Gifts of Grandeur: The Lehigh Valley Railway Brooch, 1948

The Victoria & Albert Museum

Isn’t this wonderful? Here we see a gold brooch in the form of a diesel locomotive, set with diamonds, sapphires and rock crystal. It’s the work of an unknown American jeweler and dates to 1948.

Jewelers often created special to commemorate notable events. This brooch was made to mark the introduction of diesel locomotives to part of the Lehigh Valley Railroad in the U.S. as locomotives powered by diesel were beginning to replace older steam locomotives. Such an event was exciting and important, hence the creation of this piece.

The Lehigh Valley Railroad was first constructed in the Nineteenth Century to transport Anthracite coal from Pennsylvania to America’s east coast, earning the nickname “the route of the black diamond,” in honor of its profitable cargo. To commemorate this, a black diamond shape can be seen on the company's logo on the front of this brooch.

History's Runway: The Mappin & Webb Vanity Case, 1935

Gold Vanity Case
Mappin and Webb, 1935
This and all related images from:
The Victoria & Albert Museum

By the 1930, the use of snuff had long been out of favor and producers of luxury goods looked for something to replace the elegant gold boxes which had long been a mainstay of their concerns. Though not good for world health, the cigarette case was a natural successor to the snuffbox as smoking was quite the thing. Similarly, vanity cases of gold and other precious metals began to take center stage in the world of opulent accessories. Here we see such a vanity case. These were made for Society ladies as a container for their personal items. This one holds an eyebrow pencil, lipstick and compartments for powder with puffs.

The gold case was made by Mappin and Webb in Sheffield, England in 1935 and is set with cabochon sapphires. 

Mastery of Design: The Devlin "Blue Eyes" Brooches, 1978

The Victoria & Albert Museum

For some reason, I felt like dragging out these weird brooches, today. 

They put me in mind of the early 1990s paperback book cover from The Great Gatsby that sat on my desk in high school.  I thought that the ugliest book cover illustration, but I just adore (in Eva Gabor voice, even) these brooches.

Though kind of creepy, this pair of brooches is also cute and, certainly, opulent. The brooches are rendered in the form of two blue eyes with pupils of black pearls, irises of sapphires and diamonds, and the whites of diamonds. The eyelids are ridged in gold.

Historically, eyes were frequently depicted in jewelry—as portrait miniature mementos in elaborate jeweled frames which were given by a lady to her love. This work from the 1970s is an interesting play on that idea. And, truly, if you examine it, with the exception of the portrait miniatures, the use of human body parts in jewelry design has, historically, been anything but literal. Stuart Devlin, the creator of these “eye” brooches adds a note of surrealism to his design which make these jewels all the more interesting from an art historical standpoint and all the more flashy from the standpoint of fashion.

In London in the 1960s, a group of jewelers emerged, offering new ways of looking at jewelry and catering to women in high society who were once again turning to their jewels as a way of expressing their wealth and status. Like the jewelers of the Victorian era, these modern masters knew that, for the upper-class woman, what mattered most was an expression of individuality,

Stuart Devlin was certainly one of the best of this crop of contemporary British jewelers. The Australia-born Devlin was awarded a scholarship to study at the Royal College of Art, London in 1958 and afterwards at Columbia University in the US. In 1965, he returned to London and opened a workshop where he designed jewelry, silver, trophies, coinage, medallions, furniture and interiors. He was granted the Royal Warrant of Goldsmith and Jeweller to Her Majesty the Queen in 1982.

Gifts of Grandeur: The Queen Mother's Cartier Leaf Brooch, 1928

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

Made in 1928 by London's Cartier branch, this lush, lead-shaped brooch of baguette and pavé diamonds, sapphires, emeralds, amethysts and one bright ruby was given by the Duke of York (later, King George VI) to the Duchess of York (later Queen Elizabeth, and, then, the Queen Mother).

Queen Elizabeth presented this brooch to  her daughter, Princess Elizabeth (later Queen Elizabeth II) as a birthday gift during the Second World War.

Gifts of Grandeur: The Fabergé Star Bangle, 1908-1913

Bangle of gold, a star sapphire and ruby
c. 1908
The Victoria & Albert Museum

In 1882, Fabergé showed archaeological-style jewelry at the Pan-Russian Industrial Exhibition in Moscow.   The display was a triumph and visitors to the Exhibition were vocal in their adoration of these pieces, which were based on the Greek jewelry in the Hermitage.

