Catalog: Estate Jewelry: Gold: Pre Victorian (29)

A very nice late Georgian carnelian spinner fob mounted in an 18K gold frame in the form of two intertwined snakes. The snakes are hand-chased with detailed scales and interesting, their heads are finished with duck-bill mouths (complete with teeth) grasping apples. This form is often seen in French silver wine tasters and was intended as a reminder of temptation and the snake in the Garden of Eden. The spiral mechanism in the center of the snakes’ entwined bodies is a spring mechanism that allows the carnelian plaque to be locked into place. The fob is generously sized and would make a stunning pendant. Marked with an indistinct Continental hallmark (likely French) and tested 18K.

• Origin: Continental Europe, probably France, ca. 1830.
Dimensions: 1-9/16” x 1-3/4”.
• Weight: 11.3 grams.
• Condition: excellent; carnelian was never engraved; all original.

An elegant Georgian 18K gold fob seal worked in a floral pattern and set at the base with an amethyst tablet engraved with an armorial crest. The floral design continues up the shoulders to the loop by which the fob would have been hung from a watch chain. Tested and guaranteed 18K gold.

• Origin: England, ca. 1815
• Condition: excellent
• Dimensions: 3/4" x 11/16" x 1-3/16"
• Weight: 13.2 grams

An extraordinarily fine pair of Georgian hardstone cameo earrings set in 15K yellow gold. The cameos, certainly of Italian origin, and possibly several hundred years older than the earrings themselves, are carved from a grayish-green stone with white and rust banding. The images depict a satyr with exaggerated pointy ears and a leering grin, and a female companion with a floral wreath in her hair. In both, the grayish-green stone forms the background, while the facial features are picked out in white, and the floral headdresses have a faint rust tint. The gold settings have cut-down collets and a gentle ogee-shaped outer frame. The cameos are relatively thin and appear to be backed with black wax or pitch to hold them securely in place. The closures are front-to-back hinges. Georgian-era cameo jewelry is quite difficult to find. Tested and guaranteed 15K.

• Origin: England, ca. 1800.
• Condition: very good; no damage or wear except for a small fracture at the uppermost edge of the background in the female cameo visible under magnification.
• Dimensions: 1/2” x 5/8” long (excluding wires). Weight: 7.1 grams.

This exceptional verre eglomise rock crystal panel depicts a maiden in classical dress playing with a hound. She sits on a plinth in a clearing with cypress trees in the background. The scene is backed with grayish mother-of-pearl that seems to create a sky of swirling clouds. The reverse of the pendant is simply finished with pale grayish-blue silk. The plaque is simply mounted in an 18K yellow gold frame with a bail at the top. Verre eglomise was most often used in mourning jewelry, but nothing about the composition of this scene suggests it was created for memorial purposes. In fact, the unusually playful interaction of the dog and the maiden, the latter with a delicately painted smiling face, suggests just the opposite. The pendant was found in France, but the absence of a hallmark suggests England as a more likely place of origin. Tested and guaranteed 18K gold.

Origin: England or France, ca. 1800. Condition: excellent, a 1/8" flake on one edge of the front crystal and a couple of 1/8" faded areas to black border, all visible only with strong, raking light. Size: 1-3/8" x 1-3/4" (excluding bail).

A pretty Georgian heart pendant worked in 18K yellow gold and featuring a double-cut citrine heart. The gold surfaces are decorated in a repousse floral motif. The citrine is cut with lapidary facets on both sides it looks the same from the back or front. The stone has very pleasant pale yellow coloring. The jump ring is original to the pendant. Tested and guaranteed 18K gold.

• Origin: England, ca 1820
• Condition: excellent, very light wear on some of the citrine’s facet junctions visible upon close inspection
• Dimension: 1-1/16” x 1-3/4” (including jump ring)
• Approximate Citrine Weight: 17.4 carats
• Weight: 13.7 grams

A stunning Georgian 18K gold textured chain necklace suspending a graduated series of nineteen carved hardstone hearts. The colorful stones include lapis lazuli, moonstone, opal, carnelian, moss agate, porphyry, chrysoprase, banded agate, jasper and more. Stones such as these would have been mined in many different parts of the globe, and wearing a necklace of such "specimens" would have indicated wealth as well as a certain curiosity and intelligence about the world. The heart theme expressed the sentimental side of Georgian jewelry. The chain is entirely handmade and is fastened with the original barrel clasp decorated with beading in the Etruscan manner. Tested and guaranteed 18K.

