Brooch

A sale of royal memorabilia at Colchester saleroom Reeman Dansie (20% buyer’s premium) on February 15 included items from the estate of Miss Beryl Poignand (1887-1965), governess and confidante to HM Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother.

Combining technical mastery with recurring motifs derived from nature, Pierre Sterlé’s (1905-1978) style is instantly recognisable.

By the mid-20th century several design houses were taking a more playful approach to zoomorphic jewellery.

This liver bird brooch, hallmarked for 1943, appears to have been commissioned as a bespoke order for Margaret Hall, the daughter of a lord mayor of Liverpool who, from 1935-6, was herself the lady mayoress of the city.

The star of a recent Chiswick Auctions’ (25/12% buyer’s premium) Jewellery auction was an Art Deco diamond and rock crystal Cartier brooch, c.1925.

Here we feature a selection of very different brooches coming up for sale in the UK regions in July.

Kingham & Orme’s (23% buyer’s premium) first-ever specialist auction of Jewellery & Watches took place on February 19 with just over 200 lots.

This copper alloy and champleve enamel brooch would once have graced the chariot of an Iron Age chieftain.

The highlight of a sale of jewellery and silver at Peschetau Badin (27% buyer’s premium) on December 1- 2 in Paris was this gold ‘four dragonflies’ brooch by René Lalique.

Two private collections of the work of John Donald (b.1928) enjoyed a clean sweep at auctions in recent weeks.

The economic crisis of the Great Depression inspired a vogue for many versatile jewels, particularly clip brooches that could be worn on lapels, hat trims and the latest hairstyles.

Vincent Page, owner of Antiques on High centres in Oxford and Sidmouth, reports that trade in both shops has been good with “a significant increase in Sidmouth, on numerous days taking more than AOH in Oxford”.

The Woolley & Wallis sale on October 6 included 36 lots by the Birmingham Arts & Crafts jeweller George Edward Hunt that had come by descent from his family. They had featured in an exhibition held at Bonhams in 2006.

Included in Hindman’s September 15 sale of Jewellery in Chicago will be a group of pieces designed by Jean Schlumberger for Tiffany & Co. Among them is this green beryl and diamond ‘Bird on a Rock’ brooch.

Pictured here is a ‘palm’ brooch by the post-war Rue de la Paix jeweller Jean Parmentier.

On September 12 Ripley Auctions in Indianapolis is selling a single-owner collection of costume jewellery and accessories from the American design firm Eisenberg that has been formed by the antiques dealer and collector Sharon Schwartz.

The medium of jewellery provided perhaps the greatest canvas for the new international style that flowed through the decorative arts around the turn of the 20th century.

Jewellery provided one of the great expressions of the Art Nouveau style. Here ATG reports on four exceptional items made in four different countries in the early years of the 20th century

Georges Lenfant is one of the many unsung titans of the jewellery trade – a Paris workshop pioneering jewellery craftsmanship in the 20th century that produced jewels for the big brand names of the Place Vendôme, including Van Cleef & Arpels, Cartier and Mellerio dits Meller.

Of all the sensational jewellery displayed by Tiffany at the 1889 Paris Exposition Universelle the most memorable was a group of 24 enamelled orchid brooches.