Precious Time: A Cabinet Clock from Augsburg, 1700-1725

Cabinet Clock
1700-1725
Augsburg (Made)
Meissen (Tea Set, Made)
This and all related images courtesy of
The Victoria & Albert Museum

This artful arrangement of wood, boulle marquetry, tortoiseshell, silver, silver-gilt, inlaid mother-of-pearl, ivory, enamel, brass, pietre dure, faceted garnets, turquoise, micromosaic, velvet, porcelain, mirrored glass, gilt bronze, and oil paint on copper sheeting makes for one very involved, brilliant timepiece.


This monumental cabinet clock comes from Augsburg. Both Augsburg and Nuremberg were hubs of important clock making from the 1650 through 1750. Master craftsmen from a variety of media would join forces to create majestic and unusual cases for the clock. This, surely, is one of the finest examples of their capabilities.

Truly extraordinary, this cabinet clock is comprises of nearly twenty costly different materials. Coupled with the high cost of labor for such a piece, surely this was a royal or, at least, noble commission. We don’t know for whom the clock was originally produced, however, the curators at the V&A have determined that this was the same clock that once belonged to Lord Rosebery, British Prime Minister from 1894-5, as evidenced by photographs of the Lord from that time period (see the black and white picture detail below).

Though the clock is certainly interesting in all that’s apparent, from the little Buddha figures to the impressive inlay-work, it also contains some hidden treasures which aren’t immediately seen. For example, a neatly in-set drawer contains a Meissen tea set in a pattern which matches the clock as well as a silver picture frame.

This was a gift to the V&A from Sir Arthur Gilbert and his wife Rosalinde—two of the world's foremost decorative arts collectors, and was included in their 1996 bequest of silver, mosaics, enameled portrait miniatures and gold boxes.

Mastery of Design: A Hellenistic Gold, Emerald and Garnet Necklace, 200 B.C.-100 B.C.

Necklace
Gold, Emeralds, Garnets, Glass
Greek, 200-100 B.C.
The Victoria & Albert Museum

In Greece, during the Hellenistic period (323-27 BC), all of the arts thrived and artists of every conceivable medium began to examine the relationships between different colors. Even Hellenistic jewelers had become fascinated with the concept of color and began to play with different combinations of gold and gemstones. 

During this period, garnets were the most popular gemstone—prized for their deep, wine color. Garnets were often combined with emeralds, carnelian, rock crystal, agates, onyxes or lapis-lazuli to great effect. While the gems were not faceted in the manner of more modern gem cuts, they were often elaborately carved, pierced, and polished. Jewelers even began to toy with the idea of using colored glass to simulate the look of costlier stones. In this necklace, for example, glass was used to imitate onyx and pearl.

Reverse

The fashion of the day dictated that necklaces should be worn tight around the neck like a modern-day choker. This magnificent necklace of gold, polished garnets and emeralds, originally featured a ribbon at the back to allow the wearer to fasten it snugly against her throat. Necklaces such as this were meant to be worn with others, rising high upon the neck. Usually, the central piece was ornate, as is the case of this one, augmented by tight strings of beads in matching colors.

Masterpiece of the Week: A Garnet Ring with an Onyx Cameo of George IV

Ring with Miniature Cameo of George IV
Crown Copyright
The Royal Collection
via The Royal Collection Trust
Image Courtesy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

Click on image for larger size.  

Made circa 1820, this handsome gold ring sports a miniature white on black onyx cameo which has been bezel-set into a faceted, foil-backed garnet.

While it was made during the Regency Period, the ring didn't come to the Royal Collection until it was acquired by Queen Mary in 1933.  

Throughout the Regency and the 1820s, Rundell, Bridge & Rundell, then the Royal Goldsmiths, supplied George IV with a variety of rings set with cameos and intaglios cut with his likeness. Georgie would give these rings as tokens of affection to his favorites.  

This ring, however, appears to be the only one of its kind, set with a miniature cameo into a garnet.  This cameo, in fact, is the smallest in The Royal Collection.

