Unusual Artifacts: The Crichton Vinaigrette, 1885-1886

Unusual Artifacts: The Crichton Vinaigrette, 1885-1886

Vinaigrette
G.&M. Crichton
The Victoria & Albert Museum

A Vinaigrette was used to hold an aromatic substance. Usually, the vinaigrette was worn, suspended from a chain, cord or ribbon around the throat. Sometimes, it could take the form of a brooch or a hand-held ornament.

This example was made around 1886 in Scotland by the Edinburgh jewelery firm G&M Crichton who had earlier made quite a splash at the London Exhibition of 1872. While Crichton’s designs were praised overall at the exhibition, some critics felt that the Highland brooches were a bit too “extravagant” in detail.

When this brooch was made, Scotland and all things Scottish were quite fashionable due to the earlier poetry of Sir Walter Scott and the public admiration for the land shown by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Scottish pebble jewelry was quite in demand. While the majority of these Scottish agate pieces came back to England as souvenirs of Scotland, some examples were made in Birmingham to meet the high demand. Birmingham jewelers would mimic the style of the Scottish jewels, employing stones collected in Scotland.

This vinaigrette shows the variety of attractive stones native to Scotland. Citrines, amethysts, bloodstone, mottled jasper and banded agate are set into silver. The reverse is marked for G.&M. Crichton with hallmarks for 1885 to 1886.

Sunday Sparkle: The Life Began In Water Necklace, 1950

Necklace
"Life Began in Water"
Sah Oved, c. 1950
The Victoria & Albert Museum

In the years following the Second World War, more so than in any other era, jewelry began to be viewed as a type of “wearable art,” which allowed the wearer to express his or her character as well as that of the designer. Designers played with the conventions of jewelry-making to produce untraditional, often abstract, pieces which looked to the modernist principles of the Bauhaus as well as to earlier avant-garde art movements such as Surrealism, Cubism and Constructivism. Though designs may have nodded to conventional and traditional designs, jewelers felt free to play with proportion and material, employing stones with unusual shapes which were presented in arrangements which were often asymmetrical.

Sah Oved became known for such pieces. Here’s an example of her work, made in England around 1950. “Life began in Water,” features a playful title which is alluding to the creation of life. This jewel is considered an iconic piece of its period.

The central ornament of the necklace is positioned off-center, the fishes and water birds are abstract, and the cuts of the agates, jasper and aquamarines are unconventional. The wholly odd, asymmetrical design became a benchmark for other designers wishing to emulate her work. 

Object of the Day, Museum Edition: Queen Mary’s Fabergé Cat, 1907

Cat of Jasper and Olivine with Gold
Michael Perchin, 1907
Purchased by King George V for Queen Mary
Crown Copyright
The Royal Collection 
All related images courtesy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

This figure of a cat is carved from gray Kalgan jasper with olivine eyes set in yellow gold, It is the work of Michael Perchin for Fabergé. While we’d assume that his was part of the 1907 Sandringham Commission which was placed with Fabergé by King Edward VII as a gift for his long-suffering wife, Queen Alexandra, there’s evidence that this piece was made later.

Queen Mary, Consort of King George V, followed in her mother-in-law’s footsteps and collected Fabergé animals as well. It’s believed that this piece was purchased by George V for Queen Mary in 1929. Once it was mixed in with Queen Alexandra’s collection it became difficult to tell one from another.

Crown Copyright
Image Courtesy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
From The Royal Collection

Unusual Artifacts: The Crichton Vinaigrette, 1885-1886

Vinaigrette
G.&M. Crichton
The Victoria & Albert Museum

A Vinaigrette was used to hold an aromatic substance. Usually, the vinaigrette was worn, suspended from a chain, cord or ribbon around the throat. Sometimes, it could take the form of a brooch or a hand-held ornament.

This example was made around 1886 in Scotland by the Edinburgh jewelery firm G&M Crichton who had earlier made quite a splash at the London Exhibition of 1872. While Crichton’s designs were praised overall at the exhibition, some critics felt that the Highland brooches were a bit too “extravagant” in detail.

