Antique Micromosaic Gold Brooch and Earrings Suite in 18K Gold, Circa 1870
This beautifully preserved 19th-century Italian micromosaic suite (formed by hand from minute pieces of coloured glass) comprises a brooch and matching pair of earrings, each finely worked with early Christian symbols on a rich red ground. Doves, the Chi-Rho monogram, Alpha and Omega, grapes and wheat speak of faith, eternity and the Eucharist. The brooch bears a Vatican workshop stamp, linking this Victorian suite to a Roman atelier, the Vatican Mosaic Studio, known for exceptional craftsmanship and giving it a rare resonance after nearly a century and a half.
Jewellery Type
Parure, comprising a brooch and matching pair of earrings, presented in its original fitted case.
Condition
very good condition
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Country of origin
Italy, Rome
Style
Italian Grand Tour micromosaic jewellery
See also: Victorian
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Style specifics
This suite belongs to the 19th-century Italian micromosaic tradition, closely associated with Rome and with Grand Tour jewellery. Its red-ground mosaic panels combine very fine glass tesserae with early Christian symbolism, including doves, the Chi-Rho
monogram, Alpha and Omega, grapes and wheat. The gold mounts, with their beaded, wirework and archaeological-revival details, reflect the 19th-century taste for jewels inspired by antiquity and early Christian art.
Period
ca. 1890
Events & facts of this era, poetry of this era,
fashion of this era.
Source of inspiration
Early Christian iconography, as revived in 19th-century Roman micromosaic jewellery
Theme
Christian symbolism, with doves, the Chi-Rho monogram (one of the earliest monograms for Christ),
Alpha and Omega (the beginning and the end), grapes and wheat, all referring to faith, eternity and the Eucharist.
Material
18K yellow gold with silver settings for the micromosaic panels
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Technique
Micromosaic, a highly refined form of mosaic work in which minute pieces of coloured glass, known as tesserae, are set closely together to create detailed images. In 19th-century Rome, especially in the circle of the Vatican mosaic workshops, such work
reached an exceptional level of precision. The tiny glass pieces, often made from drawn glass threads known as smalti filati, allowed craftsmen to create images with a painterly delicacy. In this suite, the micromosaic panels are set into silver trays
within the gold jewels, with mother-of-pearl backing visible on the lower parts of the earrings.
Extra information
This suite belongs to the refined 19th-century Roman micromosaic tradition, closely associated with the mosaic workshops of Rome and the Vatican. Minute glass tesserae were used to create images of remarkable detail, often with a painterly delicacy.
Jewels of this type were especially admired by travellers on the Grand Tour, and examples with early Christian iconography form a distinctive group within Italian micromosaic jewellery.
More background information on
Micromosaic jewels became especially admired in 19th-century Rome, where tiny pieces of coloured glass were arranged with extraordinary precision to form miniature images. The finest Roman micromosaic work was closely associated with the Vatican mosaic
workshops, whose craftsmen developed an exceptional level of technical refinement. Many such jewels were acquired by travellers on the Grand Tour (the educational journey through Europe, especially Italy, undertaken by wealthy travellers in the 18th and
19th centuries), while trained mosaicists also supplied visitors from workshops and stands near the Spanish Steps, the heart of Rome’s foreign visitors’ quarter. This suite is particularly interesting because its decoration does not show the more common
Roman ruins or floral subjects, but early Christian symbols such as doves, the Chi-Rho monogram, Alpha and Omega, grapes and wheat.
Hallmarks
The brooch bears a Vatican workshop stamp, showing the crossed keys beneath the papal tiara. The crossed keys are the keys of Saint Peter, symbolising the spiritual authority traditionally associated with the papacy, while the tiara refers to the papal
office itself.
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Dimensions
Diameter brooch: 3,90 cm (1,54 inch); height earrings: 4,90 cm (1,93 inch)
see picture with a ruler in millimetres and inches
Weight
28,50 gram (18,33 dwt)
Fitted case
Preserved in its fitted case
Adin Reference Nº
26127-00287
Copyright photography
Adin, fine antique jewellery
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