Origin: France or England, ca. 1800. Condition: very good, several of the hearts have minor roughnesses to the edges consistent with two centuries of wear. Length: 16-3/4". Weight: 19.0 gr.

A very good Georgian watch fob seal worked in 15K yellow gold with ornate floral repousse floral decoration. The section connecting the fob frame to the bail is chased in a foliate pattern that matches the floral theme. One side of the flip part is set with a banded agate while the other side features an exquisitely chased and engraved gold plaque depicting a flower basket beneath a clear rock crystal cover. The gold plaque is likely very close to pure gold which would have made it easier to work and accounts for its intense golden yellow color. Tested and guaranteed 15K gold.

Origin: England, ca. 1800

Condition: excellent

Dimensions: 1-7/16” x 2-1/8”

Weight: 38.1 grams

A small fob seal featuring an amethyst tablet set in a fluted closed-back setting surmounted with ornate scrollwork. The amethyst tablet bears the monogram “RB” and a heart-shaped lock and a key. The lock and key are rebus images carrying the message “Key to my heart.” This fob is perfectly sized to wear alone as a pendant or on a heavy chain or bracelet as one of multiple charms. Tested and guaranteed 15K.

• Origin: England, ca 1830
• Condition: very good
• Dimensions: 5/8" x 1-1/8"
Weight: 7.5 grams

A pretty late Georgian example of a Halley’s Comet pin worked in 14K (perhaps 15K) yellow gold and featuring a light blue paste stone to represent the comet’s nucleus. The paste is set in an elegant buttercup-type setting accented with an engraved gallery. Blue paste is less common than other colors, and makes a very nice presentation. The comet’s tail depicted in the engraved and voluted gold setting.

In 1705, Edmond Halley correctly predicted the comet’s return in 1758. When it returned again in 1835 (and in 1910), jewelers were ready with fashionable pins to celebrate the comet’s passage.

• Origin: England, ca 1835
• Condition: excellent
• Dimensions: 1-3/8” long
• Weight: 2.9 grams

An extremely fine and rare Georgian 12K gold bracelet featuring a large rectangular plaque of landscape agate flanked by seven smaller rectangular plaques. With only a little imagination, the central panel appears to represent a grouping of trees in front of distant mountains, while the smaller plaques seem more like tree-covered islands in a calm lake. Landscape agate was popular for small brooches in the Georgian era, but large examples made of several matched pieces such as this are extremely rare. The plaques are set in 12K yellow gold frames with typical Georgian chased scrolled and beaded decoration. The agate displays warm shades of tan, brown and grayish-cream. The bracelet has a replaced hidden box clasp (14K), but is in otherwise perfect original condition.

Origin: England, ca. 1800. Condition: excellent, clasp replacement. Size: 23/32” x 6-7/8”.

An outstanding Victorian 18K yellow gold oval slide locket, the cover with set with an amazing sardonyx cameo depicting an early steamship also rigged with sails. The single smoke funnel, the sails’ rigging and the absence of a sidewheel suggest the locket dates to the mid-19th century. The carving is expertly worked using the alternating cream and rust colors of the sardonyx to represent every small detail. The marshy foreground is littered with barrels, crates and a large anchor. The hardstone is surrounded by a Greek key pattern carved into the gold. This pattern is repeated on the back cover surrounding an oval or engine-turned engraving. The locket opens by sliding sideways from a pivot at the top. Lockets were used, of course, to hold pictures, locks of hair or other sentimental remembrances. Most likely, a locket with this kind of decoration would have been worn by a ship captain’s wife (the only sailor’s wife likely to have enough money to purchase an expensive locket of this size and quality).

Ca. 1845. Condition: excellent, no damage to carving, 2 pinpoint dings on the back cover, original frames remaining in interior, no monogram. Tested and guaranteed 18K. Size: 1-3/16” x 1-11/16” (excluding jump ring). Weight: 15.9 grams.