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Details
AN ANTIQUE NATURAL PEARL, CONCH PEARL AND DIAMOND BROOCH, BY PAULDING FARNHAM, TIFFANY & CO.
Designed as a floral spray, with two natural pearls and one natural conch pearl bud, extending rose-cut diamond leaves, circa 1890, 2 3/4 ins., mounted in silver-topped gold
Signed Tiffany & Co.
Accompanied by report no. 2185634774 dated 3 August 2017 from the GIA Gemological Institute of America stating that the pearls are natural, saltwater, with no indications of treatment
Designed as a floral spray, with two natural pearls and one natural conch pearl bud, extending rose-cut diamond leaves, circa 1890, 2 3/4 ins., mounted in silver-topped gold
Signed Tiffany & Co.
Accompanied by report no. 2185634774 dated 3 August 2017 from the GIA Gemological Institute of America stating that the pearls are natural, saltwater, with no indications of treatment
Literature
Cf. John Loring, Tiffany Jewels, Harry N. Abrams, Inc., New York, 1999, page 126
Special Notice
Prospective purchasers are advised that several countries prohibit the importation of property containing materials from endangered species, including but not limited to coral, ivory and tortoiseshell. Accordingly, prospective purchasers should familiarize themselves with relevant customs regulations prior to bidding if they intend to import this lot into another country.
Further Details
This antique natural pearl, conch pearl and diamond brooch was designed by Paulding Farnham, the chief designer of Tiffany & Co. during the late 19th century, and displays two important characteristics important to jewelry design of its day: naturalism and the popularity of pink pearl jewelry.
Naturalism was a dominant theme in Victorian jewelry, with an emphasis placed on realistic representations of flora. This desire for botanical jewels was in direct response to the development of widespread interest in botany and horticulture. Gardening, no longer limited to the upper classes, became the height of fashion. Botanical magazines were numerous and lavishly illustrated as were plant dictionaries and encyclopedias. With organic lines and curling sculpted gold leaves wrapping around the variously-colored buds, this brooch fully displays the preference toward naturalism in jewelry during this time.
The soft pink color of Caribbean conch pearls became very popular at the turn of the century, and lent themselves perfectly to a jewelry aesthetic known as “rosebud”. One of the earliest known creations of “rosebud” jewelry was by jewelry Oscar Massin, who debuted a pink pearl rosebud brooch at the 1867 Paris Exposition Universelle. Tiffany & Co. quickly followed suit, and from 1870-1910 the firm's pink pearl jewelry proved to be very popular—a lovely example of which can be seen here.
Naturalism was a dominant theme in Victorian jewelry, with an emphasis placed on realistic representations of flora. This desire for botanical jewels was in direct response to the development of widespread interest in botany and horticulture. Gardening, no longer limited to the upper classes, became the height of fashion. Botanical magazines were numerous and lavishly illustrated as were plant dictionaries and encyclopedias. With organic lines and curling sculpted gold leaves wrapping around the variously-colored buds, this brooch fully displays the preference toward naturalism in jewelry during this time.
The soft pink color of Caribbean conch pearls became very popular at the turn of the century, and lent themselves perfectly to a jewelry aesthetic known as “rosebud”. One of the earliest known creations of “rosebud” jewelry was by jewelry Oscar Massin, who debuted a pink pearl rosebud brooch at the 1867 Paris Exposition Universelle. Tiffany & Co. quickly followed suit, and from 1870-1910 the firm's pink pearl jewelry proved to be very popular—a lovely example of which can be seen here.