Designs for two bracelets and two brooches with scrolling motifs, stylized leaves and pearls
Four drawings in graphite of designs for bracelets and brooches, 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 consists of a segmented bracelet created with several pieces of metal with scrolling leaf motifs, separated by 8-shaped scrolls, and with a large rectangular frame with round borders in the center, flanked by four scrolling motifs to the sides. The second design, possibly for a brooch, consists of an interlaced knot with a thin bundle of branches with stylized leaves and flower buds made of pearls. The third design, for a bracelet, is made up of two thin tubes that interlace with each other to form three diagonal ovals on the center of the bracelet, each containing a stylized leaf with a strip of pearls along its center, possibly executed after the body of the bracelet was made, and with two small, vertical, S-curves to the sides of the oval interlacing motifs. The fourth design, possibly for a brooch, is made up of a trefoil knot decorated with two stylized scrolling leaves, each with a strip of round pearls across its center. 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.
Artwork Details
- Title: Designs for two bracelets and two brooches with scrolling motifs, stylized leaves and pearls
- Artist: F. Mellerio Borgnis
- Date: ca. 1830–70
- Medium: Graphite
- Dimensions: Sheet: 11 3/4 × 8 3/8 in. (29.9 × 21.2 cm)
Album: 8 11/16 in. × 12 in. × 1 3/8 in. (22 × 30.5 × 3.5 cm) - Classifications: Albums, Drawings, Ornament & Architecture
- Credit Line: Gift of Raphael Esmerian, 1957
- Object Number: 57.662.4(8)
- Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints
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