Catalog (2433)

A classic Victorian 14K yellow gold fob seal, the surfaces ornately decorated in a repousse pattern of flowers and foliage. Fobs in this design are more typically English than American. It is very generously sized to make an impression when being worn. The citrine plaque is engraved with the monogram “WKV”, so we’ll just assume that was for William K Vanderbilt (LOL!) The ring is marked “14K.”

• Origin: America, ca. 1840
• Dimensions: 1” x 7/8” x 1-1/2” (excluding ring)
• Weight: 19.5 grams

A beautiful enameled oval locket in 18K gold, the cover decorated with a wreath of blue enameled forget-me-nots, each centered with a small rose cut diamond, against a black background. The design is encircled with additional black taille d’epargne enameling. The back is also decorated with blue forget-me-nots surrounded with taille d’epargne enameling and has a shield-shaped reserve that was never monogrammed. In Victorian floriography (the "language of flowers") forget-me-nots represented faithfulness, true love, and remembrance. The exposed gold surfaces on both the front and back are enhanced with engraved and stippled decoration. The interior retains the original glass covers and photos of two 19th century gentlemen. The bail is stamped with French 18K gold marks.Origin: France, ca. 1855

Condition: excellent, less than 5% loss to taille d’epargne enamel, mostly on the back

Dimensions: 15/16” x 1-3/8” (excluding bail and jump ring)

Weight: 13.2 grams

Approximate Total Diamond Weight: .08 carat

A lovely mid-19th century locket worked in 18K yellow gold set with rubies and natural seed pearls. The setting is enhanced with geometric appliques, engine-turned engraving, rope twists, and a beautifully fashioned bow concealing the bail. The rubies have very good color and are unheated. The locket retains its original reeded jump ring, as well. The back is decorated with engine-turned engraving. The interior retains the original gold frame and glass cover. Faintly marked with French 18K gold marks and a maker’s mark.

• Origin: France, ca. 1860
• Condition: excellent, all original
• Dimensions: 1” x 2-1/16” (including jump ring)
• Approximate Total Ruby Weight: .21 carat
• Weight: 14.6 grams

A fine pair of French Art Nouveau 18K gold cufflinks, the faces depicting a mythological dragon with a scaly body and feathered wings. The cufflinks are very finely detailed. The back are stamped with French 18K gold marks.

• Origin: France, ca. 1890
• Condition: excellent
• Dimensions: faces, 9/19” diameter
• Weight: 9.8 grams

An elegant Art Nouveau bracelet worked in 18K gold, each link is the form of a pansy enclosed in a scrolling border. The Victorian floriography (the “language of flowers”), the pansy represented the sentiment “think of me.” Jewels with pansies were often given as a romantic gesture or by the parents of a young woman upon her marriage. The bracelet is stamped with 18K fineness marks and an unidentified goldsmith’s mark.

• Origin: France, ca. 1900
• Condition: excellent
• Dimensions: 7-7/8” long; 1/2" wide
• Weight: 16.4 grams

A very good French Art Nouveau 18K gold watch pin in the form of a mythological creature that appears to be a dragon with outspread feathered wings. The details are beautifully worked. The reverse is engraved to match the front. The creature grasps an antique cushion cut diamond in its jaws. The pin retains its original watch hook on the back. This piece could easily and inexpensively be transformed into a pendant with the additional of two pendant hooks at the wingtips. The back is marked with French 18K gold hallmarks, an illegible master goldsmith’s mark, and a design number indicating that the piece was made by a renowned maker of the period.

• Origin: France, ca. 1890
• Condition: excellent, sharp detail
• Dimensions: 1-1/4” x 1-1/8”
• Approximate Total Diamond Weight: .10 carat
• Weight: 12.7 grams

A very fine Victorian Albert chain fashioned from a set of nineteen sizable natural gold nuggets (approximately 20-24K). The nuggets are connected by short sections of handmade chain worked in 14K. The chain has a t-bar enhanced with small nuggets and a short length of chain to suspend a fob. Nugget jewelry became popular during the California Gold Rush in 1849 and again during the Alaska Gold Rush in 1896. Nuggets were difficult to find and a collection this large was a significant indicator of wealth. Tested and guaranteed for gold content.

