Antique Locket Pendant with Enamel Miniature in Gold, c. 1875

Bright yellow gold, a hidden locket compartment, a fringe of gold - in these respects, this piece of jewellery is entirely in keeping with the taste of the 1870s. And yet it has one element that points at another time altogether: the portrait of a lady, painted in enamel, which pays homage to a century that was already past. With flowers in her hair, a gray curly wig that falls loosely over her shoulders and a chiffon collar around her shoulders - the so-called fichu - the portrait harks back to the 1780s. It is reminiscent of the portraits of women created in the circle of French artists such as Marie-Victoire Lemoine or Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun. The loose gowns, the seemingly dissolved hair and the rich floral decorations signaled a new lightness, a first departure from the strict courtly world, from which Marie Antoinette also tried to escape in precisely those years with her artificial village, the Hameau de la Reine. In the late 19th century, amidst the strict bourgeois rules of the time, these ideas may have become topical again. But in any case, contemporaries were fascinated by the past: portraits of ladies in the costume of old times, cut in stone or shell, can be found again and again on the large pendants of the time. Elements of past eras can also be found in clothing fashion. Here, the medallion pendant is mounted on a wide eyelet that was intended for a velvet ribbon - so it can be worn tightly around the neck, just as the ladies of the 1780s did. Of course, it can also be worn on a strong gold chain. It probably originated in England.

Estimación:€2,190

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