Largest Girandoles

Princess Isabella of Parma’s girandole earrings in Meng’s painting below are modest in comparism to these 11 cm. long diamond girandole earrings. They are the largest pair known. The silver earrings are completely set with rose cut diamonds, all perfectly set to the point that they appear to melt into the floral design, Portugal, third quarter of the 18th century.

weight: 65.8 grams
length: 11 cm.

In jewelry, a girandole is a design, mostly earrings, in which three dangling pear-shaped ornaments are suspended from a central motif, often a bow. The girandole was the favourite court jewel in the 17th century and its popularity remained in the 18th century. The original 17th century model comprised one element above a central bows suspending 3 or 5 pear shaped pendants all moving independently creating a dramatic sparkle effect. In the 18th century new versions of the girandole model were created where the central bow experienced several variations. This model, where the central bow was replaced by a bouquet was the favourite in the European courts.

These earrings are from the collection of Américo Barreto, famous Portuguese jewellery collector and dealer in the 20st century. Barreto worked as a consultant of “National Palace of Ajuda” for the crown jewels collection and was widely recognized both nationally and internationally. He had a legendary private collection which was presented at Museum of Ancient Art until his death and that is can be found (partially) on the illustrated book “Five Centuries of Jewelry”.

The earrings were probably sold by Barreto in the 1970s. There is no information regarding the original provenance of these earrings but it is very likely that they have a royal or noble provenance. They are rich and extravagant. Here is another portrait of Queen Maria Luisa of Parma who was also painted by Mengs in 1765.

Queen Maria Luisa of Parma 1765

 

Large Girandoles

A Girandole (French, from the Italian girandola) is an ornamental branched candlestick composed of several lights. Girandoles came into use about the second half of the 17th century, and were made and used in pairs. A girandole has always been a luxurious lighting device, and in the 18th century, the period of great French decoration, the famous carvers designed some beautiful examples from gold, gilded silver or bronze or wood.

In jewelry, a girandole is a design, mostly earrings, in which three dangling pear-shaped ornaments are suspended from a central motif, often a bow. Girandole earrings were very popular in the 17th and 18th century, but even now still are.

Princess Isabella of Parma (daughter of Philip of Spain, Duke of Parma) wears the most magnificent 18th century diamond girandole earrings on this painting, which was done soon after her marriage to Joseph II in 1760, by Anton Raphael Mengs.

Revivals exist of all times, like this english 1790 harlequin girandole gold brooch set with foiled gems; two amethysts, three chrysolites, a topaz and a garnet or these two colored coral and gold Van Cleef & Arpels girandole ear clips from the 1970s.

This lovely pair of silver and paste is brand new.

This is more stylized example; a pair of diamond and platinum girandole earrings set with brilliant and baguette cut diamonds from the 1950s.

A pair of 19th century garnet and gold girandole earrings form the South of France.

A pair of girandole  earrings with five oval shaped coque de perle, a pearl-like stone that is cut from the Indian nautilus shell and is similar to a blister pearl.

Timothy Horn makes the ultimate girandoles, even though you cannot wear them in your ears….. They refer back to their original decorative functions.

Horn’s exhibition in the Young Museum in San Francisco showed Sweet Thing (2008), a bronze and nickel tree-like girandole sculpture with large pearls made of mirrored blown glass elements. Except for the fact that it measures 50 x 36 inches, Sweet Thing closely resembles a blown up 18th century girandole drop earring. As you can see, Horn is interested in the intersection between beauty and grotesque, perfection versus vulgarity and his work always has a strong connection to the decorative arts. Grand!

Titania (2009)

Titania II (2011)

Petit Chou (2009)

These huge cast lead crystal, bronze, nickel plate Girandoles l and ll (Rain of Hot Stones) (1998) are so lovely even though Horn tried to change materials and reduce associated preciousness; Horn plays with the beautiful.

Bring jewels to life: a competition about Ilona Ptasnik’s jewellery collection in Schoonhoven

Last year the Dutch Silver Museum in Schoonhoven received a generous gift from the estate of Ilona Ptasnik. A large collection of antique jewellery was given by this lady who had been unknown to the Museum before her gift. Ms. Ptasnik  was born in Amsterdam in 1918 from a Jewish Polish family. In 1938 her family emigrated to the USA where Ilona married Adriaan van der Bilt with whom she returned to The Netherlands after the Second World War. From her jewellery collection appears a preference of gemstones, but apart from this, a large variety of styles, techniques and fashions.