Among the most celebrated of the pieces on display was this bangle bracelet of gold which is set, at the terminals, with a large pale star sapphire and a vivid star ruby.  The stones, both natural, display a white star, due to refraction, when held up to the light.

Her Majesty, Queen Mary, consort of King George V, was a great fan of this style of bracelet and amassed many similar pieces in her monumental collection of jewels.  

Mastery of Design: The Davies Indian Necklace, 19th C.

Necklace of gold, silver, white sapphires, emeralds, pearls, rubies, rock crystal and enamel.
Northern India, Nineteenth Century
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Made in the Nineteenth Century, This North-Indian necklace consists of a double string of pearls and emeralds which support a circular pendant of gold and silver, set with rubies, emeralds, natural white sapphires and rock crystal.  The gorgeous pendant is enameled on the reverse.  The necklace closes with ties of silk covered with gilt silver metal, and is bound with strings of silk threaded with seed pearls.

Mastery of Design: Lady Cory’s Sapphire and Diamond Necklace, 1850-1930

Sapphire and Diamond Necklace
Silver-set Diamonds on gold mount
1850, altered in 1930
Cory Bequest
This and all related images from:
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Click image to enlarge

European-cut diamonds set in silver and mounted around gold-set, marvelously clean, sapphires, this truly magnificent necklace was created in 1850 in England. Originally, the piece was one long necklace which was designed to be worn in conjunction with a jeweled stomacher.

When acquired by the aristocratic Lady Cory, it was treasured for the exceptional quality of its stones, but found to be an unflattering style. In 1930, Lady Cory had the necklace adapted into a shorter, double-strand piece. The excess links were made into earrings, making a valuable and gorgeous parure. Lady Cory bequeathed the necklace to the Victoria & Albert Museum along with the bulk of her impressive and celebrated collection of priceless gems.

Reverse

Object of the Day, Museum Edition: A Jewelled Pencil Case, 1880-1900

Pencil Case
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Happy St. Patrick's Day!  

I thought, given today is, naturally, associated with all things Irish, I'd show you some objects which relate to Ireland and, in this case, shamrocks.

This sparkling beauty dates between 1880 and 1890 and is a masterpiece of chased gold, rose-cut diamonds, rubies, emeralds, sapphires and an opal. The work of an unknown maker, it most assuredly comes from Britain. Though quite sceptre-like, it is actually a case for a pencil. The case is chased and engraved with a rose, a thistle and a shamrock--emblems of the United Kingdom. Even after over a century, the case still contains two spare nibs and three pencil lead fragments.

This oppulent object has been thought to have been made from jewels belonging to King George IV. These jewels may have been worn during George’s 1821 coronation.

Mastery of Design: The Treskow Fish Brooch, 1953

Brooch
Treskow, 1953
The Victoria & Albert Museum

From the year of Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation, we have a brooch which plays on the tradition of the Victorian and Edwardian ideals of creating jewelry in Naturalistic forms. This brooch, clearly modern in design, takes the form of a fish--the eye suggested by a sapphire set into a depression lined with granulation, the scales are indicated by diamonds set into lozenges of granulation. A baroque pearl is set into the upper part of the tail fin.


While jewelry had always been “wearable art,” in the early post-war years, jewelers really began to play with this idea and the concept that jewels allowed the expression of the character of the wearer as much as that of the designer. Jewels of this period are defined by abstract designs which bend the traditional through the use of Naturalistic motifs which are heightened by stones with unconventional shapes and asymmetrical composition.

This is the work of Elisabeth Treskow whose early jewelry follows the Bauhaus principles. In the 1920s, Treskow showed her interest in ancient jewelry—incorporating ancient gems in many of her contemporary pieces. Treskow owned a large collection of ancient jewels which she bequeathed to the Museum für Angewandte Kunst, in Cologne.

Treskow was particularly fascinated by the Etruscans, and explored the technique of granulation in which minute grains of gold are applied to the surface without of a piece without using solder. This fish shows her desire to revive the technique of granulation. 

Mastery of Design: The Podolsky Necklace, 1947

Necklace
Gold, Rubies and Diamonds
The Victoria & Albert Museum

This exceptional necklace is constructed of an intricate series of flexible, ribbed tubes of gold. This technique—known as “snakes” or “gas-pipes”--rose in prominence in the 1930s and remained very fashionable for necklaces and bracelets throughout the 1940s.

