Vintage English Reverse intaglio crystal with great portrait of a Maine Coon Cat

Antique jewelry object group: brooch

Condition: excellent condition
  -  (more info on our condition scale)

Country of origin: Although it does not carry any legible control marks we believe this to be of Belgian origin.

Style: something between the Late-Victorian and Belle Epoque style - Victorian decorative arts refers to the style of decorative arts during the Victorian era. The Victorian era is known for its eclectic revival and interpretation of historic styles and the introduction of cross-cultural influences from the middle east and Asia in furniture, fittings, and Interior decoration.

Victorian design is widely viewed as having indulged in a regrettable excess of ornament.
And the Belle Époque style (Belle Époque is French for "Beautiful Era") was a period in European social history that began during the late 19th century and lasted until World War I. Occurring during the time of the French Third Republic and the German Empire, the "Belle Époque" was named in retrospect, when it began to be considered a "golden age" the major powers of Europe, new technologies improved lives and the commercial arts adapted Renaissance and eighteenth-century styles to modern forms. In the newly rich United States, emerging from the Panic of 1873, the comparable epoch was dubbed the Gilded Age. In the United Kingdom, this epoch overlaps the end of what is called the Victorian Era there and the period named the Edwardian Era.
  -  See also: late-Victorian or more info on styles

Style specifics: The Belle Époque (French for "Beautiful Era") was a period in European social history that began during the late 19th century from the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871) and lasted until World War I (1914-18).

Occurring during the time of the French Third Republic and the German Empire, the "Belle Époque" was named in retrospect, when it began to be considered a "golden age" the major powers of Europe, new technologies improved lives and the commercial arts adapted Renaissance and eighteenth-century styles to modern forms.

In the newly rich United States, emerging from the Panic of 1873, the comparable epoch was dubbed the Gilded Age. In the United Kingdom, this epoch overlaps the end of what is called the Victorian Era there and the period named the Edwardian Era.

In the Belle Époque cheap coal and cheap labour contributed to the cult of the orchid and made possible the perfection of fruits grown under glass, as the apparatus of state dinners extended to the upper classes; champagne was perfected during the Belle Époque. Exotic feathers and furs were more prominently featured in fashion than ever before, as haute couture was invented in Paris, the centre of the Belle Époque, where fashion began to move in a yearly cycle; in Paris restaurants such as Maxim's achieved a new splendour and cachet as places for the rich to parade, and the Opéra Garnier devoted enormous spaces to staircases as similar show places.

After mid-century, railways linked all the major cities of Europe to spa towns like Biarritz and Deauville; their carriages were rigorously divided into first-class and second-class, but the super-rich now began to commission private railway coaches, as exclusivity was a hallmark of opulent luxury. Bohemian lifestyles gained a different glamour, pursued in the cabarets of Montmartre.

Period: ca. 1920
  -  (events & facts of this era, poetry of this era, fashion of this era)

Source of inspiration: Mother Nature

Theme: Maine Moon Cat

Material: 18K yellow gold
  -  (more info on precious metals)

Extra information:
The Maine Coon - The Maine Coon is one of the largest domesticated cat breeds. It has a distinctive physical appearance and valuable hunting skills. It is one of the oldest natural breeds in North America, specifically native to the state of Maine, where it is the official state cat. (From: Wikipedia

Reverse intaglio crystal or English Crystal - A crystal cut in the form of a cabochon, shallow or domes, that is carved in intaglio on it flat back with a motif that is realistically painted in minute detail and is surrounded by a transparent ground. The deeper the carving, the more pronounced the three-dimensional trompe l'oeil effect, which is sometimes enhanced by a backing of thin layer of mother-of-pearl. The carved motif, for pieces mounted in a circular gold band as a tie pin, cuff links, button, or studs for men, was usually a racing horse, game bird or dog, and for pieces in a brooch or a locket for women, a floral design or a monogram; some examples depict an insect or a coaching scene.

Sometimes two crystals are mounted back-to-back to form a spherical pendant, preferably with the motifs not identical but complementarily depicting the front and back views of the same subject, e.g. the head of a dog. Some examples consist of two or even three superimposed hollow cabochons, each carved with a different motif, thus increasing the effect of perspective.

The technique was originated by Émile Marius Pradier, of Belgium, c. 1860 (he made the only known-signed example). In England it was developed by Thomas Cook in the early 1860s and carried on by his pupil Thomas Bean and the latter's son Edmund and grandson Edgar (d. 1954).

After the popularity of the pieces in the late Victorian era, the high quality deteriorated by the 1920s, when examples were also being made in France and the United States (some modern pieces depicting motor cars and aeroplanes). The crystals have long been identified with the Hancocks firm. The crystals have sometimes been referred to by the misnomers 'Essex Crystal' or 'Wessex crystal', owing to the erroneous assumption that they were decorated c. 1860 by the enamel portrait painter William Essex (d. 1869).

Imitations have been made of carved and painted glass, and even of a glass cabochon above a printed paper design.

Diamond(s): Eight rose cut diamonds. We do not have the weight of the diamonds which is normal in our trade when it comes to rose cuts.

Precious stones: Eight seed pearls

Birthstones: Diamond is the birthstone (or month stone) for April and pearl for June.
  -  (more info on birthstones)

Hallmarks: No trace.
  -  (more info on hallmarks)

Dimensions: diameter 2,75 cm (1,08 inch)

Weight: 12,00 gram (7,72 dwt)

Reference Nº: 19021-0010

Copyright photography: Adin, fine antique jewelry

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