Showing posts with label pearls. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pearls. Show all posts

Friday, July 17, 2026

Bijouterie (Genève)

Henri Vever
Belt Buckle
1897
gold (partly enameled)
Musées d'Art et d'Histoire, Genève

Gilbert Albert
Bracelet
ca. 1970
gold, turquoises, pearls
Musées d'Art et d'Histoire, Genève

Roman Empire
Theatrical Scene from Menander
140-80 BC
chalcedony cameo
Musées d'Art et d'Histoire, Genève

Etruscan Culture
Athena Promachos
550-525 BC
sardonyx scarab recut as intaglio
Musées d'Art et d'Histoire, Genève

Anonymous Swiss Jeweler
Bracelet
(concealing painted miniature)
ca. 1830
enameled gold, opals, rubies, emeralds, pearls
Musées d'Art et d'Histoire, Genève

Jean-François Bautte
Brooch
ca. 1825
enameled gold, turquoises, rose topazes
Musées d'Art et d'Histoire, Genève

Jean-François Bautte
Ear Pendants
ca. 1825
enameled gold, turquoises, rose topazes
Musées d'Art et d'Histoire, Genève

Anonymous French Jeweler
Pocket Watch
ca. 1825
gold, paved with graduated pearls
Musées d'Art et d'Histoire, Genève

Suzanne Belperron
Ear Clips
1967
gold, sapphires, emeralds and glass
(made in Paris using vintage gems)
Musées d'Art et d'Histoire, Genève

Louis Pautex-Meilland
Peach Brooch
ca. 1880-1900
enamel on copper
Musées d'Art et d'Histoire, Genève

Anonymous Swiss Jeweler
Brooch
ca. 1846
enameled gold, diamonds, ruby
Musées d'Art et d'Histoire, Genève

Anonymous Swiss Jeweler
Bracelet
ca. 1846
enameled gold, diamonds, ruby
Musées d'Art et d'Histoire, Genève

Marcel Constant Bastard
Finger-Ring as Bee with Watch
ca. 1930
enameled gold, diamonds, sapphires
Musées d'Art et d'Histoire, Genève

René Lalique
Pendant - Allegory of Autumn
ca. 1898-1900
enameled gold
Musées d'Art et d'Histoire, Genève

Marie-Mathilde Bedot
Necklace
ca. 1900
shell cameo and turquoises set in silver
Musées d'Art et d'Histoire, Genève

Henri Vever
Paper-Folder - Moth
1900
gold, silver, bronze
Musées d'Art et d'Histoir, -Genève

After the herald had said this, the Athenians sent a herald of their own to the Boeotians, denying that either they had done any wrong to the holy place already or would willingly do any hurt to it hereafter; for neither did they at first enter into it to such intent, but to requite the greater injuries which had been done unto them; as for the law which the Grecians have, it is no other but that they which have the dominion of any territory, great or small, have ever the temples also, and besides the accustomed rites, may superinduce what other they can: for also the Boeotians, and most men else, all that having driven out another nation possess their territory, did at first invade the temples of others and make them their own; that therefore, if they could win from them more of their land, they would keep it, and for the part they were now in, they were in it with a good will and would not out of it, as being their own; that for the water, they meddled with it upon necessity; which was not to be ascribed to insolence, but to this, that fighting against the Boeotians that had invaded their territory first, they were forced to use it; for whatsoever is forced by war or danger hath in reason a kind of pardon even with the god himself; for the altars, in cases of involuntary offences, are a refuge, and they are said to violate laws that are evil without constraint, not they that are a little bold upon occasion of distress; that the Boeotians themselves, who require restitution of the holy places for a redemption of the dead, are more irreligious by far than they, who, rather than let their temples go, are content to go without that which were fit for them to receive; and they bade him say plainly that they would not depart out of the Boeotian territory, for that they were not now in it, but in a territory which they had made their own, by the sword; and nevertheless, required truce, according to the ordinance of the country, for the fetching away of the dead.

To this the Boeotians answered that if the dead were in Boeotia, they should quit the ground and take with them whatsoever was theirs; but if the dead were in their own territory, the Athenians themselves knew best what to do.

– from The Peloponnesian War as written by Thucydides (5th century BC) and translated by Thomas Hobbes (1628) and edited by David Grene (1959)

Monday, January 12, 2026

Precious

Reliquary in Crown Form
ca. 1250-1300
silver-gilt panels set with rock crystal, pearls and gems
Musée du Louvre


L'Ordre du Saint-Esprit
ca. 1740-50
diamonds and ruby mounted in silver
(membership badge)
Musée du Louvre

Anonymous French Jeweler
Dragon
ca. 1600-1615
baroque pearl mounted in enameled gold
Musée du Louvre

Châtelaine
elements acquired and assembled by several users
ca. 1640-1850
gold, enamel and gems
Musée du Louvre

La Côte de Bretagne
spinelle of 108 carats inherited by François I, 1524
carved into dragon-shape for Louis XV, 1749
Musée du Louvre

Anonymous French Jeweler
Brooch
ca. 1830
diamonds and sapphires set in gold
(restored Bourbons resetting Napoleonic gems)
Musée du Louvre

Anonymous Italian Jeweler
Ring
16th century
partly-enameled gold, cabochon sapphire
Musée du Louvre

Anonymous French Jeweler
Mirror
ca. 1630-35
rock-crystal mirror purchased by Louis XIV
gold frame (partly enameled) set with cameos, hardstone panels and gems
Musée du Louvre