Two hollow, flexible “snake” chains--one of white gold and the other of yellow gold—are joined into a clip fastening at one end and ending in two gold drops surmounted by two collars, one of sapphires and the other of rubies at the other end.

An open scrolling band at the front encases the chains. This band is set with brilliant-cut diamonds bordered by a thin band of table-cut rubies on one side and of sapphires on the other. This section is removable and can be worn separately as a clip.

The necklace was made in London between 1947 and 1948 by Eyna Wolko Podolsky (1888-1962). Paul Podolsky, the son of the maker, stated that in 1947, 18ct gold was possible only for export and that this necklace was made for their client Abdul Maleek in Alexandria, Egypt.

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: A Jewel and Enamel Pendant, 1680-1700

Pendant
Late Seventeenth Century
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Here we see something quite special. This enamelled gold openwork lozenge pendant is set with sapphires, rubies, emeralds and rose-cut diamonds. The reverse of the pendant is adorned with a depiction of a bowl of fruit in painted enamel. 

This masterpiece was made in Western Europe in the late Seventeenth Century and came to the V&A at the bequest of Dame Joan Evans who left most of her impressive collection of jewels to the museum.

Mastery of Design: A Gift to Queen Mary from the Royal Household, 1928

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

Click on Image to Enlage

Made by Ovchinnikov of St Petersburg this box of enamel, gold, topaz, sapphires, and was presented to  Queen Mary, consort of King George V, King of the United Kingdom (1867-1953), from the Royal Household on her May 26, 1928.

The square circular lilac guilloché enamel box's raised inset cover is mounted with a faceted blue topaz.  The neck of cream guilloché enamel, and shoulders are mounted in colored gold with chased floral swags. The illusion of pendants of enamels is heightened from raised set diamonds and surrounding cabochon sapphires.

Gifts of Grandeur: King George V’s Cigarette Case

Cigarette Case
Before 1896
Crown Copyright
The Royal Collection
via The Royal Collection Trust
Image Courtesy of
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

Queen Alexandra’s famed good taste extended to the gifts that she gave to her friends and family. Take this cigarette case for example. This was a gift from Queen Alexandra to her son, The Duke of York (later King George V) and his wife, Mary of Teck.

King George V was a longtime smoker. Even Queen Mary was known to take a puff or two—especially later in life. Cigarette smoking was quite fashionable by the Nineteenth Century, and, of course, was also a good excuse to collect a good many handsome items which only made smoking more glamorous. Chief among smoking related objects was the cigarette case.

Fabergé perfected the art of producing cigarette cases and created cases which ranged rom the simplest styles to the most elaborate gold and enamelled versions. Cases by Fabergé feautured concealed hinges, smooth edges and jewelled push pieces. These details made them the poshest accessory of the late Victorian and Edwardian eras.

This particular case of gold, brilliant diamonds, cabochon sapphires was designed by Eduard Schramm for Fabergé. The goldwork is rendered in a technique known as samorodok (gold nugget), in which the plate metal is brought almost to a melting point and then removed quickly from the furnace. This causes rapid shrinking which creates a crumpled appearance. 

Sunday Sparkle: The Cooper Christmas Pendant, 1906

The Victoria & Albert Museum

The Cooper Christmas Pendant consists of a Madonna and Child within a jeweled niche, suspended within a circular wire frame which has been adorned with stars. The pendant is hung with an additional circular pendant and drop below, while above, a dove descends between the two chains that connect the suspension loop. The piece flickers with the colors and lights of hand-worked silver and gold with rubies, aquamarines, sapphires, opals and chrysoprases.


This is the work of John Paul Cooper whose artistry as a jeweler was celebrated at the 1906 Arts and Crafts Exhibition. Studio Magazine praised Cooper’s work for its sculptural qualities and for its originality during a period when other exhibitors' work appeared rather formulaic and staid.

The shimmer, rich colors, rounded cabochon-cut stones, plain bezels and the hand-worked silver seen here are typical of Arts and Crafts jewelry. Cooper favored figural subjects and he often worked with spiritual and symbolic themes.

