View full screen - View 1 of Lot 47. Van Cleef & Arpels | Pair of Diamond Brooches, France  梵克雅寶   鑽石別針一對,法國.

Van Cleef & Arpels | Pair of Diamond Brooches, France 梵克雅寶 鑽石別針一對,法國

Auction Closed

December 7, 08:52 PM GMT

Estimate

30,000 - 50,000 USD

Lot Details

Description

Van Cleef & Arpels | Pair of Diamond Brooches, France


Designed as a nightingale and a thrush in flight, set throughout with rose-cut diamonds, the eyes highlighted with chalcedony cabochons, unsigned, nightingale numbered 16646, thrush numbered 16645, each with French assay and workshop marks; circa 1920.

For brooches of similar design, see Set in Style: The Jewelry of Van Cleef & Arpels by Sara D. Coffin, pages 114-115 and 120.

Accompanied by two Van Cleef & Arpels certificates of authenticity.


#TheBroochisBack

Is the brooch back? Was it ever really out? Perhaps just waiting in the wings for a second act.


Without question, the brooch is the purist form of the jeweler’s art. It offers a totally unencumbered opportunity for expression without the constraints of fitting to a finger, wrist or neck. It affords great potential for three-dimensional renderings; if you can draw it, you can represent it in a brooch. 


In order to embrace the brooch’s full potential, one must remember that it may be worn in a wide variety of ways. No need to stick to the lapel. Empress Elisabeth of Austria dressed her legendary locks with a galaxy of diamond starbursts. Mrs. Cole Porter wore her Cartier scarab brooch as a belt buckle. Princess Ira Fürstenberg wore a series of Tiffany dragon brooches—one offered here as lot 50—draped across her bare belly on gold chains. And who can forget Sarah Jessica Parker securing her GAP cardigan with a cluster of brooches at her hip, or adorning her evening glove at the Met Ball with a line of Victorian stunners?