• Origin: America, 1850-1900
• Condition: excellent
• Dimensions: 15-1/2” long (could be extended by adding additional plain links at the clasp)
• Weight: 55.3 grams

A pretty 18K yellow gold pendant in a shape that suggests a pair of wings, each set with rose cut diamonds. The design is completed with an additional diamond at the top in a buttercup setting. The pendant was likely fashioned from a larger piece of jewelry that was no longer fashionable. The reverse is stamped with a goldsmith’s mark and also with the Birmingham date mark for 1849. The jump ring is 14K.

• Origin: Birmingham, England, 1849
• Condition: excellent
• Dimensions: 13/16” x 11/16” (excluding bail)
• Approximate Total Diamond Weight: .15 carat
• Weight: 1.9 gram

A French silver watch chain with a button hook on one end and a locking swivel on the other. The beauty of this chain is its absolute simplicity. It would look great paired with additional silver chains of various styles to create a longer necklace. Paired correctly, the button hook would make a superb hook for a locket or charms. The chain is stamped with a boar’s head hallmark for 800/1000 silver purity.

• Origin: France, ca. 1880
• Condition: excellent, all original
• Dimensions: 11-5/8” long
• Weight: 16.9 grams

A superb American silver locket and chain necklace from the Victorian era. The book chain is enhanced with three rows of lapidary-cut silver balls. The locket’s cover is decorated with an engraved scene of an egret, bamboo, reeds and a fan in the Japonaise style popular during the Aesthetic period. The interior retains the original frames on either side. The chain can be worn without the locket as a 17” necklace or, with the drop chain in place at the back, as a 19-1/4” necklace. American chains of this style are far more uncommon than English chains. Tested and guaranteed silver.

• Origin: America, ca. 1885
• Condition: chain is excellent; locket has one pinpoint ding to the front and several to the back
• Dimensions: necklace, 17” to 19-1/4”; locket, 1-3/8” x 1-3/4” (excluding bail)
• Weight: 95.3 grams

Cold-painted Viennese bronze sculpture of a devil by Franz Bergman. This half-goat half-man figure is very well detailed, even showing the individual vertebrae along his back and the curls of his hair.

• Origin: Austria, ca 1900
• Condition: near mint; tiny surface rubs at sharp points such as the fingertips
• Dimensions: 2-1/4" tall

A handsome griffin with back-stretched wings, a lion’s head and a curling serpent’s tail grasps an old mine cut diamond in this 19th century French brooch and necklace slide. Interestingly, the creature’s tongue is licking the diamond. The eye is set with a small faceted ruby. The back retains the original pin stem and a hinged clasp so the griffin can be attached to a chain. The hinged clasp is marked “Déposé” meaning the griffin was a patented design. Tested and guaranteed 18K gold. A bail could easily be added for wear as a pendant.

• Origin: France, ca. 1880
• Condition: excellent
• Dimensions: 1-1/2” x 3/4”
• Approximate Diamond Weight: .12 carat
• Weight: 4.7 grams

A elegant brooch worked in 18K yellow gold filigree centering a round brilliant-cut amethyst surrounded by natural seed pearls. The amethyst’s collet is enhanced with millegraining, as is the remainder of the filigree work. The edge is finished with a border of wirework rosettes. The quality of workmanship is superb. Filigree of this delicacy is usually only seen in platinum. The amethyst is moderately pale with a slightly pinkish tint. The back of the pin is marked “18Kt”, and there is an indistinct mark on the original c-clasp. The brooch could easily be converted for wear as a pendant.

• Origin: England, ca. 1900
• Condition: excellent, all original
• Dimensions: 1-1/8” x 1-1/8” on the diagonal; 7/8" x 7/8" on the square
• Weight: 4.7 grams
• Approximate Amethyst Weight: .68 carat.

A very good 19th century French silver tastevin (wine taster). This example is the in Burgundian style with repousse and engraved grape and leaf decoration around the bowl, rather than the more typical “perles” and fluted “godrons.” The handle, however, is in the classic style of two snakes grasping an apple symbolizing the Garden of Eden and the temptations of wine.The handle and the side of bowl are stamped with French 1st standard silver marks (950/1000 pure silver) and an unidentified maker’s mark.