Mastery of Design: A Bracelet from Queen Victoria's Silver Jubilee, 1862

This bracelet of gold, with enameled decoration, is set with an almandine garnet and pearls and was shown by the Bragg firm at the International Exhibition of 1862, where it was purchased by the Victoria & Albert Museum.

This bracelet coincided with the Silver Jubilee of Queen Victoria and also showed the influence the Queen’s personal style had upon the fashions of the day. This was the sort of jewelry favored by Prince Albert who often designed pieces for his wife in earth-tones and materials which reflected the couple’s love of the country.

Object of the Day, Museum Edition: The Boxwood Bust, 1380-1400

Bust
The Victoria & Albert Museum

From the Victoria & Albert Museum, we see a boxwood bust of a female figure with elaborate coiffure. She wears a gilt copper crown set with three red garnets (two of them faceted and one cabochon, the faceted stones are not original) and topped with five naturalistic leaf crests. The bust is displayed on a base which is also of gilt copper, supported by three seated lions . The base is set with two amethysts (originally three), which are also faceted, and therefore, are also replacements. The base contains a small cavity for a relic which would have been associated with the martyred virgin saint—whoever she was—who is depicted here. 

Boxwood figures like this one were popular from the 1350s onwards and have a sculptor to showcase his talents in a rare material which would have appealed to his wealthy patrons.

History's Runway: The Cory Head Ornament, 1835

Ornament
England, 1835
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Click on image for detail.

This headpiece of gold, from the magnificent collection of Lady Cory, is set with amethysts, topazes, pearls, coral, turquoises and garnets. It was made in England in 1835.


The design takes the form of a trail of flowers, in three pieces, connected by rings and showcases the jewels that were most popular in the 1830s.

Mastery of Design: A Pair of French Gemstone Earrings, 1820-1830

Earrings
1820-1830
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Fashioned of gold filigree with cannetille (thin gold wires) and grainti (bumpy grains of gold) decoration, these earrings are set with emeralds, citrines, sapphires, garnets, rubies, aquamarines, peridots and pearls.

I’ll repeat what I said when I discussed the matching necklace which accompanies these earrings. I believe that these earrings were made later than the necklace. The necklace was created around 1820—a fact very much reflected in the style of the piece. However, I’m guessing the earrings came about a decade later. There’s something about the workmanship that doesn’t exactly match. However, they’re quite attractive and very nice examples of the style of the early to mid Nineteenth Century. This is the sort of thing that a young Queen Victoria would have worn—or at least admired.

Gifts of Grandeur: Queen Victoria’s 1849 Christmas Brooch

Brooch, 1849
Crown Copyright
The Royal Collection
Courtesy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

This simple and elegant brooch was purchased by Prince Albert and presented to Queen Victoria at Christmas 1849. In the Royal Collection there exists a receipt for payment for two brooches dated 14 January 1850, £14—this was one of the two.

The brooch was acquired during the royal visit to Dublin in August 1849. The design of the piece was based on an ancient prototype and demonstrates the revived interest in Celtic history that was developing at the time.

Prince Albert selected the brooch expressly to show royal patronage of the Irish jewelry trade and was created by West & Son, one of the largest jewelers at the time in Dublin. Set with garnets, the brooch mimics Celtic knot-work.

Mastery of Design: A Garnet Ring with an Onyx Cameo of George IV

Ring with Miniature Cameo of George IV
Crown Copyright
The Royal Collection
via The Royal Collection Trust
Image Courtesy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

Click on image for larger size.  

Made circa 1820, this handsome gold ring sports a miniature white on black onyx cameo which has been bezel-set into a faceted, foil-backed garnet.

While it was made during the Regency Period, the ring didn't come to the Royal Collection until it was acquired by Queen Mary in 1933.  