When this brooch was made, Scotland and all things Scottish were quite fashionable due to the earlier poetry of Sir Walter Scott and the public admiration for the land shown by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Scottish pebble jewelry was quite in demand. While the majority of these Scottish agate pieces came back to England as souvenirs of Scotland, some examples were made in Birmingham to meet the high demand. Birmingham jewelers would mimic the style of the Scottish jewels, employing stones collected in Scotland.

This vinaigrette shows the variety of attractive stones native to Scotland. Citrines, amethysts, bloodstone, mottled jasper and banded agate are set into silver. The reverse is marked for G.&M. Crichton with hallmarks for 1885 to 1886.

Precious Time: Napoleon Bonaparte’s Pietre Dura Clock, 1804

Triumphal Arch Clock
Raffaelli and Breguet, 1804
The Victoria & Albert Museum

This magnificent clock wants to be studied. An impressive combination of various stones and gilt bronze, the clock takes the form of a Triumphal Arch of red and white antique marble with shimmering columns of amethyst topped by gilt bronze Corinthian capitals.


The two panels which flank the arch show micromosaic, pietre dure panels depicting military trophies. These pietre dure ornaments as well as other decorative inlays consist of amethyst, lapis lazuli, malachite, labradorite, jasper, agate, marble, and glass.

The whole of the clock case—designed by Giacomo Raffaelli—is surmounted by gilt bronze figures of Victory and Fame while the niche in the archway protects a statuette of Mars. Raffaelli and clockmaker Abraham-Louis Breguet worked together to create this gorgeous timepiece, hoping it would find its way into a prominent home. And, it certainly did.

Pope Pius VII had entrusted Venetian Sculptor Antonio Canova with the task of finding suitable gifts to present to Napoleon Bonaparte on the event of his coronation. The “Triumphal Arch Clock” (as it is known) was among the items selected by Canova for the occasion.

The Empress Josephine was said to have favored the clock and kept it as the centerpiece of her collection. Later, the clock was sold to pay off mounting debts. Purchased by Sir Arthur Gilbert and his wife Rosalinde in 1976, the clock was added to their impressive collection of decorative arts—considered one of the world’s greatest such collections. Gilbert loaned the clock to the Victoria & Albert Museum in 1996 where it remains on loan to this day.

The Home Beautiful: The John Jones Table, 1870

Center Table
c. 1870
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Celebrated for its beautiful hardstone work, this narrow, rectangular center table is supported by four tapering legs and is veneered in Mozambique rosewood and ebony on a structure of oak. The sides are set with plaques of hardstone and with one plaque of porcelain. The whole is adorned with mounts of gilt bronze


John Jones, an avid British collector of French 18th-century furniture and porcelain, bought this table between about 1870 and 1880, thinking that the table was already an antique. But, inspection of the table has proven otherwise. This table is narrower than most Eighteenth-Century tables. Furthermore, the combination of hardstones (pietre dure) with owed more to the tastes of the 1870s than the 1770s.

The table was most likely made shortly before John Jones purchased it. However, the hardstone panels of Marble, Alabaster, Chalcedony, Agate, Carnelian, Lapis-lazuli, Amethyst, Jasper, Carrara marble, Sainte Ann marble, and Belgium marble were probably made in Florence between about 1660 and 1690. So, at least a portion of it was antique. Nevertheless, Jones was quite proud of the table, and, if you wait long enough, anything can be an antique.

Gifts of Grandeur: A Carnelian Intaglio

Hardstone Intaglio
The British Museum

Of unknown origin and date, this handsome intaglio of jasper comes to us from The British Museum. Common sense tells us that the piece is of ancient origins, possibly Roman. Ancient Roman gem carvers set the standard for intaglio and hardstone work for centuries to come. This piece is especially interesting. The red jasper has been carved with a double mask. One shows a youthful visage while the other shows an aged and bald countenance—no doubt, a reminder of the passage of time and its effect on all of us.

Mastery of Design: The Melillo Insect Necklace, Late 19th C.

