Lot 106
106
A superb neo-renaissance pendant, by Lucien Falize
VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price plus bu… Read more VARIOUS PROPERTIES
A superb neo-renaissance pendant, by Lucien Falize

Details
A superb neo-renaissance pendant, by Lucien Falize
Designed in the Renaissance style with the figures Joshua and Caleb, the two messengers of Moses returning from the Promised Land, carrying between them a bunch of grapes formed from vari-coloured black pearls, standing upon a sapphire, diamond and enamel ground to the pear-shaped grey pearl drop; the gold neckchain with cushion-cut sapphire and pearl three-stone spacers, Henri Vever dates the jewel 1896 (see literature), 8.0 cm. high, with French assay mark for gold to the chain, in black leather case with applied coronet and monogram
Signed B and F in black enamel with diamond-set ring and pearl between
Literature
K. Purcell, Falize, A Dynasty of Jewelers, London, 1999, p. 132 & 240. According to K. Purcell, p. 32, the partnership between Germain Bapst and Lucien Falize dissolved on 31 March 1892 after which time the new firm continued to use a similar maker's mark to that used during the previous partnership

H. Vever, French Jewelery of the Nineteenth Century, translation by K. Purcell, London, 2001, p. 957 & 1009

The Belle Epoque of French Jewellery 1850-1910, London, 1999, p. 166, no. 98
Exhibited
Wartski, London, Falize, A Dynasty of Jewellers - A Loan
Exhibition, June 1999, no. 137. It is mentioned in this catalogue that the jewel was exhibited by Falize Frères at the Paris Universal Exhibition, 1900
Special notice
VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price plus buyer's premium.

Lot Essay

It has been suggested that an inspiration for this piece was the painting of Autumn (1660 - 1664), from the series The Four Seasons by Nicholas Poussin, in The Louvre, Paris.
Another model may have been an 18th century Dresden enamelled jewel casket decorated with two figures carring a bunch of grapes between them, see J. L. Sponsel, Das Grüne Gewölbe zu Dresden, Germany, 1929, p. 238, no. 36

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