hair-ornament
- Museum number
- 1978,1002.171
- Description
-
Hair ornament (a) in form of flower spray with chased silver leaves and gold settings. With a flat-cast back and set with foiled diamonds, four pendant drop-shaped diamonds. When the ornament entered the Museum it had two pendant drop-shaped pearls (b and c); these were subsequently thought to be later additions and have been removed.
- Production date
- 1700-1730 (circa)
- Dimensions
-
Height: 8.15 centimetres
- Curator's comments
- Text from catalogue of the Hull Grundy Gift (Gere et al 1984) no. 13:
Assymetrical aigrettes in the rococo style appear in books of engraved designs at the beginning of the eighteenth century. They were popular in Italy (see the series of engravings by Albini, 'Disegni Moderni di Gioieglieri', Rome, 1744, and Fig.4); the taste for this style of hair ornament with pendant drop-shaped stones or pearls was introduced into Spain by Isabella Farnese, the wife of Philip V, who is shown in a portrait dated 1723 (Prado, Madrid), wearing a 'pioggia' or 'waterfall' aigrette. After the middle of the eighteenth century the taste for rococo ornaments was mainly confined to the goldsmith's work on boxes and chatelaines but the grouping and cutting of the stones in this piece and the general outline of the design suggest a Russian origin (see Fig. 5, which shows two aigrettes from the Russian Imperial collection, sold at Christie's in 1931, with pendant drops set and attached in exactly the same way) and therefore a later date than an Italian or Spanish piece of the same type. South Germany or southern Italy have also been suggested as the place of origin. (Charlotte Gere).
Information supplementary to Hull Grundy catalogue:
The cross-hatched engraving on the reverse suggests a date in the early decades of the 18th century.
- Location
- On display (G46/dc22)
- Acquisition date
- 1978
- Department
- Britain, Europe and Prehistory
- Registration number
- 1978,1002.171
- Additional IDs
-
Miscellaneous number: HG.171 (masterlist number)
