Souvenir from Birmingham

Wide Antique Sterling Silver Bangle with Engravings, Birmingham 1937

€ 790.00 ^*

Content 1 piece

Incl. VAT, Shipping

Wide Antique Sterling Silver Bangle with Engravings, Birmingham 1937

Description

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

Birmingham, the second largest city in England, has been a center of goldsmithing since the late Middle Ages. In the Victorian era in particular, jewellery manufacturing experienced a rapid boom and more than 40% of all British jewellery came from Birmingham. An entire district, the Jewellery Quarter, around Vyse Street was dedicated to jewelry making. It was home to numerous businesses, employing around 30,000 people at the height of its success in 1900. The present bangle was also made in Birmingham and, according to Hallmarks, was submitted to the assay office in 1937. It comes from the workshop of the Kenworthy family, which was based in the Jewellery Quarter under the name Kenart Limited until 2003. The hoop is in the form of a belt - a motif from the Victorian era that continued to be used almost unchanged well into the 20th century: Securely fastened, the belt was intended to symbolize the firm bond between two people. Fine hand engravings in the form of acanthus tendrils adorn the belt and underline the romantic connotation of its shape. We discovered this sentimental piece of jewelry in London.

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Since the 16th century, silver and gold markings in Great Britain have generally consisted of four, sometimes five, individual hallmarks placed next to each other. These hallmarks contain all the information needed to precisely trace the material, origin and dating of a piece. In addition to the maker's hallmark, usually two or more initials, we find the mark of the city in which the piece was submitted to the official assay office for testing of the precious metal. (London, for example, uses a leopard's head as its hallmark, Birmingham an anchor and Dublin a harp). A letter, called a "date letter", changes regularly in its typography so that we can date the pieces to the exact year. In addition, a purity mark indicates the purity of the precious metal used: in the case of British silver, there are two silver standards: a walking lion, the so-called "lion passant", indicates 925 silver; a female figure sitting next to her shield, the "Britannia", refers to the so-called "New sterling standard" of 958 silver. Gold is stamped in the corresponding carat specifications, whereby - unlike in Germany - finenesses of 9 carat (375/000), 15 carat (625/000), 18 carat (750/000) and 22 carat (916/000) are common. From 1784 to 1890, a fifth hallmark with the profile head of the respective king or queen, the so-called "sovereign's head", was sometimes added.

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Size & Details

Souvenir from Birmingham

€ 790.00 ^*

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.

Should you for some reason not be satisfied, please don’t hesitate to contact us so that we can find a solution together. In any case, you can return any article within one month and we will refund the full purchase price.

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Souvenir from Birmingham

Bracelets & Bangles

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