Six designs for brooches with stylized flowers and leaves, pearls, and scrolling motifs
Six drawings in graphite of designs for 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 is made up of a large bundle of stylized leaves and round pearls, with a ribbon scrolling around it, and three hanging strips of alternating stylized leaves and pearls, some of them round and one, in the center, teardrop-shaped, ending in thin gold foils. The second design is made up of a knot from which hangs a metallic scrolling motif with engraved (?) scrolls, and two tassels to the sides, and with three interlacing rings on the lower part of the design. The third design is made up of a scrolling frame containing a bundle of stylized leaves, rosettes and pearls, with hanging strips of stylized leaves, rosettes, pearls, and teardrop-shaped stones. The fourth design is made up of a small, round frame made up of scrolling elaves, containing small, stylized leaves and round pearls. The fifth design is made up of an oval frame with a strip of round pearls. The sixth design is made up of a roundel with two branches with small, stylized leaves and round pearls, held together by a small ribbon knot, which make up the upper half of the frame, and with a smaller, shorter version of these same branches that makes up the lower part of the frame. 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: Six designs for brooches with stylized flowers and leaves, pearls, and scrolling motifs
- 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(12)
- Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints
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