Antique Earrings With Pastoral Scenes In Cut Steel & Pearls, Circa 1865

Hameau De La Reine

Antique Earrings With Pastoral Scenes In Cut Steel & Pearls, Circa 1865

€ 980.00 ^*

Content 1 piece

Incl. VAT, Shipping

Description

This description was automatically translated from German. If you have any questions about this piece of jewellery, we will be happy to help!

In a green landscape, against a misty blue backdrop, we see a gentleman in gallant dress and a rococo lady in a powdered wig. Both are carrying letters in their hands. The gestures suggest that the gentleman has just sent a letter to the lady. The pastoral scenes are captured in porcelain painting. The pastoral scene is an artistic romanticization of country life. In painting and literature, it often served as a counter-image to modernity, conveying ideals such as innocence, harmony and a supposedly lost natural order. The pastoral scene was particularly popular in the Baroque and Rococo periods, as it created a playful, simpler fantasy world into which the strictly structured courtly societies could dream themselves away. Marie Antoinette's "Hameau de la Reine", the queen's hamlet, took this aesthetic to the extreme: the queen had an entire village built as a backdrop for pastoral pleasures. In the 1860s, the gallant aesthetics of the Rococo and thus pastoral art experienced a revival, especially in France. This return to the playful and elegant was a reaction to the social upheavals of industrialization. The French style of the Second Empire under Napoleon III reflected this nostalgic longing for a supposedly more harmonious past. Echoes of Rococo also found their way back into fashion and jewellery, from France to all the salons of Europe. It was in this context that these earrings were created. Not only are the porcelain plaques with their pastoral paintings inspired by the spirit of the Rococo period, but also their sparkling settings made of faceted steel, known as cut steel, which was particularly popular in the late 18th century. The details of the earrings with bows and flower shapes also reflect this. The earwires are made of gold. A beautiful and unusual pair of earrings that bear witness to the fact that earlier generations were only too happy to dream themselves into the past. We discovered the pair in Cologne.

Size & Details

Hameau De La Reine

€ 980.00 ^*

Content 1 piece

Incl. VAT, Shipping

Our Promise

We want you to be 100% satisfied! For that reason, we examine, describe and photograph all of our jewellery with the utmost care.

You can rely on our years of experience in the trade and our expertise as a professional art historians for reviews of the antique jewellery. As a member of various trade organisations and the British Society of Jewellery Historians, we remain committed to the highest possible degree of accuracy. In our descriptions, we always also indicate any signs of age and defects and never hide them in our photos – this saves you from any unpleasant surprises when your package arrives.

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Hameau De La Reine

Earrings

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