Catalog: Estate Jewelry: Gold: Art Nouveau (171)

A classic Art Nouveau brooch / pendant decorated with lush pale blue, medium blue, cream, and yellow matte enamels. The flower is centered with a round diamond. The pin is unmarked but is certainly by one of the Newark jewelers. The back retains the original pinstem and clasp. A bail could easily be added for wear as a pendant. Tested and guaranteed 14K.

• Origin: America, ca. 1900
• Condition: excellent, no enamel damage
• Dimensions: 7/8” x 7/8”
• Weight: 4.3 grams
• Approximate Diamond Weight: .02 carat.

A lovely Art Nouveau brooch depicting a lady surrounded by birds in 14K yellow gold and diamonds. The design is beautifully worked with tremendous textural detail, and the old mine cut diamond set in the headdress adds a touch of sparkle. The designer of this brooch is most certainly of French origin and was created with the idea of licensing it to manufacturing jewelers in France, England and the U.S. When this design appears with French hallmarks, it’s hollow and worked in 18K; English versions are typically in sterling silver; and American versions are solid and worked in 14K. Krementz is known to have used this design, though this example is unmarked. Tested and guaranteed 14K.

NOTE: The brooch can easily be converted to a pendant with the addition of a folding bail to the back.

• Origin: America, ca. 1910.
• Condition: excellent; sharp detail; all original.
• Dimensions: 15/16” diameter.
• Weight: 6.6 grams.
• Approximate Dimond Weight: .04 carat.

A gorgeous enameled pansy, worked in several shades of bluish-purple is featured in this ring converted from a Victorian pin. The enamel has a soft velvety appearance and is accented at the center with a small pearl. The pansy is set on a sturdy 14K gold split shank. Pansies are generally associated with remembrance, but in Victorian flower symbology, they also carried the sentiment, "Think of me." So whether you're in love or just feeling nostalgic, this ring is perfect! Tested and guaranteed 14K.

NOTE: We are offering a matching pendant converted from the same Victorian pin. Item #1412579

• Origin: America, ca. 1900
• Condition: converted from a brooch; no enamel damage
• Dimensions: crown, 3/4" x 11/16"
• Finger Size: 6 1/2
• Weight: 4.0 grams.

This fabulous snarling tiger is glowing with lifelike translucent enamels in multiple shades of gold, orange, brown and black. The nostrils and tongue are accented with deep red enamel. Each eye is set with an old European cut diamond and the fangs grasp a third diamond. The stones are good quality, graded at I color, SI1 clarity. The pendant is deeply three-dimensional with superb detailing. The back is also stamped with Alling & Co.’s mark. Alling was manufacturer for leading retailers such as Tiffany & Co., Bailey, Banks Biddle and C.D. Peacock.

The back is ornately engraved “EBP From the Armour Boys/Sioux City, IA/June 1907.” Our research suggests that the “Armour Boys” were the owners of the meatpacking company Armour, and that “EBP” was Elizabeth Ann Brasker Plankinton, daughter of their partner in the company. One of Armour’s largest factories opened in Sioux City in 1907.

NOTE: The pendant is shown with a 16" 14K gold chain that is available for an additional $125.

• Origin: America, 1907.
• Condition: excellent condition.
• Dimensions: 1 3/32” wide x 1 1/8” tall (excluding bail and jump ring).
• Weight: 11.5 grams.
• Approximate Total Diamond Weight: .15 carat.

This Art Nouveau medallion brooch depicts the beautiful Ophelia (spelled “Ophelie” in the French tradition), surrounded by cattails, willow branches and waterlilies, as symbols of watery grave in Shakespeare’s “Hamlet.” Her hair is studded with small old mine cut diamonds. This design was created by the French jeweler and sculptor Emile-Séraphin Vernier (1852-1927) for the 1908 Exposition de la Parure Précieuse de la Femme in Paris. Like many other Art Nouveau medalists, Vernier licensed some of his designs to various manufacturing jewelers around the world. This example is American and is marked 14K. The brooch retains its original watch hook and pinstem/clasp.

NOTE: The brooch could easily be worn as a pendant with the addition of a folding bail to the back.

• Origin: America, ca. 1908.
• Condition: excellent; sharp detail; all original.
• Dimensions: 1” diameter.
• Weight: 7.4 grams.
• Approximate Total Diamond Weight: .10 carat.