The Museum got curious; Who was this woman, how did she look and what does her collection tell us about her life? The Museum asks us to help them bring her jewellery to life. We can contribute with stories, drawings, collages, poems – anything – with your idea about who Ilona Ptasnik was. You can send your work to: info@zilvermuseum.nl. All contributions will form a part of the exhibition that shows Ms. Ptasnik’s jewellery collection from 25 September until 25 November in Schoonhoven. You will see what promises to be a very impressive collection and if your ideas correspond with reality. I can’t wait to see and who actually knew Ilona??

The ‘Moon of Baroda’ is a girl’s best friend

Kunsthandel Inez Stodel’s Fall Exhibition 24 September – 2 October

Kunsthandel Inez Stodel cordially invites you to our Fall Exhibition.

We will show our latest acquisitions and artworks by Philip Sajet for the occasion of OPEN! 2010 in the Spiegelkwartier in Amsterdam.

Opening hours:
24 September until 2 October : 11.00 – 17.00
On Saturday 25 September the artist, Philip Sajet, will be present
Monday 27 September closed

Philip Sajet

In 1977 – when the first snow fell – Philip Sajet first decided to make jewellery. Nine years later he had his first solo exhibition and now his work is shown at Kunsthandel Inez Stodel for Sajet’s 39th solo exhibition. At our special request Philip has made many of his most famous jewels, such as the Palette Necklace and the Harlequin Ring. Philip Sajet was born in 1953 in Amsterdam.

His father was Dutch, but his mother, whose father was a jeweller in Paris, came from France. A few years ago Sajet and his wife moved to the South of France, where they are both goldsmith. Sajet has his own vision of his craft “Jewels are small objects that you wear on the skin, cheer you up, adorn us and to show our necessary vanity”. In his clearly defined area of rings, necklaces and earrings Sajet shows us his groundbreaking designs. Sajet is honored that his work is shown in a jewellery loving environment for the first time.

We have chosen Philip Sajet because his jewels are works of art that show a lot of craftsmanship, love and humour. They are contemporary but go back to the basis of the art of jewellery. You will see large minerals, glass and pearls with a lot of colored enamel. The shape of diamonds often returns in different guises. For us there are many surprises, not only in Sajet’s view of his craft but also in how he gives this expression.

In 2011, the CODA Museum in Apeldoorn will stage a Sajet retrospective.

Moon of Baroda by Philip Sajet

The Moon of Baroda by Philip Sajet is an 18 carat gold ring, set with seven cabochon flints and a pear cut citrine of circa 24 carats. Sajet was inspired by the pear shaped canary yellow diamond from India with the same name.

Marilyn Monroe and the Moon of Baroda

The original Moon of Baroda of 24.04 carats was owned by the Maharajas of Baroda for 500 years before it was bought by Meyer Rosenbaum, director of Meyer Jewellery Company, in 1920. The diamond was borrowed to the most extraordinary Hollywood movie star of all times, Marilyn Monroe for her performance of Diamonds are a girl’s best friend in the legendary movie Gentlemen prefer blondes. In real life Marilyn did not own real diamonds.

Marilyn sings Diamonds are a girl’s best friend

Barbie’s pink diamond

World news? Maybe not, but one month from now Christie’s New York will auction off the rarest and most expensive Barbie doll with an estimate of $545,000.

Mattel has asked the famed Australian jewellery designer, Stefano Canturi, to design a Barbie and create her ultimate accessories. He designed her a little black dress and a beautiful demi suite. The suite includes a ring and necklace with over three carats of white diamonds set in Canturi’s distinct cubism style: geometric lines in ditto or curved patterns. The necklace is highlighted by a pretty one carat bright pink square-cut diamond from the Australian Argyle mine. Just imagine this set life-size!

Canturi explains on his website: “I wanted the jewelry design to pay homage to Barbie’s modern yet timeless style, this is why I applied my Cubism design concept to her look; it is perfect for her.“

Barbie will be auctioned at Christie’s “Magnificent Jewels” sale on October 20th 2010. Canturi & Mattel will donate 100 % of the profits to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Who’s bidding?

Below is Stefano Canturi with his Barbie.

Birthstones, the legend

Gemstones have long been attributed mystical and magical powers in relation to religion and superstition. The notion that a certain gemstone is associated with a specific month, ‘birthstones’, derives from these early beliefs regarding one’s time of birth and its relationship to the planets.

