Unusual Artifacts: An Unusual Naturalistic Brooch, 1920-1930

Brooch
Great Britain, 1920-1930
The Victoria & Albert Museum

By the 1920’s, botanical-themed jewelry was still quite popular in Britain, but had changed considerably from its Georgian and Victorian roots. We can see the stylistic changes in Naturalistic jewelry with this unusual brooch. Instead of full blooms, we see stylized mushrooms and bullrushes in brown enamels, highlighted by settings of gold and platinum and accentuated by a large baroque pearl, diamonds, sapphires, rubies and emeralds.


While the design is clearly Art Deco, it differs from other pieces of the era because of its markedly rural feel as opposed to the skyscraper, urban look of most jewelry of the time.