Six designs for brooches with cartouches 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. Five of the brooches consist of cartouches of different types. The first consists of an oval flanked by four fleur-de-lis motifs to the sides, and inside a frame with scrolling motifs, with another, smaller frame with scalloped edges containing a small flower with leaves underneath it, and a ribbon with pairs of short, diagonal lines under it, and with two chains hanging to its sides. The second one consists of an oval inside a frame with scrolling motifs, flanked above by a crown with spades and fleurs-de-lis, and with a tassel hanging from its lower side. The third one consists of an oval frame made up of a garland of stylized leaves and bundles of round pearls, with two angels on the upper part, holding a crown with round pearls above them. The fourth brooch is made up of two oval frames over a scrolling motif with semi-abstract leaves and three hanging tassels, flanked above by a crown with round pearls. The fifth escutcheon consists of an oval frame flanked by four fleur-de-lis motifs, inside a larger frame with scrolling motifs, flanked by a crown with groups of three round pearls on it. The sixth brooch consists of scrolling motifs that hold a thin festoon of small stylized flowers and leaves, its ends holding a basket with a bundle of tiny flowers on one side, and a semi-abstract key with a thin garland of tiny flowers on the other, and with a knot motif with a small bundle of tiny flowers hanging from it in the center, between the two ends of the festoon. 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 cartouches 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(19)
- Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints
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