Four designs for bracelets with stylized leaves, diamonds 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 and a garland of thin bundles of small, round pearls, held together by an elongated leaf motif that scrolls around them. The second design is made up of a bangle with an opening on the front, covered by a large, stylized leaf with a strip of pearls of decreasing diameter along its middle, framed by a knot forming around it from the bangle. The third design is made up of two tubular strips of metal that interlace around each other, closed by two scrolling motifs on the sides, and superposed by stylized scrolling leaf motifs with strips of brilliants across their centers, and round pearls on their tips. The final design is made up of two tubular strips interlacing around each other to form a knot, holding stylized leaves with strips of round pearls across the middle, and held together by two motifs with scrolls lying outside the knot. The physical jewels from these 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 leaves, diamonds and pearls
- Artist: F. Mellerio Borgnis
- Date: ca. 1830–70
- Medium: Graphite
- 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(4)
- Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints
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