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拍品專文
EDWARDIAN JEWELLERY
Edwardian jewellery was the 'new design' from the turn of the 20th century through to the 1910s, incorporating the creations of the flourishing Art Nouveau and Arts & Crafts movements in Europe.
This ‘new design’ in England was rooted in the traditional designs of the 18th and 19th centuries but adapted with more elaborate and sophisticated modifications. These new, lightweight and delicate designs created pioneering jewellery to adorn and float elegantly on a woman’s body.
This innovation in craftmanship was enabled by the use of platinum, a metal that had thus far rarely been used in jewellery design. This durable white metal allowed extremely fine, minimal settings which held diamonds in place whilst almost completely concealing the structure of metal edges and claws that held them. This was much to the contrary of the majority of 19th century jewels that were mounted in very apparent, heavy silver and gold settings which, besides their apparent metal edges, also displayed a strong contrast in colour to white diamonds.
These refined setting techniques were combined with the popularity and fascination for, coloured diamonds that had continued to grow after the discovery of the African diamond mines in the 19th century. Coloured diamonds had been known of and used since very early times; rare and large examples, such as the Hope and the Dresden green diamond, had always been highly prized. The difference in this period was the wider availability of many smaller sized coloured diamonds of varying hues and, due to innovative technical developments, these stones could also be shaped and set differently.
This delicate tassel brooch is a rare and fine example of the evolution in jewellery design that typifies the Edwardian era.
PROVENANCE
This beautiful brooch was owned by Henry Radcliffe (1859-1920) and Mary-Jane Radcliffe (1857–1921). Henry, a native of the Welsh industrial area, Merthyr Tydfil, was the eldest son of a small, gentry land-owning family. In 1881 he met Evan Thomas, a master mariner in the merchant navy. Together they set up the Evan Thomas Radcliffe Company, providing a perfect partnership for the promising business of ship chartering and ownership. The enterprise grew rapidly with the expansion of coal-mining, the principal commodity exported from Cardiff. At the height of its existence the Company owned a fleet of 28 vessels making them the largest of the Cardiff ship-owners. The company experienced worldwide demand during the Edwardian period and survived both World Wars, well into the latter part of the 20th century.
Edwardian jewellery was the 'new design' from the turn of the 20th century through to the 1910s, incorporating the creations of the flourishing Art Nouveau and Arts & Crafts movements in Europe.
This ‘new design’ in England was rooted in the traditional designs of the 18th and 19th centuries but adapted with more elaborate and sophisticated modifications. These new, lightweight and delicate designs created pioneering jewellery to adorn and float elegantly on a woman’s body.
This innovation in craftmanship was enabled by the use of platinum, a metal that had thus far rarely been used in jewellery design. This durable white metal allowed extremely fine, minimal settings which held diamonds in place whilst almost completely concealing the structure of metal edges and claws that held them. This was much to the contrary of the majority of 19th century jewels that were mounted in very apparent, heavy silver and gold settings which, besides their apparent metal edges, also displayed a strong contrast in colour to white diamonds.
These refined setting techniques were combined with the popularity and fascination for, coloured diamonds that had continued to grow after the discovery of the African diamond mines in the 19th century. Coloured diamonds had been known of and used since very early times; rare and large examples, such as the Hope and the Dresden green diamond, had always been highly prized. The difference in this period was the wider availability of many smaller sized coloured diamonds of varying hues and, due to innovative technical developments, these stones could also be shaped and set differently.
This delicate tassel brooch is a rare and fine example of the evolution in jewellery design that typifies the Edwardian era.
PROVENANCE
This beautiful brooch was owned by Henry Radcliffe (1859-1920) and Mary-Jane Radcliffe (1857–1921). Henry, a native of the Welsh industrial area, Merthyr Tydfil, was the eldest son of a small, gentry land-owning family. In 1881 he met Evan Thomas, a master mariner in the merchant navy. Together they set up the Evan Thomas Radcliffe Company, providing a perfect partnership for the promising business of ship chartering and ownership. The enterprise grew rapidly with the expansion of coal-mining, the principal commodity exported from Cardiff. At the height of its existence the Company owned a fleet of 28 vessels making them the largest of the Cardiff ship-owners. The company experienced worldwide demand during the Edwardian period and survived both World Wars, well into the latter part of the 20th century.