Origin of birthstones

The tradition of birthstones originates from the Jewish astral depiction of gemstones. The high priest and brother of Moses, Aaron wore a breastplate that was covered with twelve gemstones to represent the twelve tribes of Israel. The stones also corresponded with the twelve signs of the zodiac and later the twelve months of the year. The Breastplate of Aaron is referred to in Exodus 28:17-20 and Revelation 21:19-20.

Indian planetary gems or Navaratna talisman

The belief in a cosmic universe where heaven and earth are connected also includes the supernatural powers of gems. Divine powers are everywhere from macrocosm through the physical elements such as mineral products. In India nine planets – all designated as celestial deities – watch over nine gems; Saturn is the planet for the blue Sapphire, the Moon’s ascending node for Hessonite garnet, the descending node for cat’s eye, Venus for the diamond, the Sun for the ruby, the Moon for the pearl, Jupiter for the topaz, Mercury for the emerald and Mars for the coral. Navaratna jewels (nava= nine; ratna = jewel) contain all nine gems in a specific order.

Gem symbolism

It is also believed every gem is endowed with different power and symbolism. The oldest crown of England, for example, which is on view in the Tower of London, contains the Black Prince’s Ruby and emphasizes the power of the wearer. This ruby is in fact a huge 170 carat spinel (rubies and spinels were only told apart from the late 19^th century when they discovered that spinel is a magnesium aluminum oxide, while ruby (corundum) is an aluminum oxide. )

Modern Birthstones

It is still a common belief that gems hold power and that wearing the gem associated with your birthday functions as a talisman and will bring good luck, health or power. This faith in working power of gems can even be seen as a tool to gain power in the world. In today’s world of danger, uncertainty and less religious belief people tend to reach out to other irrational or magical beliefs such as lapidaria (knowledge of stones).

Birthstone jewelry has become a poetic tradition for gift givers as this Art Déco Cartier catalogue illustrates. Please ignore the old prices!!

Who of you wears or is looking for his or her birthstone? For more extensive reading on birthstones read this Jewelers of America leaflet or our Cartier catalogue on birthstones.

Month	Gemstone	Alternative gemstones
January	Garnet	Garnet
February	Amethyst	Amethyst or hyacinth
March	Aquamarine or bloodstone	Jasper or bloodstone
April	Diamond	Diamond or sapphire
May	Emerald	Emerald or agate
June	Pearl, moonstone or alexandrite	Pearl, moonstone or alexandrite
July	Ruby	Turquoise or onyx
August	Peridot or sardonyx	Sardonyx
September	Sapphire	Peridot
October	Opal or tourmaline	Beryl or opal
November	Topaz or citrine	Topaz or pearl
December	Tanzanite, turquoise, zircon, lapis lazuli or blue topaz

Tobias Wong’s Dadaist jewels

Last month the artist Tobias Wong died. Wong suffered from insomnia and did extreme and crazy thing while sleepwalking all his life.  Sadly now he has killed himself in one of his sleepwalking escapades. We are very sorry.

Tobias Wong was the creator of a lot of humorous and provocative jewels and designs that question concepts like luxury and consumerism in the art world that promotes luxury. Even though I take adornments seriously and don’t find them superfluous often, artists like Wong give us the opportunity to look at jewellery in a different way. Here are some of those exceptions:

Ballistic Rose

Wong made a classical decorative corsage out of bulletproof fabric. A high-tech talisman that will protect your heart in an uncertain world.

The Diamond Project

This project entailed series of diamond-based concept art; a diamond screensaver, a rubber bouncing ball infused with 2 carats of micro diamonds and hidden diamond ring with the stone on the inside rather than on top of  it.  The ring challenges problem young lovers encounter when they have to buy big stones with their fiancees – in the US that is! In the Netherlands we don’t have this problem. Diamond wedding rings are given as engagement rings and engagement rocks are for later in life or for some too decadent to even look at. For this the hidden diamond ring is a common known and serious design in The Netherlands, where in the US it is a joke.

Killer Engagement Ring

Is the diamond in this engagement ring a Perfect Cut or not? Who cares, because there is no (need for) fire or brilliance in this killer ring. A one carat diamond ring with its pavilion up, so that the sharp culet can function as weapon, since diamond is the hardest stone on earth with which you can really hurt someone. Apart from a weapon Wong’s engagement ring could serve as a stylish and effective means of scratching your cheating ex-fiance’s car.

