Designs for Hair Ornaments, Brooches, Bracelets, and Other Jewelry of the Second Empire
Anonymous, French, 19th century French
Not on view
Lithograph with several designs for jewelry in the style of the Second Empire (1852-1870), characterized by extravagant motifs with complex compositions of naturalistic jewelry, composed of clearly recognizable foliage, flowers and fruit. In many cases, the colors of gemstones used in the creation of the jewels were meant to match those in nature; cabochon gems were popular elements to create complexity in curving and figurative designs, often with symbolic meanings. This plate contains a variety of designs, including a necklace with stylized, scrolling leaves, hair ornaments, brooches, bracelets, and rings with ribbons, bows, and stylized flowers and leaves, and one brooch bar with a grotesque motif and strips of pearls, executed with yellow, white, red, and gray over a black ground, and possibly intended to be manufactured using a combination of yellow gold and silver, possibly platinum, diamonds or brilliants, pearls, rubies, and other (semi-) precious stones.