An Art Nouveau 18K yellow gold pin featuring a beautifully enameled morning glory enclosed in a gold whiplash frame. The flower petals and leaves have very fine enameling in translucent shades of rose, cream and green. The enamel has the iridescent finish more often seen in the best quality enameled pieces from Newark workshops. A small pearl peeks out the top of the morning glory. The gold frame is set with rows of rose cut diamonds. Since the morning glory opens and withers in a single day, some charts of Victorian flower language say the flower was used to represent "love in vain." The pinstem is stamped "18Ct".

Origin: England, ca. 1900. Condition: excellent, no enamel damage, all original. Dimensions: 1-1/4" x 1". Weight: 6.6 grams. Approximate Total Diamond Weight: .36 carat.

A wonderful 18K yellow gold brooch depicting Diana (Artemis in the Greek pantheon), goddess of the hunt, animals (wild and domestic), and childbirth. She was also the protector of girls until marriage. Here she is shown with her The goddess is shown wearing her moon-studded tiara and with her bow and arrow attribute. This design was created by the nobleman Prosper, Comte d'Epinay de Briort, one of France's leading sculptors in the Art Nouveau style. He favored mythological subjects and sometimes animals. Epinay de Briort often produced pieces for Boucheron. The brooch could be converted to a pendant with the addition of a bail. The pin is stamped with French 18K marks.

• France, ca. 1900.
• Excellent condition; sharp details.
• 1" diameter.
• 4.6 grams.

A very fine Art Nouveau enameled 14K yellow gold cattleya orchid brooch by A. J. Hedges. This quality of this piece is stunning. The enamel fades from a milky semitranslucent texture near the center of the flower to very translucent pale shades at the edges of the petals. The color shifts from a greenish-cream color to a pure pink along the very edges. The orchid is fully three dimensional, and the throat is set with a small seed pearl. The stem, enameled in mottled pink and green extends below the flower. Hedges was among the very best of the Newark enamellers, but their products are very difficult to find. Along with Whiteside & Blank, their enamel flowers tend to be larger and more complex than those of most other American makers. The back retains the original pinstem and clasp stamped with Hedges’ hallmark and “14K”.

Origin: America, ca. 1900. Condition: excellent, no enamel damage. Size: 1-1/4” x 1-1/2”. Weight: 7.6 grams.

An elegant Art Nouveau 14K yellow gold locket, the cover decorated with repousse decoration of a young woman wearing a diamond-set diadem and flowers in her hair encircled in a laurel wreath. The quality of workmanship is excellent. The old European cut diamond add a perfect touch of sparkle. The interior retains both of its original frames and glass covers. The front side of the interior also contains a fragment of alabaster with carving. It might be Egyptian or something equally ancient, but whatever it is, someone took the trouble to create a mounting so that it fits perfectly into the repousse recesses of the cover. Tested and guaranteed 14K.

Origin: America, ca. 1900. Condition: excellent; sharp detail; two minor pinpoints on back cover; no monogram. Dimensions: 1-1/16” diameter (excluding bail). Weight: 11.6 gr. Approximate Total Diamond Weight: .05 ct.

A generously-sized 14K gold locket featuring the image of a young woman wearing a bandeau of old mine cut diamonds in her flowing hair that extends to the edges of the locket, appearing almost as cresting waves. The interior retains the original frame insert. Marked "14K".

• Origin: America, ca. 1900
• Dimensions: 1 1/4" diameter (excluding bail and jump ring)
• Condition: excellent, sharp detail; the back has a monogram removal
• Weight: 11.4 grams
• Approximate Total Diamond Weight: .09 carat

A lovely Art Nouveau 14K yellow gold pendant enhanced with translucent enamels in varying shades of green and a touch of rose. The whiplash curve outlines are studded with seed pearls and the whole suspends a baroque freshwater pearl. The pendant is attached to a fine Etruscan Revival 12K gold chain, the box clasp enhanced with ropetwist and beaded decoration. Both parts tested and guaranteed gold as described.

Origin: pendant, America, ca. 1900; chain, ca. 1870. Condition: excellent, no enamel damage. Dimensions: overall chain length, 17-3/4"; pendant, 15/16" x 1-3/8". Weight: 9.9 grams.

A very rare 14K gold and diamond Art Nouveau medallion watch pin featuring a portrait of Sacagawea. She is shown in profile, wearing a feathered headdress and a bear claw necklace, gazing out over plains dotted with teepees. An old mine cut diamond (G, VVS2) glimmers in place of the sun on the far opposite side. This piece was likely made at the time of the centennial anniversary of the Lewis & Clark Expedition in 1905. The back retains the original watch hook and pinstem. The clasp is marked for 14K and has Larter’s hallmark. The piece can easily be converted to a pendant with the addition of a bail.

