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Eleven piece parure

ca. 1875
Not on view
The opening of Japanese ports to Western trade in the late 1850s fostered a taste for all things Japanese. By the 1870s, Japonisme had become as de rigeur in jewelry as it was in ceramics, silver, furnishings, fashion, and gardens. Especially admired was shakudo, a technique in which colored metals such as gold, silver, and copper are inlaid into a dark patinated ground to resemble black lacquer. The present parure of matched jewelry appears to have been constructed in England from imported pieces of shakudo. This extensive and very fashionable suite is housed in a specially-fitted leather case stamped by the elite London firm Hunt & Roskell, silversmiths and jewelers to Queen Victoria.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Eleven piece parure
  • Maker: Hunt & Roskell
  • Date: ca. 1875
  • Culture: British
  • Medium: Shakudo, gold
  • Dimensions: Cross wtih fan-shaped top: 3 7/8 × 1 15/16 × 1/4 in. (9.8 × 4.9 × 0.7 cm)
    Necklace chain: 31 11/16 in. (80.5 cm)
    Bracelet of plaques: 1 7/16 × 3/16 × 8 1/4 in. (3.7 × 0.5 × 21 cm)
    Bracelet of chain: 1 7/16 × 3/16 × 7 7/8 in. (3.7 × 0.5 × 20 cm)
    Brooch: 1 7/16 × 1 1/8 × 3/8 in. (3.7 × 2.9 × 1 cm)
    Pair Hairpins: 4 3/16 × 1 3/8 × 3/16 in. (10.7 × 3.5 × 0.5 cm)
    Pair Earrings: 1 5/16 × 9/16 × 7/16 in. (3.4 × 1.5 × 1.1 cm)
    Pair cuff links: 7/8 × 1 3/8 × 1/4 in. (2.2 × 3.5 × 0.7 cm)
  • Classifications: Jewelry, Metalwork-Gold and Platinum
  • Credit Line: Gift of Albion Art Co. Ltd., 2018
  • Object Number: 2018.447.2a–l
  • Curatorial Department: European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

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