Eight designs for brooches with fleur-de-lis motifs
Drawing with eight designs for brooches, part of an album of drawings in pen and ink of designs for jewelry in the style of the French School of the 19th century, designed for the French jewelry house Mellerio-Borgnis. The first design is made up of a bundle of thin branches of gold with green square-cut and oval stones, and small, gray pearls, inside a frame formed by scrolls of gold, flanked below by a golden, inverted fleur-de-lis with two green scrolls. The second design is made up of a large, stylized, green leaf surrounded by small, round pearls, inside a thin, gold frame, from which hang two small, stylized, silver leaves and three small, round pearls of decreasing diameter. The third design is made up of a golden frame with scrolls, which holds a garland of stylized, green leaves and round pearls. The fourth design is made up of scrolling branches with stylized, green leaves and round pearls of varying diameters. The fifth design is made up of a gold frame with a quatrefoil opening that holds a blue oval with a semi-abstract flower in the center, to be made with silver and pearls, and with three hanging strips of a small, stylized, blue leaf and a round, white pearl. The sixth design is made up of a large, oval roundel, framed by a garland of semi-abstract gold flowers, interlaced by blue ribbons that end in a fleur-de-lis motif under the frame, and which are decorated by interlacing, thin garlands of silver branches and small, round pearls. The fourth design is made up of a golden scroll, flanked by two semi-abstract leaves of gold to the sides, and which contains a bundle of stylized, green leaves and thin, scrolling branches with round pearls of varying diameters. The final design is made up of a large, oval roundel, framed by blue and gold scrolls,d ecorated with small, round pearls. The roundels would have most likely been personalized for each independent customer. The green and blue colors in the designs would have been achieved through enamel or by including small inserts of (semi-) precious stones of matching colors in the manufactured jewels.
Artwork Details
- Title: Eight designs for brooches with fleur-de-lis motifs
- Artist: F. Mellerio Borgnis
- Date: ca. 1830–70
- Medium: Graphite, pen and blue, green, yellow, silver, and gold ink
- Dimensions: Sheet: 7 15/16 × 10 1/16 in. (20.1 × 25.6 cm)
Album: 8 11/16 × 12 1/8 × 1 9/16 in. (22 × 30.8 × 4 cm) - Classifications: Albums, Drawings, Ornament & Architecture
- Credit Line: Gift of Raphael Esmerian, 1957
- Object Number: 57.662.3(12)
- Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints
More Artwork
Research Resources
The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please contact us using the form below. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.