THE PROPERTY OF A LADY
AN IMPORTANT FRENCH NEO-RENAISSANCE JEWEL BY WIÈSE, the jewelled gold and enamelled pendant formed as a mermaid with baroque pearl body and upturned twisted tail supporting a small putto proffering a flowerspray, the figures enamelled in opaque white, with three rows of rectangular-cut diamonds and translucent red, blue and green enamel detail to her tail, a wreath around her head and cabochon ruby at her neck, the reverse of the jewel finely chased with the mermaid's flowing tresses and suspended from a gold neckchain with diamond-set link enamelled en suite and pearl drop, circa 1890, the design probably by Jules Wièse, in original fitted case with address Wièse, 90 Rue de Richelieu

Details
AN IMPORTANT FRENCH NEO-RENAISSANCE JEWEL BY WIÈSE, the jewelled gold and enamelled pendant formed as a mermaid with baroque pearl body and upturned twisted tail supporting a small putto proffering a flowerspray, the figures enamelled in opaque white, with three rows of rectangular-cut diamonds and translucent red, blue and green enamel detail to her tail, a wreath around her head and cabochon ruby at her neck, the reverse of the jewel finely chased with the mermaid's flowing tresses and suspended from a gold neckchain with diamond-set link enamelled en suite and pearl drop, circa 1890, the design probably by Jules Wièse, in original fitted case with address Wièse, 90 Rue de Richelieu
Pendant 8.5cm. overall height
Chain 54.0cm. long
INDENTBy Louis Wièse, signed three times in full and twice with lozenge maker's mark

Lot Essay

INDENTLouis Wièse (1852-1923) who used a lozenge mark with a star above and below the name Wièse between 1890-1923, was the son of Jules Wièse (1818-90) who collaborated closely with Froment-Meurice. See The Belle Epoque of French Jewellery 1850-1910 (London, 1990), Catalogue of an Exhibition in the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, Munich
(1 December, 1989-4 March 1990) p.94 where it states that 'Several marked works bearing the mark that was valid after 1890 are so obviously drawn from the Historicist style of the 15th and 16th centuries that they appear to be contemporary interpretations by Louis Wièse of models by his father Jules'. The suggestion of an earlier date for the design of this jewel is further supported by the knowledge that Louis Wièse won a gold medal at the London World Exhibition in 1862 for his jewellery 'in the 16th Century style', and also by the use of a baroque pearl which was such a favourite theme with Renaissance goldsmiths. For further information on Jules and Louis Wièse cf. pp. 43-52 of this exhibition catalogue

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