• Origin: France, probably Burgundy, ca 1890
• Condition: excellent
• Dimensions: 3-5/16” x 4-1/2” x 1-1/8”
• Weight: 125.0 grams

A wonderful, finely detailed 18K gold pendant / brooch featuring a cat surrounded by an ivy-covered wood wreath. The cat has bright emerald eyes and wears a platinum collar with an old European cut diamond at the front. The pendant is finely engraved to represent the cat’s fur and the wood and foliage textures of the frame. Even the back is engraved in a wood texture. Cat jewelry is extremely difficult to find—this example is one of the two best we have had in the last 20 years. Stamped “15 Ct.”

• Origin: England, ca. 1870
• Condition: excellent
• Dimensions: 1-1/4” diameter
• Weight: 18.8 grams
• Approximate Total Gemstone Weight: emerald, .02 carat; diamond, .05 carat

An elegant Art Nouveau 18K gold, platinum and diamond pendant and brooch depicting a young woman with flowing flower-bedecked hair. She represents the Spring season, “Printemps.” Each of the flowers is centered a rose cut diamond and the maiden wears a necklace of rose cut diamonds, as well. The gold surface is bloomed for a slightly matte finish. The pendant/brooch is faintly heart-shaped and is finished along the edges with 54 rose cut diamonds set in platinum. The pinstem unscrews from the back, so the jewel can be worn as a pendant from the two pendant loops at the top corners. This design was commissioned in 1886 from the medallist Emile Séraphin Vernier by the esteemed house Fonsèque et Olive which was one of Paris’ most successful Art Nouveau jewelers.

• Origin: France, ca. 1890
• Condition: excellent
• Dimensions: 1-1/16 x 1-1/8”
• Approximate Total Diamond Weight: .75 carat
• Weight: 8.9 grams

A fun piece of sporting jewelry depicting a crossed pair of croquet mallets and a coral ball inside the wicket. The banded agate stone is black with a single white line and has never been engraved. Croquet became fashionable among the English elite in 1856 when when the first book of croquet rules was published and the All England Croquet Club was formed at Wimbledon. The fob is stamped “10 ct.”

• Origin: England, ca. 1860
• Condition: excellent
• Dimensions: 3/4” x 9/16” x 1-1/4 (excluding jump rings)
• Weight: 5.0 grams.

A pretty Victorian 14K gold locket, the cover featuring a lion rampant with a shield. The edges of the locket are worked in an ornate rococo design that is mirrored on the large suspension ring. The interior retains the original glass cover and frame insert. The back is engraved with a period “WWW” monogram. Tested and guaranteed 14K.

• Origin: America, ca. 1890
• Condition: excellent; sharp detail
• Dimensions: locket diameter 1”; overall length, 2”
• Weight: 10.7 grams

A wonderful early Victorian portrait locket worked in gilt silver and set with hundreds of Bohemian garnets, including a 10.2-carat rose cut oval at the center. The garnets are set with space between them to lighten the overall effect and better show the bright red coloring of the stones. The locket is suspended from a garnet-encrusted clover shaped bail. The back cover is entirely glass The gilding is intact.

• Origin: probably English, ca. 1845
• Condition: excellent, no missing stones
Dimensions: locket, 1-1/4” x 1-3/8”; overall length, 2-1/8”
• Weight: 14.4 grams

A fine Art Nouveau medallist stickpin depicting Demter (“Ceres”), goddess of the harvest and the seasons, in 14K gold by Louis Rault. She is shown in profile with several of her attributes including a tiara of wheat and a scythe. Louis Armand Rault was a leading designer for Boucheron 1868-75 and this is one of his signature designs. His designs were sometimes licensed to other jewelers, hence this American 14K version. The stickpin is finished in a soft bloomed texture. The pinstem is stamped iwth Carter, Gough's 14K mark. The stickpin could easily be converted to a ring or pendant.

