Details
EIGHT ART NOUVEAU FEMALE BROOCHES
Comprising three circular brooches designed with females portrayed in motion enhanced with rose-cut diamond hair ornaments, mounted in 18K yellow gold (with French hallmarks, discoloration evident, several diamonds missing), Compte d'Epinay de Briort for Boucheron; a circular brooch designed with a female profile with rose-cut diamond head ornament (with French hallmarks), E. Dropsy; three circular brooches designed with female profiles, one wearing a rose-cut diamond hair ornament and two wearing rose-cut diamond chokers, mounted in yellow gold (discoloration evident, several diamonds missing); and a circular brooch depicting a pensive female with a faint bird and man in the background (with French hallmarks), mounted in 18K yellow gold, circa 1900
The cameo had been extremely fashionable throughout the nineteenth century and a favorite of Queen Victoria, but by the end of the century Art Nouveau brought a relatively free and Romantic style to a changing world. The Art Nouveau movement in France collided with a new wave of interest in the art of medal engraving. These Art Nouveau themes were mixed with the influence of the past cameo, the ancient Greek and Roman coins and stamped or engraved into gold medallions mounted into pendants and brooches, called "bijoux-medailles" by the French. The warmth of the gold and the popular motif "femme fleurs", a female in motion emerging from a background of flowers contrasted greatly with the hardstone cameos of carved, rigid female profiles. These medals were also a wonderful way of making fashionable jewelry more accessible as these pieces could be mass produced. Inexpensive copies in alternative metals were made throughout the world particularly in the United States. In 1899, an engraver named Foisil made a medal-jewel titled, "Parisienne", showing beautiful Parisian women in profile enhanced with rose-cut diamonds. This addition of gems proved very popular, stones were added to the figures as decoration for hair ornaments, necklaces or encircling flowers. Major jewelry houses began to produce this developed design, most notably Boucheron, Verger and Vever. A fine engraver, Compte d'Epinay de Briort was frequently commisioned by Boucheron to produce these ornaments. The medalists jewelry continued to be fashionable until the 1920s and today provides us with a timeline of French Art Nouveau jewelry.
COMPARATIVE LITERTURE: a comparable example is illustrated in Vivienne Becker, Antique and Twentieth Century Jewelry" 1987, pg. 205 and Penny Proddow and Marion Fasel, "Diamonds" 1996, pg. 43
See illustration for seven brooches (8)
Comprising three circular brooches designed with females portrayed in motion enhanced with rose-cut diamond hair ornaments, mounted in 18K yellow gold (with French hallmarks, discoloration evident, several diamonds missing), Compte d'Epinay de Briort for Boucheron; a circular brooch designed with a female profile with rose-cut diamond head ornament (with French hallmarks), E. Dropsy; three circular brooches designed with female profiles, one wearing a rose-cut diamond hair ornament and two wearing rose-cut diamond chokers, mounted in yellow gold (discoloration evident, several diamonds missing); and a circular brooch depicting a pensive female with a faint bird and man in the background (with French hallmarks), mounted in 18K yellow gold, circa 1900
The cameo had been extremely fashionable throughout the nineteenth century and a favorite of Queen Victoria, but by the end of the century Art Nouveau brought a relatively free and Romantic style to a changing world. The Art Nouveau movement in France collided with a new wave of interest in the art of medal engraving. These Art Nouveau themes were mixed with the influence of the past cameo, the ancient Greek and Roman coins and stamped or engraved into gold medallions mounted into pendants and brooches, called "bijoux-medailles" by the French. The warmth of the gold and the popular motif "femme fleurs", a female in motion emerging from a background of flowers contrasted greatly with the hardstone cameos of carved, rigid female profiles. These medals were also a wonderful way of making fashionable jewelry more accessible as these pieces could be mass produced. Inexpensive copies in alternative metals were made throughout the world particularly in the United States. In 1899, an engraver named Foisil made a medal-jewel titled, "Parisienne", showing beautiful Parisian women in profile enhanced with rose-cut diamonds. This addition of gems proved very popular, stones were added to the figures as decoration for hair ornaments, necklaces or encircling flowers. Major jewelry houses began to produce this developed design, most notably Boucheron, Verger and Vever. A fine engraver, Compte d'Epinay de Briort was frequently commisioned by Boucheron to produce these ornaments. The medalists jewelry continued to be fashionable until the 1920s and today provides us with a timeline of French Art Nouveau jewelry.
COMPARATIVE LITERTURE: a comparable example is illustrated in Vivienne Becker, Antique and Twentieth Century Jewelry" 1987, pg. 205 and Penny Proddow and Marion Fasel, "Diamonds" 1996, pg. 43
See illustration for seven brooches (8)