Design for a Bracelet with a Shell Framed by Leaves, and Flowers

Anonymous, French, 19th century French

Not on view

Drawing with a design for a bracelet, probably created between 1830 and 1870, part of an album of drawings by various artists for individual pieces of jewelry, containing a variety of designs in the Art Nouveau style of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, as well as some pieces in historic period styles. This design consists of three horizontal strips executed with shades of brown, possibly suggesting the use of gold in the finalized jewel, with a white shell motif with round stones, probably pearls or stones, framed by three elongated, scrolling leaves on each side, and with thin, brown branches with stylized, white flowers, which scroll around the middle horizontal strip to the sides of the shell. The design is of the style of the Second Empire in France in the mid-19th century, which featured naturalistic motifs decorated with recognizable fruits, and animals, and complex compositions of flowers and foliage. The designs often included diamonds and precious stones, as well as colored glass and other semi-precious stones.

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