Throughout the Regency and the 1820s, Rundell, Bridge & Rundell, then the Royal Goldsmiths, supplied George IV with a variety of rings set with cameos and intaglios cut with his likeness. Georgie would give these rings as tokens of affection to his favorites.  

This ring, however, appears to be the only one of its kind, set with a miniature cameo into a garnet.  This cameo, in fact, is the smallest in The Royal Collection.

Mastery of Design: The Carbuncle Tiara

The British Museum

Click image to enlarge.

Made circa 1850 in England, this regal tiara of bloomed and chased two-color gold is set with cabochon garnets and takes the from of a floral half-circlet.

A brilliant representative of the style of the time, this is among the many jewels bequeathed to The British Museum by Professor John and Anne Hull Grundy in 1978.  

Mastery of Design: The Charles Ricketts Garnet Ring, 1899-1903

Garnet Ring in the shape of a castle
Charles Ricketts, c. 1903
The Victoria & Albert Museum

This ring once belonged to Miss May Morris, the daughter of the socialist, artist and designer William Morris.  May was, in her own right,  a well-known and talented embroideress and jeweler.

The artist Charles Ricketts designed this ring of a cabochon almandine garnet in a high setting in the form of a turret or small castle for May.  This architectural ring was favored by Miss Morris who was particularly impressed by the ring’s shoulders which resembled gothic buttresses.

Ricketts also created various embroidery designs for May Morris. The artist usually designed jewelry for specific friends. These pieces were made by the London jeweler Carlo Giuliano.

Masterpiece of the Week: The Joicey Garnet Parure, c. 1835

Parure of Gold and Garnets
English, c. 1835
The Victoria & Albert Museum

This posh parure looks affords the look of enormous wealth, however, it’s a bit of clever jewelry trickery. With mounts stamped from a thin sheet of gold, the pieces appear to be heavier than they are. The lushness of the stones is real enough, the warm red glow of carbuncles (almandine garnets, cut en cabochon), and, when combined with the swirling mounts, the overall impression is one of immense richness. 

Gifts of Grandeur: An Italian Garnet Ring, 7th C.

Gold ring with a garnet bead and pearls, 7th C., Italy
The Victoria & Albert Museum

This magnificent ring was made in Italy in the Seventh Century and is comprised of a gold band with a projecting cone-shaped bezel set with a garnet and pearls. The hoop of the ring is pierced and chased with a pattern of foliage and an applied beaded border.

Given the age of the piece, it’s in remarkably good condition though it is missing a pearl. 

Object of the Day, Museum Edition: The Parrot Ring, 1850

Ring
Calcutta, 1850
Gold, Sapphire, Rubies, Garnet
The Victoria and Albert Museum

This is an exceptional piece, made in India in 1850. It features a fully-sculpted parrot (carved from a single sapphire and set with rubies and a garnet) perched atop a band of gold.


Purchased by the Indian Museum in London in 1855, the ring was purported as having been made in "Bengal.” At the time, the term “Bengal” referred to the overall “Begnal Presidency” which comprised a vastly larger area than present-day Bengal. In light of that, historians feel the ring was crafted in Calcutta which, at the time, was considered part of “Bengal.” Calucutta was a major hub of the arts in the Nineteenth Century, and the location for makers of opulent and highly-desirable jewelry made in the British and European style for export.

The ring appears to be an Eastern adaptation of traditional European rings (especially those from Ireland and Wales) which included a visual motif of two hands clasping one another—a symbol of love or friendship. The theme of friendship is rather lost in this retelling of the classic visual tradition, as the maker has inaccurately rendered the design. The gold hands, joined at the wrist, atop the gold band, face away from each other instead of touching one another. Perhaps this change was made to accommodate the true centerpiece of the ring—the parrot. While the “hands” motif seems an afterthought, the bird has been carefully rendered. He perches atop the hands, glittering blue from the single sapphire from which he is carved. His ruby eyes glint in contrast against his smooth blue body as does his beak—carved from an impressive almandine garnet.