• Origin: America, ca 1880
• Condition: excellent, sharp detail
• Dimensions: head, 9/16” diameter, length, 2-1/2”
• Weight: 2.0 grams

A nice extra-wide Victorian silver cuff bracelet engraved in an ornate Persian-inspired design. The bracelet is hinged, and the back side is unengraved. The width of the bracelet lends a very imposing look. Tested and guaranteed sterling silver.

• Origin: America, ca. 1875
• Condition: excellent, only two pinpoint dings on the back side
• Dimensions: 6-1/4” circumference, 1-7/16” wide
• Weight: 31.9 grams

A fine Victorian 14K gold and platinum locket ornately decorated in the Etruscan style with a lily pond scene. The scene includes rose gold cattails, green gold lily pads, and platinum lily blossoms. The remainder of the locket is enanced with ropetwists, wire work, and appliques. The locket opens at the back to reveal a photo compartment. The locket is completed iwth its original matching bail.

• Origin: America, ca. 1860
• Condition: excellent; a few minor pinpoints on the back cover
• Dimensions: 1-3/8" x 2-3/16" (including bail)
• Weight: 14.6 grams

An early Victorian 14K yellow gold locket enhanced with a pretty design of painted enamel roses and taille d'epargne tracery. The exposed gold surfaces are further decorated with engraving. The back cover has a style of engine-turned engraving usually found only in the late Georgian or very early Victorian periods. The interior retains both of the original glass covers and gold frames.

• Origin: America, ca. 1840
• Condition: excellent; no enamel damage; a pinpoint ding to the back cover
• Dimensions: 1-1/16" x 1-1/2" (excluding jump ring)
• Weight: 8.2 grams

A heavy pair of 14K gold cufflinks, the faces decorated with a sort of shield-shaped device against a stippled background. The influence of the Art Nouveau aesthetic can be seen in the assymetrical design of the shields. The semi-matte finish of the stippling contrasts nicely with the more polished shield. The backs marked "14K" and have Kirby's hallmark.

• Origin: America, ca. 1890
• Condition: excellent
• Dimensions: 11/16" x 1/2"
• Weight: 9.8 grams

A beautiful pair of 14K yellow gold double curb link bracelets. The links are enhanced with ornate repousse decoration but could be worn inside out when a smoother look is called for. The clasp of each bracelet is stamped with Viennese 14K gold marks used 1872-1902. The bracelets are priced as a pair, but are available separately.

• Origin: Austro-Hungarian Empire, 1872-1902
• Condition: excellent, no dings
• Dimensions: 7-3/4” long; 1/2” wide
• Weight: 47.3 grams

A tour-de-force first standard (950/1000 pure silver) tastevin by silversmith Stanislas Pollet celebrating Napoleon’s great victory at the Battle of Wagram. The tastevin is inset with a Napoleonic silver medal surrounded by fleur-de-lis engraving. The outer edges are enhanced with ornate strapwork (a technique particularly mastered by Pollet) depicting fleur-de-lis and acanthus leaves. The entire design is set off with a pair of magnificently cast and engraved dolphins forming the handle.

Napoleon, never particularly known as a shrinking violet, enjoyed commissioning medals from the Paris Mint to celebrate his victories and various life landmarks. The front of the medal (showing from the top of the tastevin) depicts the river god of the Danube being forced by the Emperor to carry a wooden pontoon bridge laden with French cannons over the river towards the Imperial Austrian capital, Vienna. The Latin inscription translates as, “Danubius, indignant at the breach/Battle of Essling/May 22, 1809.” The reverse (showing from the bottom of the tastevin) depicts the French army marching across the bridge at Wagram, urged on by the goddess of Victory carrying a laurel wreath and pointing the way. The inscription translates as, “Again crossing at the same place/July 5, 1809.” The Battle of Essling was the first defeat of the French army under Napoleon’s direct control, but that fact is obscured by combining it with the Battle of Wagram, just forty-four days later. This latter battle was one of the emperor’s greatest victories and was the largest battle in European history up to that time. The medal was created at the Paris Mint by the medalist Nicolas-Guy-Antoine-Brenet under the supervision of Baron Dominique Vivant Denon, who was Napoleon’s artistic director and to whom the emperor entrusted the Louvre after turning it into a museum. A single copy of the medal was struck in gold for Napoleon’s personal collection. Silver medals were given as gifts to the emperor’s friends and diplomats and bronze versions were available to those of lower rank.