Necklace
Italy, late Nineteenth Century
The British Museum

Made of jasper, gold and agate, this woven necklace boasts a Milanese chain of hollow elptical sections and three carved hardstone pendants. A gold frog, in relied, adorns the box clasp. The piece was made in Italy in the late Nineteenth Century by Giacinto Melillo who was known for his jewels made on ancient designs.

Gifts of Grandeur: The Crichton Vinaigrette, c. 1885

Vinaigrette
G. & M. Crichton
Scotland, c. 1885
The Victoria & Albert Museum

The Edinburgh jewelry firm of G. & M. Crichton, at the London Exhibition of 1872, was given a fair amount of praise for their work in general. However, their highland shoulder brooches and works which used wholly Scottish materials, were granted the greatest raves. By the 1880s, thanks in large part to the poems and novels of Sir Walter Scott and the loyalty of Queen Victoria and the late Prince Consort, Scotland was a popular tourist spot. Some of the most fashionable souvenirs to be taken home from Scotland were the examples of “pebble” jewelry which were produced by local workmasters.

Here’s an example of the sort of wares produced by G. & M. Crichton using local materials. This vinaigrette (a small vessel used to hold scent or smelling salts used to combat the pervasive foul city smells of the Nineteenth Century) is constructed of silver set with citrines, amethysts, bloodstone, mottled jasper and banded agate. Signed “G. & M. Crichton” it also is marked with Edinburgh hallmarks for 1885-1886.   The vinaigrette was praised by critics for its handsome design and the use of the large, faceted citrine in the cap of the vessel.  

Mastery of Design: The Augsburg Box, c. 1770

Click on image to enlarge.
Jeweled Box
Germany, 1770
The Victoria & Albert Museum

A truly magnificent box dating to about 1770, this work of art is made of quartz mounted in gold and encrusted with carved and faceted stones including sapphire, pink tourmaline, white opals, garnets, marcasite, lapis lazuli, bowenite, malachite, turquoise, jasper, agate, and chalcedony.

Some of the stones have been carved in the forms of a woman, birds, flowers, foliage and insects. Made in Augsburg, Germany, the box may have been made by Heinrich Gottlob Lang (1739-1809).

Mastery of Design: Queen Mary’s Fabergé Cat, 1907

Cat of Jasper and Olivine with Gold
Michael Perchin, 1907
Purchased by King George V for Queen Mary
Crown Copyright
The Royal Collection
All related images courtesy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

This figure of a cat is carved from gray Kalgan jasper with olivine eyes set in yellow gold, It is the work of Michael Perchin for Fabergé. While we’d assume that his was part of the 1907 Sandringham Commission which was placed with Fabergé by King Edward VII as a gift for his long-suffering wife, Queen Alexandra, there’s evidence that this piece was made later.

Queen Mary, Consort of King George V, followed in her mother-in-law’s footsteps and collected Fabergé animals as well. It’s believed that this piece was purchased by George V for Queen Mary in 1929. Once it was mixed in with Queen Alexandra’s collection it became difficult to tell one from another.

Crown Copyright
Image Courtesy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
From The Royal Collection

Mastery of Design: The Life Began In Water Necklace, 1950

Necklace
"Life Began in Water"
Sah Oved, c. 1950
The Victoria & Albert Museum

In the years following the Second World War, more so than in any other era, jewelry began to be viewed as a type of “wearable art,” which allowed the wearer to express his or her character as well as that of the designer. Designers played with the conventions of jewelry-making to produce untraditional, often abstract, pieces which looked to the modernist principles of the Bauhaus as well as to earlier avant-garde art movements such as Surrealism, Cubism and Constructivism. Though designs may have nodded to conventional and traditional designs, jewelers felt free to play with proportion and material, employing stones with unusual shapes which were presented in arrangements which were often asymmetrical.

Sah Oved became known for such pieces. Here’s an example of her work, made in England around 1950. “Life began in Water,” features a playful title which is alluding to the creation of life. This jewel is considered an iconic piece of its period.

The central ornament of the necklace is positioned off-center, the fishes and water birds are abstract, and the cuts of the agates, jasper and aquamarines are unconventional. The wholly odd, asymmetrical design became a benchmark for other designers wishing to emulate her work.