Masterpiece of the Week: A Garnet and Diamond Bodice Ornament, 1680-1700

Bodice Ornament
1680-1700
Dutch
Silver, Gold, Garnets and Rose-Cut Diamonds
The Victoria & Albert Museum

During the late Seventeenth Century, upper-crust ladies adorned their gowns with jeweled ornaments which often took the form of flowers or ribbons. This piece, part of an impressive and rare suite is one of the few surviving examples of Seventeenth Century jeweled ribbon work.


A setting of silver and gold contains gorgeous hessonite garnets and rose-cut diamonds arranged to mimic the folds of a real ribbon. Additional detachable pendants create a different look and can be worn independently or as earrings. Made in the Netherlands between 1680 and 1700, this magnificent piece was donated to the V&A by Dame Joan Evans. 

Object of the Day: The Boxwood Bust, 1380-1400

Bust
The Victoria & Albert Museum

From the Victoria & Albert Museum, we see a boxwood bust of a female figure with elaborate coiffure. She wears a gilt copper crown set with three red garnets (two of them faceted and one cabochon, the faceted stones are not original) and topped with five naturalistic leaf crests. The bust is displayed on a base which is also of gilt copper, supported by three seated lions . The base is set with two amethysts (originally three), which are also faceted, and therefore, are also replacements. The base contains a small cavity for a relic which would have been associated with the martyred virgin saint—whoever she was—who is depicted here. 

Boxwood figures like this one were popular from the 1350s onwards and have a sculptor to showcase his talents in a rare material which would have appealed to his wealthy patrons.

Mastery of Design: The Dame Joan Evans Order of Santiago, 18th C.

The Order of Santiago
From the Collection of Dame Joan Evans
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Made in the Eighteenth Century, this pendant badge represents the Order of Santiago. The spokes of the badge are set with white topaz in gold and the sword cross consists of lush garnets. 


From the collection of Dame Joan Evans, this badge is quite rare. The Order of Santiago is the senior of the four Spanish Military orders.

History's Runway: The Cory Head Ornament, 1835

Ornament
England, 1835
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Click on image for detail.

This headpiece of gold, from the magnificent collection of Lady Cory, is set with amethysts, topazes, pearls, coral, turquoises and garnets. It was made in England in 1835.


The design takes the form of a trail of flowers, in three pieces, connected by rings and showcases the jewels that were most popular in the 1830s.

Mastery of Design: A Pair of French Gemstone Earrings, 1820-1830

Earrings
1820-1830
The Victoria & Albert Museum

In June of 2011, we looked at the necklace that forms a suite with these earrings. Fashioned of gold filigree with cannetille (thin gold wires) and grainti (bumpy grains of gold) decoration, these earrings are set with emeralds, citrines, sapphires, garnets, rubies, aquamarines, peridots and pearls.

I’ll repeat what I said when I discussed the necklace. I believe that these earrings were made later than the necklace. The necklace was created around 1820—a fact very much reflected in the style of the piece. However, I’m guessing the earrings came about a decade later. There’s something about the workmanship that doesn’t exactly match. However, they’re quite attractive and very nice examples of the style of the early to mid Nineteenth Century. This is the sort of thing that a young Queen Victoria would have worn—or at least admired.

Gifts of Grandeur: Queen Victoria’s 1849 Christmas Brooch

Brooch, 1849
Crown Copyright
The Royal Collection
Courtesy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

This simple and elegant brooch was purchased by Prince Albert and presented to Queen Victoria at Christmas 1849. In the Royal Collection there exists a receipt for payment for two brooches dated 14 January 1850, £14—this was one of the two.

The brooch was acquired during the royal visit to Dublin in August 1849. The design of the piece was based on an ancient prototype and demonstrates the revived interest in Celtic history that was developing at the time.

Prince Albert selected the brooch expressly to show royal patronage of the Irish jewelry trade and was created by West & Son, one of the largest jewelers at the time in Dublin. Set with garnets, the brooch mimics Celtic knot-work.