• Origin: France, 1899-1903
• Condition: excellent, sharp detail
• Dimensions: 3-1/2” x 4-5/8” x 1-1/4”
• Weight: 201.4 grams

A wonderful Victorian/Art Nouveau pendant and brooch in the form of a mythological griffin grasping a diamond in its jaws. The creature’s open-winged pose is somewhat unusual for this type of jewel, as they tend to be more curled up in a more circular position. The pose, however, makes for wear as a dramatic pendant hanging from the pendant loops on each wing. The back also has a removable fitting so it can also be worn as a brooch. And finally, there is a watch hook at the bottom that could suspend a watch or a dangling gemstone. The griffin is worked with in great detail and even the back is enhanced with engraved feathers and scales. The old mine cut diamond has good color and VS1 clarity. The pin stem is stamped with French 18K gold hallmarks.

• Origin: France, ca. 1890
• Dimensions: 2-3/4” x 1-3/8”
• Condition: excellent, sharp detail
• Weight: 18.1 grams
• Approximate Diamond Weight: .33 carat

A lovely late Victorian 18K gold locket, the front and back covers worked in a stippled texture with engine-turned engraving along the borders. The front is further enhanced with a spray of vivid blue forget-me-nots and green foliage. In Victorian flower language, forget-me-nots symbolized true love or the desire to be remembered—either one a very fitting sentiment for a locket. The back cover has a monogram reserve that was never engraved. The interior retains the original frames and glass on both sides. The bail is stamped with French 18K gold marks.

• Origin: France, ca. 1890
• Condition: excellent, enamel intact
• Dimensions: 7/8” x 1-1/4” (excluding bail)
• Weight: 6.4 grams

A heavy French 18K gold and diamond pendant depicting a mythological griffin. The creature has the body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle. His open jaws clasp an old European cut diamond set in a milgrain platinum collet. The diamond is graded as I color, VS2 clarity. The griffin is surrounded by a circle of woody foliage. The back is engraved to match the texture of the front. The piece can be worn as a brooch or as a pendant suspended from the loops at the wing tips. The bottom has an additional loop that could be used to suspend an optional gemstone or pearl drop. The pendant is stamped with French 18K guarantee marks and a partial goldsmith’s mark.

• Origin: France, ca. 1890
• Condition: excellent, sharp detai
• Dimensions: 1-9/16” x 1-3/16”
• Weight: 12.6 grams
• Approximate Diamond Weight: .15 carat

A fine and ornate Victorian quadruple foxtail watch chain worked in 18K gold with rubies and bloodstone. Two slides, each with engraved floral decoration and set with cushion cut rubies, enhance the chain. The two slides are drawn close together so the chain plaits itself in the middle. One end of the chain terminates in a dog clip clasp. The other end terminated in a watch key and a fob seal decorated to match the slides. The fob seal is also set with rubies along the sides and ends in a bloodstone plaque (unengraved). The rubies have vivid color and show no indications of heat treatment. The chain, dog clip, key and fob are all marked individually with early 19th century French 18K gold marks. A chain this ornate would have been worn as a “gilletière” high on the vest so it would be readily visible to others. The chain would be lovely styled into a longer necklace with other chains.

• Origin: France, ca 1840
• Condition: excellent, all original
• Dimensions: overall length: 13-3/4”; fob, 1” x 3/4"; key, 2”
• Weight: 40.4 grams
• Approximate Total Ruby Weight: 1.44 carats

A stunning early Victorian snake necklace in 18K gold. The body is worked in a graduated series of scaled links terminating in an ornate emerald- and garnet-set head suspending an emerald-set foliate drop. The construction of the snake’s body is very flexible and feels silky like a true snake. The ornate head with repoussé and chased decoration is more fanciful and resembles a Chinese dragon. The eyes are set with bright garnet cabochons and the head features a row of collet-set emerald cut emeralds. The stones have fine bluish green coloring. The head suspends a drop in the form of leafy twigs set with additional emeralds. A box clasp is cleverly hidden in the head for a seamless appearance when being worn. Following Prince Albert’s proposal to Queen Victoria with a snake ring in 1839, a snake grasping its own tail came to represent the seamlessness or eternity of love and became wildly popular in jewelry. The necklace is presented in its original burgundy velvet, silk and leather fitted case. Tested and guaranteed 18K gold.

