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tline3open  Is this brooch French? Is it from the 1880s?

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Author Topic:   Is this brooch French? Is it from the 1880s?
Polly

Posts: 1970
Registered: Nov 2004

iconnumber posted 05-22-2006 02:39 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Polly     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I bought this brooch yesterday at a NYC flea market from a gentleman from Uruguay, who told me it was from the 1880s and made in France, even though the word is Spanish. He thought wealthy Uruguayan probably brought it back from a European grand tour. Does all that sound plausible?

I've looked it over carefully with a loupe, and I can't find any marks. It's pretty big--2 3/4 inches wide and 1 1/4 inches tall. It appears to be silver, set with tiny seed pearls. The bird's eye may be a garnet, or perhaps glass.

I have no intention of selling it--I'm planning to keep it and wear it on a black jacket lapel; I'm asking about it here because of insatiable curiosity. I'm passionately fond of Victorian jewelry, especially jewelry with symbolic elements and words on it. I particularly like the way the flowers and bird are attached at an angle, giving the brooch a 3D effect.

Okay, some pictures:


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Polly

Posts: 1970
Registered: Nov 2004

iconnumber posted 05-22-2006 02:46 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Polly     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Here's another angle that gives a slightly better sense of the tilted flowers:

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Paul Lemieux

Posts: 1792
Registered: Apr 2000

iconnumber posted 05-22-2006 04:16 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Paul Lemieux     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
A lovely, delicate design. I, too, like the Victorian souvenir jewelry, and agree that this is ca 1875-1885.

As for the place origin, there is nothing, stylistically, that points to one particularly country--the type of script, the bird, and the materials are all fairly typical Victorian fare. Of course, the Spanish word is suggestive, and I would sooner guess it was made and bought in a Spanish-speaking country than believe it was made in France. Unless there are French marks or a definite provenance, there is no real reason to suspect it is French.

By the way, did you examine the pinstem and C-catch for marks as well? They are sometimes hidden there.

[This message has been edited by Paul Lemieux (edited 05-22-2006).]

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Polly

Posts: 1970
Registered: Nov 2004

iconnumber posted 05-22-2006 05:05 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Polly     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Thank you, Paul.

I squinted at the clasp and pinstem through my loupe again, but all I saw were some tarnish and a scratch or two. So in the absence of other info, I'll imagine the jeweler was Senor Somebody, rather than Monsieur.

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