Émaux De Bresse

Fabulous Antique Parure From Bresse in Silver & Enamel, France ca. 1875

€ 4,980.00 ^*

Content 1 piece

Incl. VAT, Shipping

Fabulous Antique Parure From Bresse in Silver & Enamel, France ca. 1875

Description

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

The extraordinary parure here, a large set of necklace, bracelet and brooch, surprises with its rich colors. Sky blue, fiery red and spring green stand next to gold, white and dark blue. Yet the colors shine as freshly as if the jewelry had been forged only yesterday. In fact, however, the colors have been shining with the same beauty for around 150 years. The jewelry pieces of the Parure are composed of small, colorful enameled ovals, which are also richly gilded and set with a sparkling glass stone in a silver setting. Each of these ovals, in turn, is itself set in silver, and it is from these oval elements that the jewelry is composed. The oval plaques are a typical product of the Bresse region in the Ain department in southeastern France. From the middle of the 19th century, the enamel works that became famous as "Émaux de Bresse" were created here in small family workshops that had developed from the local watchmaking industry. At first, the enameled plaques were mainly assembled into crosses, which were given as confirmation gifts, but in the course of time, more and more different jewellery was created from the colorful elements. The background to this fashion was that in the late 19th century and fueled by the 1872 World's Fair in London, a new interest in traditional costume jewelry had arisen throughout Europe, both of one's own country, but also of the more distant regions of Europe. The rediscovery of the dirndl in Bavaria, for example, does not coincidentally fall into this period. And in France, too, the jewelry traditions of the various regions were rediscovered. Pieces of jewelry with enamel plaques from Bresse met this demand and were sold as traditional costume jewelry of the region, within France, but soon throughout Europe and as far away as Great Britain. The Victoria & Albert Museum in London, for example, has several pieces purchased at the Great Exhibition of 1872, see here. The parure here was made during the same period. Then, at the beginning of the 20th century, enamels disappeared from favor again. An entire parure, moreover, as well preserved as the one here is rare on the market. The elaborate case with monogram embossing under a knight's helmet, created at the same time, proves the esteem in which the jewellery was held at the time of its creation. But even today the set decorates in an impressive way. A good overview of the history of enamel from Bresse can be found in the exhibition catalog Delphine Cano (ed.): Emaux de Bresse, Joyaux du quotidien, Musée départemental de la Bresse, Saint-Cyr-sur-Menthon 2014.

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On the importance of the Great Exhibition of 1872 for the reception of traditional costume jewelry, especially in Great Britain, see Charlotte Gere/Judy Rudoe: Jewellery in the Age of Queen Victoria, London: British Museum Press 2010, pp. 316-329. For a detailed discussion of the topic, see Jane Perry: The Victorian Passion for Peasant Jewellery, in Jewellery Studies 12 (2012), pp. 67-84.

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Size & Details

Émaux De Bresse

€ 4,980.00 ^*

Content 1 piece

Incl. VAT, Shipping

Our Promise

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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 trader 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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