Design for a Gold and Blue Enamel Earring with Rubies, a Trefoil Motif, Quatrefoil Motifs and Gold Cannetille Scrolls

Drawing with a design for a gold earring with rubies and blue enamel that is part of a collection of 85 drawings with figurative designs for earrings, brooches, pendants and other jewels, possibly real-sized, created with graphite and gouache and heightened with gold inside lithograph frames. These designs are all characteristic of the period between 1870 and 1900, when jewelry design saw a great degree of innovation and creativity in both style and technique. Some of the most important innovations that took place at this time included the setting of diamonds without metal on the back to reinforce the refraction of light on the cut surfaces of the stones, and the use of gold granules and cannetille (scrolls of metal strips) in the creation of fine metal surfaces. (Semi-)precious stones continued to be used in jewelry design at this time, especially with the discovery of diamond mines in South Africa, although alternative techniques, many of them inspired on ancient jewelry, were also common: Enamel in its different application techniques (including champlevé, cloisonné, and low-relief) was particularly popular. In addition to enamel, colored glass was used to add touches of color to the metallic structures that formed the base of the jewels. In general, jewelry design during this period became more complex, and the colors in nature were mimicked by the color of gemstones used for jewelry design: the designs were elaborate and relied in the natural beauty of cabochon gems, curving, and figurative designs with symbolic meaning, typical of the Arts and Crafts movement. Towards the end of the nineteenth century, the Art Nouveau movement created sinuous and organic pieces that moved away from conventional stones and put emphasis on the subtle effects of materials such as glass, horn and enamel. The European Middle Ages and the Renaissance, as well as civilizations of the Mediterranean, and even Japan, became important sources of inspiration for jewelry design at this time.

This design for a gold earring is made up of a gold-and-blue-enamel trefoil with a lozenge-cut ruby in the center, from which hang two trapezoid-shaped gold frames with gold naturalistic cannetille scrolling motifs held together by a gold-and-blue-enamel quatrefoil motif with a round cabochon ruby in the center. From the bottom edge of the lower trapezoid frame hang three chains that hold a gold roundel with an enamelled blue quatrefoil motif each, the chain in the middle being slightly longer than the other two. It is possible that the rubies were meant to be replaced by red enamel or red-colored stones in the manufacture of the final jewel, both techniques widely used at the time of the creation of this design. The drawing is made over a black gouache background inside a cream lithograph frame.