SMP Logo
SM Publications
Silver Salon Forums - The premier site for discussing Silver.
SMP | Silver Salon Forums | SSF - Guidelines | SSF - FAQ | Silver Sales

The Silver Salon Forums
Since 1993
Over 11,793 threads & 64,769 posts !!
Silver Jewelry Forum
How to Post Photos

Want to be a Moderator?
customtitle open  SMP Silver Salon Forums
tlineopen  Silver Jewelry
tline3open  Interesting Symbolism?

Post New Topic  Post A Reply
profile | register | preferences | faq | search

ForumFriend SSFFriend: Email This Page to Someone! next newest topic | next oldest topic
Author Topic:   Interesting Symbolism?
Paul Lemieux

Posts: 1792
Registered: Apr 2000

iconnumber posted 08-08-2006 12:40 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Paul Lemieux     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
This weekend I picked up a rather intriguing Victorian parcel-gilt silver suite of jewelry that includes a bangle, earrings, and a pin.

Each piece is hand engraved with a matching design.

The bracelet shows two scenes, divided by a tree in the middle. On the left, it is night, and a wolf is snarling at a crane taking a sip from a vessel. On the right, it is day and the two animals are both sharing from a trough.

The earrings each show one of the two animals.

The pin shows a scene similar to the bracelet's night scene.

I feel that these scenes may be allegorical. Does anybody have suggestions?

IP: Logged

dragonflywink

Posts: 993
Registered: Dec 2002

iconnumber posted 08-08-2006 05:10 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for dragonflywink     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Lovely set! Believe they're illustrating a poem called The Crane and The Fox, a Fable by Henry Livingston Jr. written in 1827. Basically Reynard the fox asks the lady crane to dinner, but as a joke, serves bullock-marrow soup in shallow plates and the crane couldn't eat it with her long beak; so she invites him to dinner, minced venison served in narrow jars that suited her long bill, but impossible for the fox to access. The ending lines are: The truest adage ever spoke Was "He that Gives must Take a joke.".

Cheryl ;o)

IP: Logged

dragonflywink

Posts: 993
Registered: Dec 2002

iconnumber posted 08-08-2006 11:51 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for dragonflywink     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Just realized that the poem was based on one of Aesop's fables (that knowledge was stored in the memory banks, just took awhile to rise above all the other basically useless info stored there!).

Cheryl wink

The Fox And The Crane, Aesop Fable (620-560 BC)

A Fox invited a Crane to supper and provided nothing for his entertainment but some soup made of pulse, which was poured out into a broad flat stone dish. The soup fell out of the long bill of the Crane at every mouthful, and his vexation at not being able to eat afforded the Fox much amusement. The Crane, in his turn, asked the Fox to sup with him, and set before her a flagon with a long narrow mouth, so that he could easily insert his neck and enjoy its contents at his leisure. The Fox, unable even to taste it, met with a fitting requital, after the fashion of her own hospitality.

(Translated by George Fyler Townsend, 1814-1900)

IP: Logged

FWG

Posts: 845
Registered: Aug 2005

iconnumber posted 08-08-2006 12:13 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for FWG     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Wouldn't you love to meet the person who commissioned this set? And the workmanship is quite nice as well. Paul, are there any markings?

IP: Logged

Paul Lemieux

Posts: 1792
Registered: Apr 2000

iconnumber posted 08-08-2006 01:10 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Paul Lemieux     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Cheryl--thank you for that information about the fable. I think it is 100% correct.

I wonder if a design like this is something that would have been readily available, or if, as FWG suggests, it was indeed a special commission. It is certainly a very specific scene, whereas most of this kind of jewelry depicts much more generic tableaux, usually in the Japanese flavor and with less detail.

The imagery itself is silver on a stippled, gold-washed background, as can be seen in the pictures. Applied bands of solid rose gold frame each scene. The remainder of each piece has a light gold wash over the silver. The earrings would have originally had ear wire findings, but were converted to screwbacks, probably around the 1940s. So, this set evidently enjoyed use for at least 70 years, as it was made ca mid-1870s.

The bulk of this style of jewelry hailed from Birmingham, England. However, I feel this is more likely an American set. Alas, there are no markings.

[This message has been edited by Paul Lemieux (edited 08-08-2006).]

IP: Logged

FWG

Posts: 845
Registered: Aug 2005

iconnumber posted 08-08-2006 03:38 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for FWG     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I agree, the general format is typically Birmingham, but the engraving (which looks to me like engraving applied after acid etching) strikes me more as American -- which the lack of marks would support, insofar as one can draw from negative evidence.

Or, possibly, somewhere in the region of the Middle East; something in the details of the design and engraving suggests that area to me (especially in the schematized plants, and the sun, moon, and stars). I'd lean more to American, but thought I'd mention the possibility as an option.

IP: Logged

All times are ET

next newest topic | next oldest topic

Administrative Options: Close Topic | Archive/Move | Delete Topic
Post New Topic  Post A Reply
Hop to:


Ultimate Bulletin Board 5.46a


1. Public Silver Forums (open Free membership) - anyone with a valid e-mail address may register. Once you have received your Silver Salon Forum password, and then if you abide by the Silver Salon Forum Guidelines, you may start a thread or post a reply in the New Members' Forum. New Members who show a continued willingness to participate, to completely read and abide by the Guidelines will be allowed to post to the Member Public Forums.
Click here to Register for a Free password

2. Private Silver Salon Forums (invitational or $ donation membership) - The Private Silver Salon Forums require registration and special authorization to view, search, start a thread or to post a reply. Special authorization can be obtained in one of several ways: by Invitation; Annual $ Donation; or via Special Limited Membership. For more details click here (under development).

3. Administrative/Special Private Forums (special membership required) - These forums are reserved for special subjects or administrative discussion. These forums are not open to the public and require special authorization to view or post.


| Home | Order | The Guide to Evaluating Gold & Silver Objects | The Book of Silver
| Update BOS Registration | Silver Library | For Sale | Our Wants List | Silver Dealers | Speakers Bureau |
| Silversmiths | How to set a table | Shows | SMP | Silver News |
copyright © 1993 - 2022 SM Publications
All Rights Reserved.
Legal & Privacy Notices