Lot Essay
Cf. John Loring, "Paulding Farnham: Tiffany's Lost Genius", Harry N. Abrams, New York, 2000, pages 48-59
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Ageless Beauty
The eighteenth and nineteenth centuries produced some of the most beautiful jewelry ever created, but because the majority of these objects were never signed or stamped, names familiar to the jewelry historian such as François Duval, Philippe Liebart and Philip Rundell are little known to others.
It is interesting to surmise what difference it would make to appreciation and value, if these names had appeared on a beautiful tremblant brooch or riviere necklace. It was only well into the nineteenth century that jewelers such as Carlo Guiliano, Castellani and Boucheron began to sign pieces with any regularity. The charming scent bottles (lots 292 & 293) and dressing table ornaments (lot 294) by Frédéric Boucheron allows us to trace their origin and let us understand why he was so respected as a masterful technician. It also demonstrates why it seemed so natural for the firm to evolve into one of the great jewelry houses of the twentieth century.
The exquisite diamond cluster pendant earrings (lot 300) are rare today because they have remained intact. As in other pieces, larger stones were invariably removed or dismantled to create new objects or otherwise divided between family members. They were also extremely rare at the time of their creation, as it was only towards the end of the nineteenth century, with the opening of mines in South Africa that diamonds became available to a wider audience. The turquoise necklace and ear pendants (lot 301) perfectly illustrate how a jewel can have the presence to become magnificent without using large gems in elaborate settings. When created, this sumptuous jewel could have been multifunctional, changing to a sweeping corsage or a hair ornament as well as an elegant necklace.
Both these pieces are the perfect embodiment of the early nineteenth century but as wearable today as when they were originally made, antique jewels quite literally timeless.
AN ORCHID BROOCH, BY TIFFANY & CO.
Details
AN ORCHID BROOCH, BY TIFFANY & CO.
Of the Laelias variety, extending undulating white enamelled petals with lavender concentrations, the center set with an old European-cut diamond, enhanced by yellow enamelled detail, mounted in gold, circa 1900
Signed Tiffany & Co.
Of the Laelias variety, extending undulating white enamelled petals with lavender concentrations, the center set with an old European-cut diamond, enhanced by yellow enamelled detail, mounted in gold, circa 1900
Signed Tiffany & Co.