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Rare Collectible Victorian Seed Pearl Parure, British, circa 1850

€ 15,890.00 ^*

Content 1 piece

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Rare Collectible Victorian Seed Pearl Parure, British, circa 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!

A true masterpiece is this parure comprising a necklace, brooch, earrings and bracelet: it was made in meticulous handwork of countless small natural pearls, sewn with white horsehair onto plates of mother of pearl. This results in sculptural forms, which seem to be made entirely of shimmering pearls. A pearl worker must have spent many dozens of hours working on these precious objects. The impressive parure speaks the voluminous, ribboned design language of the years around 1850, with wide bracelets, long earrings, and curved, banderole-like elements on brooches and necklaces - much like those found in gold and diamond jewels of the time. These curved bands were also known as 'cuir roulé': They are considered one of the characteristic features of early Victorian jewellery. Thus, not only the materiality, but also the design of the parure indicate an origin in Great Britain. Seed pearl parures of this type were given to young women in the English-speaking world on their 18th birthdays (cf. the somewhat earlier Mary Lucile Stevens Seed Pearl Parure of 1836, now in the National Museum of American History, Inv. No. 1984.0696) or as wedding jewellery. The reason for this was the symbolism of pearls. They were considered symbols of purity and virginity, which explains their popularity as wedding jewellery. The tiny seed pearls used for these works did not come from local rivers, but were imported from Madras or China. Presumably, the larger natural pearls used here are Oriental pearls from the Persian Gulf. The parure is a collector's item of museum quality and rarity and comes in a custom fitted case. Other parures can be found, for example, in Ginny Reddington Dawes/Olivia Collings: Georgian Jewellery 1714-1830, Woodbridge 2007, p. 48 as well as David Bennett/Daniela Mascetti: Understanding Jewellery, London 2010, p. 108. Cf. on the technique ibid, p. 104. On the dating and design language of the present set, cf. ibid, fig. 107 (necklace), fig. 113 and 123 (brooch) or fig. 82 and 86 (bracelet). The sevigné suspensions of the brooch and the shape of the earrings correspond to popular types in the 1830s, but these basic shapes were here modernized by the open composition of 'cuir roulé' bands.

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"What was the first precious stone to captivate man? Probably the pearl, since its beauty was immediately revealed when the shell opened, for the pearl need not be cut or polished, and its discovery was probably a by-product of foraging." Translated from Francis Stopford, The Romance of the Jewel, London 1920. Among jewels, the pearl has a very special status, since it is not a mineral. Unlike precious stones, it does not have to be cut, but is found in the form in which it is used in jewellery. Thus, until the early modern era, many myths entwined around its origin: "Of the origin and growth of these pearls are various myths among scholars / in that many hold with the old Plinio before / they would from the Thau / so in the opening shells drip / generiret" (Museum Museorum Valentini 1704, quoted from Liselotte Hansmann / Lenz Kriss-Rettenbeck: Amulett und Talisman. Erscheinungsform und Geschichte, Munich 1966, p. 110).

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Size & Details

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€ 15,890.00 ^*

Content 1 piece

Incl. VAT, Shipping

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