Mastery of Design: Queen Victoria’s 1842 Christmas Brooch

Princess Victoria Brooch
Presented to Queen Victoria on Christmas, 1842
Designed by Prince Albert
Crafted by William Essex after William Ross, miniaturist
Enamel, Gold, Diamonds, Rubies, Sapphires, Emeralds, &
Topazes
The Royal Collection

To celebrate Christmas with his wife and their first child, Princess Victoria, Prince Albert designed a beautiful enamel and jeweled brooch for Queen Victoria. Inspired by a painting by Raphael, the prince envisioned an angel with sparkling wings and the face of their infant daughter.


Jeweler William Essex was commissioned to create the brooch to Prince Albert’s specifications. For Princess Victoria’s enameled, cherubic face, Essex used as his model a miniature painting of the child princess by William Ross. The resulting brooch of enamel, gold, sapphires, rubies, emeralds, diamonds and topazes shows the young Princess as a putti draped in a regal blue robe. In her tiny hands, she clutches a cross of diamonds and rubies.

Queen Victoria was—rightfully—thrilled with the brooch and wrote in her journal, “The workmanship and design are quite exquisite, and dear Albert was so pleased at my delight over it, it’s having been entirely his own idea and taste.”

Mastery of Design: The Pinecone Brooch, 1960

Brooch
Jean Schumberger, 1960
Tiffany & Co.
The Victoria & Albert Museum

This attractive brooch is of a more modern origin than the pieces which we usually examine onStalking the Belle Époque, but it has its roots in the designs of the late Victorian era. Jean Schlumberger of New York’s Tiffany & Co. designed this glittering gem in the form of a pair of pinecones--one is set with emeralds, and the other with sapphires. The pinecones are surmounted with diamond-set leaves.

During his career, Jean Schlumberger (1907-87) worked with Schiaparelli in Paris before joining Tiffany & Co. Schlumberger came by his love of gems naturally. He came from a family of textile manufacturers in Mulhouse (in eastern France). During this time, he grew to love studying combinations of colors and textures. Initially his mother and father urged young Jean toward a career in banking, however, in the 1930s, he began working for as a designer of costume jewelry for the couturier Elsa Schiaparelli in Paris. The Second World War led him to the French army and soon he made his way from England (to where he’d been evacuated) to New York.

Once in the United States, in 1947, he set up a small jewelry business with his childhood friend Nicolas Bongard. Their work quickly garnered much attention and soon Tiffany & Co. invited them to open a design studio and salon within the Tiffany New York store in 1956. To this day, many of Schlumberger’s designs are still produced by Tiffany & Co. and remain among their biggest sellers. 

Gifts of Grandeur: A Sapphire Cloak Clasp, 1914

Cloak Clasp
Henry Wilson, 1914
The Victoria & Albert Museum

A beautiful combination of gold with cloisonné enamel, cabachon sapphires, emeralds, pearls and seed pearls, this cloak clasp is by Henry Wilson whose jewelry is celebrated for its rich color combinations in stones and enamel, and applauded for its sculptural qualities.

Wilson’s work is considered the apex of Arts and Crafts design. Like C.R. Ashbee, Wilson originally trained as an architect, but became interested in metals and precious stones in the early 1890s. After learning his craft, he went on to teach at the Royal College of Art where he published a practical manual called, “Silverwork and Jewellery” in 1903.

Like many Arts and Crafts designers, Wilson was influenced by nature. This is evidenced in the leaf motif of the clasp.

Mastery of Design: The Dame Joan Evans Hair Brooch, 1754

Memorial Brooch, 1754
From the Collection of Dame Joan Evans
The Victoria & Albert Museum

We’ve looked at many jewels which incorporated hair into the design. Though considered somewhat icky when viewed through modern eyes, this was a very normal, sentimental practice which rose to a new prominence in the Eighteenth Century (but one which had been carried out for many centuries before) and served as a way of keeping a piece of a loved one (either alive or deceased) close at hand at a time before photography.

The fact that such pieces survive to this day prove how special and important they were.

Here we see a brooch from the collection of Dame Joan Evans. The brooch is composed of a silver openwork bow, set with rose and brilliant-cut diamonds and pink sapphires over foil, and am enameled gold ribbon which is also set with gems and inscribed ELIZ EYTON OBIT FEB 1754 AET 81, surrounding a hair locket. The face of the locket is set with rock crystal. Made in 1754, this piece serves as a memorial and would have been worn as a reminder of the deceased.