Times Past

Antique Early Victorian Foam Gold Brooch, c. 1850

€ 269.00 ^*

Content 1 piece

Incl. VAT, Shipping

Antique Early Victorian Foam Gold Brooch, c. 1850

Description

This description was automatically translated from German. If you have any questions about this piece of jewellery, we will be happy to help!

After the Napoleonic Wars and the furor of the French Revolution, many of the citizens of Central Europe longed for peace, stability and security. Machines changed the world of work, the railroads revolutionized transport and technical innovations followed at a rapid pace. The people of the time were well aware of the consequences of these developments. Partly perceived as a crisis, partly celebrated as progress, the feeling of change led to a new interest in history. This was also reflected in the arts. Romantic artists created medieval dream worlds that were intended to form an alternative to the uncertainty of their own time. And shortly afterwards, the gallant life of the Ancien Regime was also rediscovered: by the 1840s at the latest, jewellery was also encountered again in Baroque and Rococo forms, albeit updated to its own time in the detail of the forms. This brooch speaks this language. We see powerful, dynamic curves reminiscent of Rococo rocailles. A blossom with foliage entwines the lower edge. Grapes and leaves enliven the spaces between the curves. The overall effect is a sculptural, compact form whose appearance is characterized by the juxtaposition of polished surfaces and finely structured ornamentation. The brooch is made from hollow sheet gold over a model. The back is made of silver and the inside is filled with resin. This made it possible to create a large, stable and impressive brooch using relatively little material (see "Learn more"). For the dating, see Brigitte Marquardt: Schmuck. Schmuck. Klassizismus und Biedermeier. 1780–1850, Munich 1998, p. 248ff.

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The Early Victorian period, the era after the Congress of Vienna, with its strong focus on the family and the domestic, produced a wide variety of jewelry designs. Jewelry made of so-called foam gold in particular were popular gifts and pledges of human affection. Gold was expensive after the long Napoleonic Wars, but the demand for eye-catching pieces of jewelry was great, which stimulated the ingenuity of jewelry makers: wafer-thin sheets of gold were beaten into voluminous shapes over steel models. Often filled with a resin to keep the gold stable, large and impressive pieces of jewelry were created. This gold working technique, which reached its first peak in the 1840s, remained in fashion until the late 1860s.

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Size & Details

Times Past

€ 269.00 ^*

Content 1 piece

Incl. VAT, Shipping

Our Promise

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You can rely on our years of experience in the trade and our expertise as a professional art historians for reviews of the antique jewellery. As a member of various trade organisations and the British Society of Jewellery Historians, we remain committed to the highest possible degree of accuracy. In our descriptions, we always also indicate any signs of age and defects and never hide them in our photos – this saves you from any unpleasant surprises when your package arrives.

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Times Past

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