• America, ca. 1905.
• Excellent condition; sharp detail
• 3/4” diameter
• Weight: 5.2 grams
• Approximate Total Diamond Weight: .025 carat

A classic French Art Nouveau 18K gold brooch featuring a young woman with naught but a sprig of flowers covering her breasts set against a poppy blossom. A swallow appears over her shoulder. In Victorian symbology, swallows variously represented wishes for a safe return or “home and heart” since the they mate for life. Similarly, poppies had various meanings including imagination and pleasure. The design was created by the sculptor Armand-Pierre-Louis Quenard (1865-1925) and presented at the inaugural salon of the Société des Artistes Français in 1901. The clasp is stamped with French 18K gold marks and with an illegible maker’s mark.

NOTE: The brooch could be converted to a pendant with the addition of a folding bail to the back.

• Origin: France, ca. 1901.
• Condition: excellent; all original.
• Dimensions: 1” x 1”.
• Weight: 5.0 grams.

Three rich deeply-colored pear-shaped sapphires for the petals of the trefoil in this elegant pendant necklace. The flower is centered with a rose cut diamond. The sapphires are excellent quality with a velvety violetish-blue appearance. The trefoil’s stem curls around on itself to for the Art Nouveau styled border of the pendant. The 18K pendant was originally a brooch but has been given new life as a pendant necklace with the addition of a 14K gold cable chain.

• Origin: France, ca 1900.
• Condition: excellent.
• Dimensions: pendant, 11/16” diameter; necklace length, 18-1/2”.
• Weight: 8.2 grams.
• Approximate Total Gemstone Weight: sapphire, .89 carat; diamond, .02 carat.

A classic Victorian honeymoon brooch in 14K yellow gold. The traditional crescent shape supports a gold violet enameled in rich shades of rose, purple and cream and accented with green veining on the petals. The flower is centered with a small ruby. In Victorian flower language, the crescent shape represented “moon” and the flower represented sweetness or “honey”, thus “honeymoon”. Pins such as this were popular gifts from grooms to their new brides. The original early safety clasp has an unidentified maker’s mark.

• Origin: America, ca. 1900
• Condition: very good; a 1/16” flake on the tip of one flower petal; the pinstem is an early gold-filled replacement
• Dimensions: 7/8” x 3/4"
• Weight: 2.5 grams.

Wonderful Art Nouveau 14K yellow gold stick pin in the form of a flying dragon. The coiled body is covered with finely detailed scales and the wings are detailed with webbing. The dragon clasps a small prong-set single-cut diamond in its jaws. The surfaces have the soft matte bloom or “Russian finish” that was often used in the Art Nouveau period. The pinstem is illegibly hallmarked. Tested and guaranteed 10K gold.

Origin: America, ca. 1900. Condition: excellent, sharp detail. Size: head, 11/16” x 11/16”; overall length, 2-1/2” long. Weight: 1.5 grams.

A stunning French Art Nouveau 18K yellow gold necklace comprising three large and four small gold plaques ornately engraved in a pattern of daisies and foliage. The links are set off at either end with a fancy baton-link chain. The plaques are exquisitely detailed and even the backs are lightly engraved with a reverse image of the daisies—a hidden luxury that speaks to the quality of the piece. In Victorian flower symbolism, the daisy was used to communicate innocence, purity and loyal love. The necklace is delicate, yet has surprising weight because the floral plaques are solid. The necklace is stamped with French 18K marks and an illegible maker's mark.

Origin: France, ca. 1895. Condition: excellent, sharp detail, all original. Dimensions: overall length, 17"; large plaques, 1" x 1/2". Weight: 17.2 gr.

An unusually large Art Nouveau enameled violet pin /pendant worked in opaque white and purple shades over 18K gold. The petals are arranged around an old mine cut diamond (I/J; SI1). In Victorian flower symbology, purple violets conveyed the sentiment "modesty" and white violets conveyed "innocence." Perhaps the colors chosen for this piece were intended to represent a mix of meanings. The back retains the original pinstem and clasp, as well as a bail so the flower can be worn as a pendant. Tested and guaranteed 18K.

• Origin: probably European, possibly American, ca 1900
• Condition: excellent; the peta on the lower right has a tiny enamel nick visible only under 10X magnification
• Dimensions: 1-1/8" x 1-5/16"
• Weight: 8.7 grams
• Approximate Diamond Weight: .25 carat