• Origin: England, ca 1840
• Condition: excellent, all original
• Dimensions: overall length, 19-1/4”; length when clasped, 16-1/2”; drop length, 1-1/4”
• Weight: 32.5 grams
• Approximate Total Emerald Weight: 3.77 carats

A heavy French 18K gold and diamond pendant depicting a mythological griffin. The creature has the body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle. His open jaws clasp an old mine cut diamond. The diamond is graded as G color, SI1 clarity. Griffins in brooches are often shown in a crouching position, but in this example, the creature is standing upright in a more assertive pose. The piece can be worn as a brooch or as a pendant suspended from the loops at the wing tips. The pendant is stamped with French 18K guarantee marks and with the master goldsmith’s mark “Vve G” for “widow Godivier.” In rare instances, more enterprising French women were able to successfully assume control of the family business after their husbands had died.

• Origin: France, ca. 1904-1911
• Condition: excellent, sharp detail
• Dimensions: 1-1/2” x 1-3/8”
• Weight: 15.1 grams
• Approximate Diamond Weight: .21 carat

A lovely early Art Nouveau 18K gold sliding locket by the acclaimed medallist Jean-Baptiste Emile Dropsy. The front cover shows a bare-shouldered woman wearing a diamond necklace and hair ornament feeding a diamond seed to a bird in mid-flight, all surrounded by a bough of chestnut leaves. The diamond accents (“habillé”) add a bit of sparkle to the design. The bird appears to be a dove, representative of “love” in Victorian symbology, while the chestnut leaves represent the sentiment “do me justice.” Taken together, the message means some along the lines of wishfulness for being treated well in love. Dropsy was an early Art Nouveau designer and his female designs tend to be a bit more teasing Gibson Girl than the more overtly sexy nudes that came along a decade or so later. The back cover is decorated with a curved spray of roses complete with thorns. Roses were also used to symbolize love, and when thorns are present, sometimes hinted that love is not without occasional pain. The interior of the locket retains its original frames and mirrored glass, which could be replaced with photos if desired. The locket is stamped with French 18K gold marks.

• Origin: France, ca 1895
• Condition: excellent, all original, a small ding on the back cover visible in strong raking light
• Dimensions: 1-1/8” x 1-1/8”
• Weight: 11.9 grams
• Approximate Total Diamond Weight: .06 carat

A nice pair of mid-Victorian earrings worked in chocolate brown lava set with pearls in 14K yellow gold. The earrings are designed as two acorns flanking an elongated amphora form surmounted by a lady’s head. The girandole arrangement (three elements suspended from a single element at the top) is relatively rare among lava earrings. Archaeological Revival lava jewelry from Pompeii was a very prized souvenir of a wealthy visitor’s Grand Tour through Italy due to the ongoing excavations there that accelerated in the late 1860s. The small pearls are natural and have excellent color and luster. Tested and guaranteed 14K gold.

• Italy, ca 1870
• Condition: excellent, no chips
• Dimensions: 3/4” wide; 1-15/16” long
• Weight: 5.8 grams

An elegant Victorian bangle bracelet, the front set with a triple row of 76 natural seed pearls that splay open toward the center which is set with a floret of old mine cut diamonds. The pearls have cream body color and fine luster and are perfectly matched. The diamonds are F/G color and VVS2 clarity. The center diamond is .34 ct and the others are .06 ct each. The clasp is well-concealed and it is stamped “15 Ct” and also has French import marks.

• Origin: England, ca. 1900
• Condition: excellent
• Dimensions: 5/8” wide tapering to 3/16” at back; circumference 6-1/2”
• Weight: 23.5 grams
• Approximate Total Diamond Weight: .82 carat

A pair of carved bone master salt spoons decorated with elephants on the handles. Circa 1900. Excellent condition. 2-3/4” long.