Dragon style From Norway

Antique silver chatelaine by David-Andersen, Olso Around 1910

€ 600.00 ^*

Content 1 piece

Incl. VAT, Shipping

Antique silver chatelaine by David-Andersen, Olso Around 1910

Description

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

Similar to the English Arts & Crafts movement, the "dragon style" is a variant of Art Nouveau and at the same time the only Scandinavian style to take up and reinterpret old Nordic elements. It began its triumphal march at the end of the 19th century. The often unconventional designs of the dragon style drew on motifs from the Viking Age and the Middle Ages and were appreciated beyond the borders of Norway, Sweden and Denmark. This archaic, genuinely Nordic style was proclaimed the Norwegian national style even before Norway's independence from Sweden. The list of admirers of the dragon style includes the German Emperor Wilhelm II. Examples of dragon style jewelry can be found today in various museums, most notably the Oslo Museum of Decorative Arts and the Bröhan Museum in Berlin. The present chatelaine shows four masks and two dragon heads alongside intertwined knotted bands, as they were found in the Middle Ages as carvings on Viking ships and wooden stave churches. With their strong formal language, they were intended as elements that warded off evil in both wooden buildings and in this goldsmith's work. The silver piece of jewelry is suspended from four clock keys and a berlock that can be engraved. The Chatelaine is the work of the Norwegian goldsmith David-Andersen, which was founded in Oslo in 1876. It is very well preserved and a rare example of a piece of jewelry in the so-called "dragestyle".

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Today, there are digital apps for every possible (and impossible) task with which our cell phones try to make our lives easier. This object impressively demonstrates that the passion for multifunctional devices is not limited to the present day. It is a magnificent chatelaine, a type of jewellery that has adorned ladies' belts with a variety of practical items since the mid-18th century. In a sense, the chatelaine provided easier access to useful items than we have today, considering how often we search for keys or phones in the depths of our pockets. Like a custom-made Swiss Army knife, the Chatelaine offered its wearer the opportunity to have exactly the objects she used most often at hand. Small notebooks, needle boxes and watches were particularly popular. Inspired by the complex key rings worn by the highest female servant of French manor houses, known as the "chatelaine", the necklaces were both practical and decorative. The fact is that their fashionable appearance was often more important than their usability. Sometimes their decoration took on absurd proportions, as John Leech pointed out with a wink in the English magazine "Punch" in 1886.

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Size & Details

Dragon style From Norway

€ 600.00 ^*

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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Dragon style From Norway

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