Indulgences collection

Wong created this collection with fashion designer Ken Courtney of Just Another Rich Kid. The project commented on todays consumer culture where everything is being turned into a luxury item. What do you give a person who already has everything? Instead of gilt toothbrushes, this collection featured the ultimate luxury and unnecessary goods: Cokespoons made out of everyday objects that can be used to scoop cocaine.. They made bronze replicas of Bic pen caps plated in 18K gold, gilt bronze replicas of McDonald’s coffee sticks commonly used as a coke spoon in the 1970s and eventually discontinued upon request from U.S. drug enforcement officials.

Gold Pills

Another indulgence were these 24K gold leaf capsule pills only intended to consume and digest.

“diamonds vs. black” for Colette Meets Comme des Garçons

In this Japanese and French collaborated exhibition, Wong showed diamond-embedded dimes, and Tiffany & Co. cultured pearl earings dipped in black rubber. One special edition of Comme des Garçons perfume featured diamonds floating within the fragrance.

Tiara’s!

On 19 June 2010 Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden has married her former fitness trainer, Daniel Westling. He will be HRH Prince Daniel, Duke of Västergötland from now on. It was a lovely and extravagant ceremony. What a feast to see this marriage. I had no difficulty choosing between the soccer game and Victoria!

It is the first wedding of a female successor to the throne in the list of Swedish monarchs. The monarchy in Sweden dates back more than 1,000 years. The current Bernadotte family, with King Carl XVI Gustaf as king, originates from 1810 when French Marshall Jean Baptiste Bernadotte was chosen successor to the Swedish throne by Parliament, but now for the tiara’s……

Cameo tiara

Victoria wore a cream-colored gown with short sleeves and an endless train designed by Pär Engsheden that looked like marzipan. And just like her mother Silvia at her wedding in 1976, she wore the Cameo tiara, made of gold, pearls and 7 large hard stone cameos depicting mythological figures. In the centre there’s the crowning of love (mother and child), flanked by portrait-cameos of a man and a woman aim their sight. On the backside portrait-cameo’s are interchanged with a godess who has a putti on her lap (caretaker) and a man with a staff  (guard).

Cameo tiara history & tradition

Amongst other jewels, this Empire cameo tiara which is part of a parure was brought into the family by Queen Josefine princess of Leuchtenberg when she married Crown Prince Oscar (the future King Oscar I) in 1823. Josefine was the granddaughter of Empress Josephine. The parure was made for Josephine around 1809 by Marie-Etienne Nitot, who was Napoleon’s jeweller and founder of the jewellery house Chaumet. With the next generation of the Bernadottes, the tiara was owned by Queen Josefina’s daughter Princess Eugénie, who in turn left the tiara to her nephew Prince Eugen. The prince gave the tiara to Princess Sibylla on her marriage to Prince Gustaf Adolf in 1932. The King was left the tiara by his mother.The King’s sister, Princess Birgitta, started the tradition when she chose Queen Josefina’s cameo tiara as her bridal crown for her wedding with Prince Johann Georg of Hohenzollern in 1961. Princess Désirée also wore it in 1964 and so did Queen Silvia in 1976. Read more on the King’s sisters jewels at Victoria’s wedding here.

Empress Josephine’s Emerald and diamond tiara

Queen Sonja of Norway wore a coral-colored dress along with the Empress Josephine of France emerald and diamond tiara that also came into the family through Queen Josefine of Sweden.

Braganca tiara

Queen Silvia of Sweden wore a bright pink dress to match the stunning Empire parure of Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna. All diamonds and Brazilian pink topazes made around 1804. Also she wore the diamond Braganca tiara. This is the biggest tiara of the Swedish royal family which once belonged to Empress Amalie of Brazil the sister of Queen Josefine of Sweden.

Maxima & Beatrix

Our Princess Maxima wore beautiful simple diamond rivière necklace and a diamond bandeau. Possibly the rivière necklace that the Dutch people gave Queen Emma as a wedding present in 1879.

Queen Beatrix wore the Mellerio ruby and diamond tiara which was a gift from King Willem III to his second wife, Queen Emma in 1889. It is part of a parure by Jeweler Mellerio dits Meller from Paris. It is the most complete parure in the Orange-Nassau collection. It consists of 7 jewels. Queen Juliana was very fond of this parure and has worn it often, so does Maxima today.

