Gifts of Grandeur: The Hull Grundy Garnet Aigrette, c. 1770

This and all related images from The British Museum

With its trembler bird which would have quivered as the wearer of this jewel walked, this aigrette of rich garnets set in gilt silver would have been the height of fashion in the mid Seventeenth Century when it was made.  

Another jewel from the Hull Grundy Gift to The British Museum, this aigrette is one of three similar pieces in the collection.

Click Image to Enlarge

Mastery of Design: The Dame Joan Evans Aigrette, 1750-60

Aigrette
Portugal, 1750-60
From the Collection of Dame Joan Evans at
The Victoria & Albert Museum

This aigrette of silver-set chrysoberyls was designed to resemble a swirling spray with a single flower on a feathered scrolling stem. Made by an unknown jeweler in Portugal between 1750 and 1760, this aigrette is from the collection of Dame Joan Evans.

An aigrette, in jewelry, is so-called because of its resemblance to the feathers and plumes atop the head of an egret. These jewels are often meant to be worn as a turban ornament.  

This intricate, sparkling volute, however, wasn't likely intended for a turban, but rather served double-duty as a hair ornament and brooch to be worn on a lady's bodice. 

Mastery of Design: The Cornflower Aigrette, late Eighteenth Century

Aigrette
From the Hull Grundy Gift
This and all related images from:
The British Museum

I like the word "aigrette."  It's one of those words which I find fun to say.  Furthermore, I like aigrettes since they're often very sparkly and chock-full o' diamonds.  This one's no exception.

I know we've looked at a good many aigrettes before.  This one, however, I think is my favorite of the lot to date.

This aigrette is in the form of a ribbon-tied trembler spray of cornflowers and wheat-ears.  The British Museum was bequeathed this aigrette and a many of its cousins as part of the Hull Grundy gift, and the museum describes the silver and gold, open-back spray set with diamonds as being of particularly "fine workmanship."  

Made in the late Eighteenth or early Nineteenth Century, the piece was possibly made in France, but, shows stylistic elements of English design as well.  The taste for such spray ornaments and jeweled bouquets was particularly strong in both France and England until well after the turn of the Nineteenth Century.  According to the museum, "a very similar aigrette is included in a French design-book issued by Villardi in 1811." The Morocco leather case further suggests French origin.  

The British Museum also states that, "This may be the 'Antique diamond brooch in the form of a harvest bouquet, the wheat ears, leaves and stems pavé-set with cushion-shaped stones, the single flower-head similarly set with a larger diamond at the centre, with case' sold at auction 'By order of the executors'" which was among the pieces taken from the Tuileries by the Empress Eugénie.  An inventory of the Empress' jewels from 1870 declares that there was a "beautiful brilliant brooch formed as a cornflower and a group of foliage."  

Mastery of Design: The Cornflower Aigrette, late Eighteenth Century

Aigrette
From the Hull Grundy Gift
This and all related images from:
The British Museum

I like the word "aigrette."  It's one of those words which I find fun to say.  Furthermore, I like aigrettes since they're often very sparkly and chock-full o' diamonds.  This one's no exception.

I know we've looked at a good many aigrettes before.  This one, however, I think is my favorite of the lot to date.

This aigrette is in the form of a ribbon-tied trembler spray of cornflowers and wheat-ears.  The British Museum was bequeathed this aigrette and a many of its cousins as part of the Hull Grundy gift, and the museum describes the silver and gold, open-back spray set with diamonds as being of particularly "fine workmanship."  

Made in the late Eighteenth or early Nineteenth Century, the piece was possibly made in France, but, shows stylistic elements of English design as well.  The taste for such spray ornaments and jeweled bouquets was particularly strong in both France and England until well after the turn of the Nineteenth Century.  According to the museum, "a very similar aigrette is included in a French design-book issued by Villardi in 1811." The Morocco leather case further suggests French origin.  

The British Museum also states that, "This may be the 'Antique diamond brooch in the form of a harvest bouquet, the wheat ears, leaves and stems pavé-set with cushion-shaped stones, the single flower-head similarly set with a larger diamond at the centre, with case' sold at auction 'By order of the executors'" which was among the pieces taken from the Tuileries by the Empress Eugénie.  An inventory of the Empress' jewels from 1870 declares that there was a "beautiful brilliant brooch formed as a cornflower and a group of foliage."  

Gifts of Grandeur: The Hull Grundy Garnet Aigrette, c. 1770

This and all related images from The British Museum

With its trembler bird which would have quivered as the wearer of this jewel walked, this aigrette of rich garnets set in gilt silver would have been the height of fashion in the mid Seventeenth Century when it was made.  

Another jewel from the Hull Grundy Gift to The British Museum, this aigrette is one of three similar pieces in the collection.

Click Image to Enlarge

Mastery of Design: A Georgian Trembler, c. 1770.

This and all related images from The British Museum.

Thought to have been made in Italy, this aigrette (an ornament simulating the feathers of an egret , often worn on a turban or hat) dates to circa 1770.  It is made in the form of crescent with a trembler spray of flowers of silver and gold with a closed-back and set with diamonds of assorted cuts and sizes.  

Such an ornament, with its moving pendant drops, would have been quite the thing in the Seventeenth Century when jewelry design leaned toward the Naturalistic and jewelers looked for new ways to create a sense of motion with their work.  This fashion would be resurrected in the mid-Victorian period.

This is one of three such Georgian pieces which were given to the V&A as part of the Hull-Grundy Gift of 1978.

Click Images to Enlarge.

Mastery of Design: The Dame Joan Evans Aigrette, 1750-60

Aigrette
Portugal, 1750-60
From the Collection of Dame Joan Evans at
The Victoria & Albert Museum

This aigrette of silver-set chrysoberyls was designed to resemble a swirling spray with a single flower on a feathered scrolling stem. Made by an unknown jeweler in Portugal between 1750 and 1760, this aigrette is from the collection of Dame Joan Evans.

An aigrette, in jewelry, is so-called because of its resemblance to the feathers and plumes atop the head of an egret. These jewels are often meant to be worn as a turban ornament.  

This intricate, sparkling volute, however, wasn't likely intended for a turban, but rather served double-duty as a hair ornament and brooch to be worn on a lady's bodice.