Design for a pendant with diamonds, rubies, and black enamel
Drawing with a design for a pendant, 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 design consists of a large, white brilliant or diamond, framed by a black-and-gold looping motif containing seven oval-shaped red stones, with two intersecting scrolls forming under the large brilliant, and with five smaller, white brilliants or diamonds above; the hasp of the pendant is placed above the central diamond in this group. The frame is flanked by two smaller black and gold scrolls, each from which hangs a strip of a small, round, red stone, a small, round, white brilliant or diamond, and a teardrop-shaped, red stone. From under the scrolls of the frame hang three small, round, red stones, a small, round brilliant or diamond, and a teardrop-shaped, red stone. The red stones would likely have been rubies or other red (semi-) precious stone, or colored glass. The black would have been achieved using tarnished silver or enamel.
Artwork Details
- Title: Design for a pendant with diamonds, rubies, and black enamel
- Artist: F. Mellerio Borgnis
- Date: ca. 1830–70
- Medium: Gouache
- Dimensions: Sheet (Left): 6 5/8 × 3 11/16 in. (16.8 × 9.4 cm)
Sheet (Right): 6 7/16 × 4 13/16 in. (16.3 × 12.3 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(35)
- Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints
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