Mastery of Design: The Cory Diamond Spray, 1830-70

Bodice Ornament
1830-70
The Victoria & Albert Museum 

This spray of diamonds is another perfect example of the mid Nineteenth Century sensibility for naturalistic jewelry.  Such jewels often depicted floral arrangements, sometimes peppered with jeweled “insects.”  This piece shows the trend of adding “tremblers”—jeweled pieces mounted on thin wires which moved as the wearer walked.  Dense clusters of diamonds, like the bodice ornament we see here, were the height of fashion during this period.

This ornament, owned by Lady Cory, was made in Britain between 1830 and 1870 and features a plethora of brilliant-cut and European-cut diamonds mounted in silver and backed in gold.