Alexandre-Gabriel Lemonnier
Crown for Empress Eugénie
1855
gold, diamonds, emeralds, leather
Musée du Louvre

Paul-Nicolas Menière
Pair of Bracelets
1816
rubies and diamonds mounted in gold and silver
(restored Bourbons resetting Napoleonic gems)
Musée du Louvre

Anonymous French Jewelers
Earrings of Empress Josephine
ca. 1805-1810
pear-shaped pearls mounted in gold with diamonds
Musée du Louvre

Le Regent
rough diamond mined in India in 1698
cut in London to 140 carats ca. 1704-1706
purchased by the Regent for young Louis XV in 1717
Musée du Louvre

Le Sancy
diamond of 55 carats cut in Paris ca. 1550-1600
purchased by Cardinal Mazarin ca. 1645
bequeathed to Louis XIV in 1661
Musée du Louvre

Diamant Hortensia
rose diamond of 21 carats
purchased in the Netherlands ca. 1670-80
acquired by Louis XIV and inventoried 1691
Musée du Louvre

Le Tessier de Montarsy
Presentation Box with portrait of Louis XIV
ca. 1680
enamel miniature, silver, gold, and diamonds
Musée du Louvre

Jacques Evrard Bapst
Diadème de la duchesse d'Angoulême
1819-20
diamonds and emeralds set in silver
Musée du Louvre

Augustin Duflos
Crown of Louis XV - made for his Coronation
1722
partly-gilt silver, embroidered satin, false stones
(genuine stones sold in 1793 during the Revolution)
Musée du Louvre

    I have read such perfunctory descriptions in other writers, too, even writers who are much admired.  The writer seems to say to herself, I need to describe a desolate city landscape because my character is driving through it on his way somewhere else, to a more important scene.  And so the writer quickly puts down the first images that come to mind, useful, appropriate images, but she does not truly enter that landscape for that moment: she does not stop to consider, in a loving manner, the exact qualities of a vacant lot or an old brick tenement that interest her.  After all, she seems to say, I just need it for my character to drive through, I don't care about it. 

– Lydia Davis, from Into the Weeds (Yale University Press, 2025)

Sunday, December 21, 2025

Ornamental

Charles Lepec
Ring, with Psyche
ca. 1870
enameled gold and diamonds
Victoria & Albert Museum, London


Carlo Giuliano
Brooch - Lovers in a Boat
ca. 1880
emeralds, sapphires, rubies, diamonds, pearls, enamel, gold
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Marcus & Co. (New York)
Brooch
ca. 1900
emeralds, diamonds, pearl, gold
National Museum of American History,
Washington DC

Anonymous Jewelers
Necklace 
(colored stones are offcuts from the finishing of the Cullinan Blue Diamond)
mined in South Africa ca. 1905
blue and clear diamonds in gold
National Museum of Natural History, Washington DC

Harry Winston, Inc. (New York)
Ring, with the Blue Heart Diamond
1959
blue diamond of 31 carats
surrounded by white diamonds set in platinum
(main stone mined in South Africa ca. 1905) 
National Museum of Natural History Washington DC

Dagobert Peche
Brooch for Wiener Werkstätte
ca. 1922
gold and mother-of-pearl
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Cartier, Inc. (Paris)
The Post Emerald Necklace
ca. 1928-29
baroque-cut emerald-drops, diamonds, platinum
National Museum of Natural History, Washington DC

Tiffany & Co. (New York)
Brooch, with the Hooker Emerald
1950
emerald of 75 carats, with diamonds set in platinum
(main stone sent from Colombia to Europe in the 16th century)
National Museum of Natural History, Washington DC

Schreiner Jewelry Co. (New York)
Brooch
ca. 1950-60
base metal and paste gems
Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto

Claire Falkenstein
Pendant
1960
painted copper
Dallas Museum of Art

South Africa
The Oppenheimer Diamond
mined in 1964
uncut diamond of 254 carats
National Museum of Natural History, Washington DC

Marie-Claude Lalique
Melusine Brooch
ca. 1965
diamonds, emeralds, gold
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Colombia
The Gachala Emerald
mined in 1967
uncut stone of 858 carats
National Museum of Natural History, Washington DC

Albert Paley
Pendant
1973
labradorite, moonstone, jade, ivory, glass, copper, silver, gold
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington DC

Fridl Blumenthal
Kinetic Brooch
ca. 1990
chrysoprase, pearl, gold
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington DC

Myra Mimlitsch-Gray
Bel Canto Brooch
1997
gold and pearls
Smithsonian American Art Museum,
Washington DC

Jim Kelso
Ginkgo Brooch
2002
carved horn, moonstones, gold
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington DC

from The Second Olympique Ode of Pindar

        Greatness of Mind and Fortune too
                The' Olympique Trophees shew.
        Both their several parts must doe
                In the noble Chase of Fame,
This without that is Blind, that without this is Lame.
Nor is fair Virtues Picture seen aright
                But in Fortunes golden light.
Riches alone are of uncertain date,
                And on short-Man long cannot wait.
                The Vertuous make of them the best,
And put them out to Fame for Interest.
                With a frail good they wisely buy
The solid Purchase of Eternity.
They whilst Lifes air they breath, consider well and know
Th' account they must hereafter give below.
Whereas th' unjust and Covetous above,
                In deep unlovely vaults,
        By the just decrees of Jove 
        Unrelenting torments prove,
The heavy Necessary effects of Voluntary Faults.

– Pindar (518-446 BC), translated by Abraham Cowley (1656)