Sunday, January 15, 2017

Historic Jewelry by Known Designers

Ring
François-Désiré Froment-Meurice
1854
steel and gold, cast and chiseled
Muse with Cherubs
Victoria & Albert Museum, London

Brooch
Maison Fonsèque and Olive
ca. 1889
gold, diamonds, glass
Victoria & Albert Museum, London

the present is the wall between two rooms
through which you push the ghosts you reassume
half-seconds later; the present is the wall,
this side of which you rigorously patrol,
between something and nothing; it leaks.
The present is the wall that brick by brick
builds itself before you, while you haul
yourself upward, then lose your grip and fall.
The present is the wall of sea thrown up
by some one-in-a-billion ontic burp,
a standing wave that has no beach to hit;
or the present is the wall on which you sit
watching your hands get old. (Look down there now:
O fellow matter, do you remember how
they were once so small and round and free from blame?
How ever did you stop grieving for them?)

 from A Talking Book, published in Landing Light by Don Paterson (Graywolf Press, 2005)

The Manchester Tiara
Cartier, Paris
1903
silver, gold, diamonds
rococo-revival design for Consuelo, Duchess of Manchester
Victoria & Albert Museum, London

Pendant
Henry Wilson
ca. 1900
gold, pearls, sapphires, emeralds, rubies, moonstone, turquoise
Victoria & Albert Museum, London

Brooch
August Hollming
1895-99
gold, diamonds, sapphires
Victoria & Albert Museum, London

Necklace
Georgie Gaskin
ca. 1910
enameled-silver, pearls
Victoria & Albert Museum, London

Pendant
Carlo Giuliano
ca. 1867
enameled-gold, rubies, diamonds, river-pearls
Victoria & Albert Museum, London

Pendant
Carlo Giuliano
1877
enameled gold, rubies, diamonds, pearls
relief-profile of Queen Victoria in gold
Victoria & Albert Museum, London

Locket
Alexis Falize
ca. 1867-70
gold, cloisonné-enamel
Victoria & Albert Museum, London

Locket
Alexis Falize
1867
gold, cloisonné-enamel, diamonds
Victoria & Albert Museum, London

Locket (interior)
Alexis Falize
1867
gold, cloisonné-enamel
Victoria & Albert Museum, London

Ring
Giovanni Pichler
ca. 1760
gold, agate-cameo
Theseus & the Minotaur
Victoria & Albert Museum, London

Ring
Josiah Wedgwood
ca. 1780
gold, jasper-cameo plaque
Youth & Maiden
Victoria & Albert Museum, London

Pendant
Josiah Wedgwood
ca. 1780-1800
enameled-gold, half-pearls, jasper-cameo plaque
Hercules & Erymanthean Boar
Victoria & Albert Museum, London

I am grateful to the Victoria & Albert Museum in London for the excellent images.