Designed as a geometric Fleur-de-lys, set with natural pearls, mounted in platinum, circa 1930. Weight: 27.4 grams. Length; 8.2cm Accompanied by a certificate from the GIA stating that the largest...
Designed as a geometric Fleur-de-lys, set with natural pearls, mounted in platinum, circa 1930. Weight: 27.4 grams. Length; 8.2cm
Accompanied by a certificate from the GIA stating that the largest pearl is natural saltwater (this is the only pearl that could be tested without un-setting the pearls)
Note: A wonderful jewel of its times, this brooch takes the form of one of the popular innovations of the period - the jabot brooch. Like many innovations, the jabot that we so associate with the inter-war years is in fact an evolution of the past. The jabot has its routes in 17th and 18th Century male dress as a flourish emitting from the waistcoat before becoming a part of female attire as a fastener at the front of dresses in the 19th Century. The system's duality of both function and decoration married well with the desire for jewels to be versatile during the 1920s and 1930s. Whilst retaining the name 'jabot' these fasteners became more stylised than their predecessors and were used more freely as well - worn as a handy and decorative element on any clothing and to fasten any loose fabric, scarf or other. With freedom of use came freedom of interpretation and inspiration. This particular jabot is a great example of the tendency towards an angular distillation of form. This can be seen gradually influencing most of the great jewellery houses following the famous International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts fair held in Paris in 1925. This brooch is at the cusp of the monochromatic abstraction that dominated Parisian jewellery from the 1930s until the Second World War, it is also indicative of the larger scale of jewels that came into vogue after 1930. It displays the workmanship of Parisian ateliers but as it is sadly totally unmarked it may prove impossible to ever find out who is behind this gem.