Design for Six Gold, Pearl, Enamel, and Ruby or Pink Sapphire (?) Brooches in a Scrapbook with Jewelry Designs in Watercolor and Gouache

Drawing with six designs for gold, pearl, enamel, and pink stone brooches, part of a modern scrapbook with 22 sheets showing designs for jewelry with pearls, diamonds and other (semi-)precious stones all done in watercolor and heightened with gold, characteristic of the period between 1970 and 1930, which saw some of the most extravagant and innovative trends in jewelry design. By the second half of the nineteenth century, the naturalistic compositions of earlier decades had become more complex, and the colors in nature mimicked by the color of gemstones used for jewelry design. In the last years of the century, designs for jewelry had become even more elaborate and relied in the natural beauty of cabochon gems, curving, and figurative designs with symbolic meaning, typical of the Arts and Crafts movement. Towards the end of the nineteenth and through the first decades of the twentieth century, diamond jewelry was re-interpreted to create the new 'garland style', and the Art Nouveau movement created sinuous and organic pieces that moved away from conventional stones and put emphasis on the subtle effects of materials such as glass, horn and enamel. During the 1920s, the economic boom following the war saw an increased glamour in jewelry design, with sharp, geometric patterns that celebrated modernity and the machine age. Art Deco jewelry is characterized by dense concentrations of gemstones and the use of platinum in place of gold, with inspiration from all over the world, especially from the Near and Far East.
Like most of the drawings in the album, this design is fully rendered with gouache, showing not only the styles for the jewelry designs, but also suggesting choices of precious metals, stones, and other materials to be used in the creation of the jewels. It is also possible that these designs are real-sized, allowing the customer to visualize the jewel fully from this presentation drawings before commissioning its manufacture.
The first design for a brooch consists of a gold roundel colored in gray with enamel with a white pearl in the center inside a gold frame that has two palmette motifs, one above and one below the pearl, and decorated with four pink cabochon stones, possibly rubies or pink sapphires. From the sides of this central motif emerge two right-angle interlacing motifs made out of gold, , which meet at the tip of the palmette on the bottom. From them hang five gray pearls that match the color of the gray enamel.
The second design for a brooch contains a very similar design to the first, although this time the interlacing motifs form a triangular shape and the bottom palmette flanks the frame of the roundel and contains a white pearl on its center. Three gray stones hang from the roundel this time.
The third design for a brooch is a much simpler design, containing four gold semi-circle motifs, all except the bottom one containing a small pink bead in the middle. The center of the roundel contains a group of four pink stones, possibly rubies or pink sapphires, from which hang two pairs of a small pink stone and a larger gray stone.
The fourth design for a brooch consists of a gold roundel with a white pearl in the center, which is framed by a circumference of alternating diamonds and rubies or pink sapphires. A horizontal strip of alternating diamonds and pink sapphires separates the roundel in two. A horizontal line with a bomp containing a small white pearl is placed on either side of the stripe and central roundel, following the shape created by them.
The fifth design for a brooch is made up of a gold roundel with a palmette in the center, made out of rubies or pink sapphires and decorated in the center with a white pearl. Two interlacing acanthus leaves, possibly made out with enamel, frame the palmette motif.
The sixth design for a brooch is made up of a gold roundel colored with gray enamel with a white pearl in the middle. The white pearl is flanked above and below by two small rubies or pink sapphires placed over two gold palmettes. A right-angled horizontal motif decorates the sides of the pearl. This motif ends with two small rubies or pink sapphires that stand to the sides of the roundel.
For all of these designs, it is possible that the enamelled surface and the pearls were to be replaced by gray-colored glass in the manufacture of the final jewel. The pink stones could also have been made out of glass. This technique was particularly important in jewelry design during the Art Nouveau period.