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Victorian Etruscan Revival 18K Azurite-Malachite Brooch

Victorian Etruscan Revival 18K Azurite-Malachite Brooch


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Directory: Estate Jewelry: Gold: Victorian: Pre 1900: Item # 544754
Kensington House Antiques
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Kensington
Maryland
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$1,295

A phenomenal Victorian 18K yellow gold brooch in the Etruscan Revival taste. The brooch features a large azurite-malachite cabochon weighing more than 60 carats. The natural fissures, and blue and green color mottling is striking, especially against the richness of the gold. The setting is one of the best Etruscan frames we’ve seen, befitting a minerological specimen that would have been considered extravagantly exotic (probably originating in Afghanistan). The stone is set in a collet surrounded with a border of beaded rosettes flanked on either side with delicate twisted wire. The frame is decorated at compass points with shell motifs outlined with twisted wirework. Cyma scrolls and graduated beading fill the space between the shells. The surface of the gold has the slightly matte bloomed finish that lends the appearance of antiquity to the better Etruscan pieces. The back of the brooch retains the original c-clasp and extended pinstem. Tested and guaranteed 18K gold.

Origin: America or England, ca. 1860. Condition: excellent, the border has two of the tiny rosettes and a tiny portion of one cyma scroll missing, but these are noticeable only upon very close inspection. Size: 2” x 1-11/16”. Weight: 19.75 grams.