Fine Jewels
Fine Jewels
Property of a Lady
Lot Closed
September 17, 02:04 PM GMT
Estimate
1,500 - 2,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
Designed as grapes on a vine, the grapes composed of five frosted green glass beads, the vine accented with rose-cut diamonds, French assay mark and maker's mark for Fonsèque et Olive, one vine leaf deficient.
In 1885, Émile Olive left the Parisian goldsmith and jeweller Lucien Falize and subsequently went into partnership with the jeweller M. Fonsèque. He created ingenious and charming designs such as the coffee bean brooch in 1885 and the grapes brooch in 1889, these were originally presented in miniature wooden wine cases. So popular were these designs that they ultimately led to the firms success.
Translated by Katharine Purcell, French Jewelry of the Nineteenth Century by Henri Vever, London, 2001, pg. 904 and 1024, for illustrations of brooches of similar design, dated 1889.
A similar example may also be seen in the Victoria & Albert Museum London, accession number M.88-2007.