than elsewhere, though, so it's really impossible to be certain whether these are early or late 19th century.
Because they were extremely tarnished, I broke my usual hands-off rule and gave them a light cleaning. With apologies to the purists among us, I'm awfully glad I did. They dazzle like the dickens now. We can't be precise about the silver content, but it's clearly very high.
Please e-mail erinharris@comcast.net to confirm availability, order or request more photos. Thanks for looking!
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Antique Victorian Silver Filigree Day Night Earrings
Catalogue:
Estate Jewelry:
Silver:
Victorian:
Pre 1900 item# 722481
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GlitzQueen History and Art to Wear
Phone: 505.205.1404
$225
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Jewelry with versatility was highly prized in the days before machines brought the cost of it down. There were tiaras that metamorphosed into necklaces, rings that came with a variety of stones and "Day Night" earrings, featuring drops that could be easily removed for a simpler daytime look. Surviving examples of these dual-purpose earrings are relatively rare, since the detachable segments tend to get lost over time.
Because of their scarity, it's a special pleasure to offer these delightful antique earrings that allow you the choice of wearing just the pretty posy tops or hooking on glamorous dangles filled in with scrolling paisley-like filigree. Each part incorporates a gleaming domed accent that unifies the overall design, as do the teardrop shapes of both the petals and the pendant.
Most likely dating would be around the middle of the 19th century, with probable origin in Spain, Portugal or Italy. Filigree work of this type is associated with the Mediterranean.
Due to the slight variations in form and size that establish hand-craftsmanship, measurements are approximate, the floral surmounts being 5/8 inch round and the pendants 1 1/4 inch long. Exact silver content is unknown, in the absence of markings, but I expect it's of a somewhat sturdier grade that sterling, which would be unlikely to remain in such excellent condition after this long. Even the wire fasteners appear original. With apologies to the purists among us, I gave the earrings a fairly thorough polish, because they were extremely tarnished. Their provenance is an estate in the Northeast.
There's no charge for insured U.S. shipping and gift-wrap is always free when desired. Please e-mail erinharris@comcast.net to confirm availability, order or request more photos. Thanks for looking!
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Fine Victorian Crescent Moon Brooch of Silver & Paste
Catalogue:
Estate Jewelry:
Silver:
Victorian:
Pre 1900 item# 602445
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GlitzQueen History and Art to Wear
Phone: 505.205.1404
$195 SALE (Reduced from $245)
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Layaway Terms Available
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This splendid antique brooch of 900-hallmarked silver is of a style enjoyed through much of the Victorian era -- but particularly in the 1850s and 1860s, when the construction and gala opening of the Suez Canal drew Europeans' attention to such Middle Eastern design motifs as the crescent. It may even have been fashioned in Egypt, since the 900 silver mark was commonly used there (as well as in some nations of Continental Europe).
Beautifully hand-made, the brooch features 11 faceted diamond paste stones (probably Bohemian) that are graduated in size. Their sparkle is extended to the very tips of the crescent by applied wirework that resembles granulation, creating a pattern of silver dots also declining in size. Both the pastes and these details are recessed within elevated edges. There are also elevated outlines enclosing each paste. A lot more dimensionality and quality than we'd expect are packed into this beauty, which measures 1 7/8 inches tall and about 3/4 inch wide.
The sturdy old T-hinge here is of a type often superceded by the 1850s the tube style(in common use by 1870), so I feel extremely confident in a mid-19th century dating for this jewel. The pin stem (also very thick and sturdy) remains elongated, as was right for the period, but shows evidence of having been shortened from an even greater length (not a bad idea to avoid drawing blood). The clasp is of course the open C used until the earliest safety clasps came along at the end of the 19th century.
Condition of the jewel is excellent, despite the delicacy of high-purity silver. It takes high magnification to notice the few teensy dings along the edges. There's very little wear to the pastes, because they're recessed and carefully tipped in their compartments as gems would be.
Provenance is an English estate and our price represents excellent value. I notice online a very similar brooch, a bit smaller, offered at $375.
There's no charge for insured U.S. shipping 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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Rare Art Nouveau Double-Sided Sterling Cufflinks c1900
Catalogue:
Estate Jewelry:
Silver:
Victorian:
Pre 1900 item# 506807
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GlitzQueen History and Art to Wear
Phone: 505.205.1404
$139
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With fashion's return to the elegance of French cuffs, antique cufflinks are flying off our shelves as fast as we can find them -- so, if these appeal to you, you'd better not delay.
Besides being simply gorgeous, they're rare by virtue of having four faces at such an early time. As a rule, Victorian cufflinks have simple "bean" backs, so we see here an example of transition toward the heyday of cufflinks: Edwardian and Art Deco days, when they were equally beautiful fore and aft. It didn't last long, as we know. By the Retro era, backs were simple again, mere flip mechanisms.
These highly collectible links are wonderfully wearable today, being in superb condition. This, too, is extraordinary, given the delicacy of sterling silver, particularly when worked in repousse. About an inch long and a quarter of an inch wide, they're elongated ovals worked in an ornate feather motif -- perhaps a nod to "Prince of Wales feathers" as the Edwardian era approached or was dawning. Arts and Crafts influence is evident in the simplicity of the unusual double fish-hook connectors, each with a hallmark for Sterling (worn but legible). Had they been made in England, a panoply of markings would be present, so they're most likely American. They reached us from a Florida estate, so heavily tarnished that I broke my usual rule about leaving things as-found and gave them a good cleaning. With apologies to the purists among us, they needed it. These beauties sparkle like the dickens now, and we can make out all the lovely Art Nouveau detailing.
There's no charge for insured Priority shipping and gift-wrap is always free when desired. Please e-mail to confirm availabiilty, order or request more photos. Thanks for looking!
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Elegant Antique Victorian Diamond Paste Bow Brooch
Catalogue:
Estate Jewelry:
Silver:
Victorian:
Pre 1900 item# 116910
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GlitzQueen History and Art to Wear
Phone: 505.205.1404
$99 SALE (Reduced from $139)
Free U.S. Priority Shipping
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This enchanting antique brooch of silver pot metal sparkles all over with diamond pastes (so much more brilliant than rhinestones) and its oval shape frames a central bow, upraised from the outer mounting. The dimensionality of its layered construction gives the brooch a lot of presence.
The dazzling "all white" look and cutouts anticipate Edwardian style, toward which Victorian was evolving in the 1890s, when I believe this was made. Amazingly, it's in completely original condition. Even the elongated pinstem indicative of great age remains present. As you know, pinstems have been shorter for more than 100 years and older ones are usually found snipped for greater comfort. While you *will* need to be careful where you place it, this is quite a valuable and collectible piece. Size is about 1 3/4 inches long by one inch wide.
Please e-mail to confirm availability, order or request more photos. Thanks for looking!
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