Priceless jewellery

On Tuesday 1  June 2010 this beautiful 1960s Cartier bracelet was sold for USD 6,942,856 at Christie’s Hong Kong. Untreated Kashmir sapphires are extremely rare and this bracelet with all its matching natural stones is really perfect, so you could consider this as the perfect price. Still, this is the highest fee ever achieved for a bracelet. And coincidentally it was sold by Christie’s before in 1988 when it fetched USD 902,000. Not too bad if we calculate the representation of USD 1.7 million in today’s currency. This ‘priceless’ bracelet contains almost 50 carat cushion cut Kashmir sapphires alternated by marquise-cut diamond spacers with the biggest center stone measuring over 10 carats, all set in platinum.

Priceless trading happens in Hong Kong nowadays. This city is definitely the most important city in the world for the sale of fine gems such as Kashmir sapphires, jadeite and natural pearls. The Hong Kong auction was able to sell for over USD 60 million in total. Nice statistics: the most expensive jewelry sold at the auction was a ‘simple’ jadeite bead necklace at the price of USD 7,303,791. The necklace contains 51 jadeite beads of really a vivid emerald green colour and glassy translucency, all measuring circa 1 cm. with a star ruby clasp weighing 8.80 carats. They all are mounted in 18 carat rose gold. So far so good for priceless decoration….

goldsmith Bartholomeus Jansz van Assendelft with octahedron diamond ring and touchstone

Bartholomeus Jansz van Assendelft

This painting by Werner van den Valckert is on display at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. It shows a portrait of Bartholomeus Jansz van Assendelft (Leiden, 1586-1659). He is leaning out of a window, in his right hand he holds a ring with a large octahedron and in his left hand he holds a touchstone. Both objects are clues that point to his profession as a goldsmith. Van Assendelft’s left hand is brightly lit, which draws your attention to the touchstone, which also shows off his honorable function as judge of his guild. And on the touchstone the painter signed his work: We read W v Valckert fe 1617.

Werner van den Valckert

Van den Valckert was a mysterious person in history and his name is not found in the registers after 1627. He became a member of the painters Guild of St. Luke in the Hague between 1600-1605. From this we can assume that he was born around 1580-1585. We can conclude that by 1614 he had moved to Amsterdam, because his daughter was baptized there. His earliest dated prints are from 1612. His surviving paintings are historical allegories and portraits. Van den Valckert also made a prestigious schutterstuk, which features the Amsterdam major Albert Burgh. According to his biographer Arnold Houbraken, Van den Valckert was a student of Hendrik Goltzius.

Touchstone

A touchstone is a small tablet of dark siliceous stone (such as fieldstone, slate, or lydite) used for assaying precious metal alloys. It has a finely grained surface on which soft metals like gold, leave a visible trace. Assaying by touch was one of the earliest methods used to measure gold alloys. You draw a line with gold of your jewel on the stone. This can leave a scratch on the jewel if you have to remove any upper gilt layers. Alongside the drawing you make another scratch of known gold samples. Then the traces of gold are treated with acids that dissolve impurities. The trace will react differently to specific concentrations of nitric acid applied, and by this you measure the gold content of the jewel. The color of the reacted area is compared to that of the reference sample. A 14 carat (or any lower carat) gold jewel will show chemical activity and dissolve when tested with 18 carat gold acid, but when the trace is not affected it can be identified as 18 Carat gold (this means 750/1000 gold and 250/1000 other materials; copper, nickel, zinc).

A complicated detailed operation to achieve a beautiful result!

Octahedron ring and the meaning of adamas

An octahedron is one of the diamond’s natural crystal shapes. And the ring that Van Assendelft is holding clearly contains an octahedron cut stone. We see a piece of glass or a rock crystal, but most likely a diamond. Diamonds crystallize as octahedrons, cubes, or dodecahedrons. Try to scrabble that! It sometimes shows habits that contain two or more of these forms. But the octahedron is one of the rarest forms.

The word diamond originates from adamas which means invincible in Greek. The first adamas came from India and were hardly cut. Because of their beauty and strength, they were worshiped as talismans, and cutting a diamond would not benefit its strength. The Europeans changed this point of view, in order to bring out the fire and brilliance of diamonds. Symmetrical octahedrons, very rare rough crystals, were the first to be polished or cut – in a pyramidal diamond like the one in van Assendelft’s ring. One pyramid is completely hidden in the shank of the ring, the top part is shown.

Quite fantastic to look at and even more to carry! I also love this 16th century Moghul ring with a cinnamon octahedron diamond that we sold a few years ago.