Four designs for bracelets with scrolling motifs, leaves and pearls
Not on view
Four drawings in graphite of designs for bracelets, in the style of the French School of the 19th century, designed for the French jewelry company Mellerio-Borgnis. Each drawing was created on a separate sheet of semi-transparent paper, all adhered to the same page of the album. The first design is made up of a large, horizontal, oval-shaped stone or glass, framed by scrolling motifs and flanked to the sides by layering trefoils inside elongated C-curved motifs. The second design is made up of a bundle of large scrolling motifs with thin, scrolling branches with oval and round pearls, and small, stylized leaves, flanked to each side by two tubular strips that would make the body of the bracelet. The third design is made up of a quatrefoil frame, flanked to the sides by interlacing, scrolling motifs, formed over a bangle that makes the body of the bracelet. The final design is made up of a bangle with an opening in the center, which is filled by a thin garland with stylized leaves and round pearls, and a loop of metal forming from the lower part of the bangle. The physical jewels from these designs would have likely been manufactured using gold or silver, and probably using brilliants, diamonds, or other (semi-) precious stones to add color and shine to the designs.
