Four designs for bracelets with stylized flowers and leaves, ribbons and pearls
Four drawings in graphite of designs for bracelets, 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. The first design is made up of two tubular strips, held together by scrolling motifs, and with a bundle of large, stylized leaves, stylized flowers with round pearls as pistils, and stylized flower buds, in the center. The second design is made up of two tubular strips, framing a pair of large, stylized leaves with pearls in the center, with offsetting scrolling branches with pearls, and with a ribbon motif, possibly to be made with square-cut brilliants, interlacing around it. The third design is made up of two tubular strips with striped surface, and one with smooth surface in the center, with a bundle of thin, elongated leaves that scroll around the gold tubes, and a stylized flower with a pearl as pistils and seceral flower buds made of pearls. The final design consists of two thin tubes, held together by a bundle formed in the center, made up of a bundle with large, stylized leaves, stylized flower buds, and pearls. The 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: Four designs for bracelets with stylized flowers and leaves, ribbons and pearls
- Artist: F. Mellerio Borgnis
- Date: ca. 1830–70
- Medium: Graphite heightened with gray wash
- 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(2)
- Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints
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