Beschreibung:

ART NOUVEAU RUBY, DIAMOND AND PLIQUE À JOUR ENAMEL BROOCH Centering upon a circular-cut ruby, rose and old mine-cut diamond and varicolored plique à jour enamel flower, joined to a hinged undulating rose-cut diamond and French-cut ruby stem, enhanced by green plique à jour enamel leaves, terminating with twin ruby, diamond and plique à jour enamel buds, mounted in gold and silver, in a leather fitted case signed S.J.Phillips Ltd., London, circa 1900 Until the general acceptance of platinum in the late 1890's as a metal suitable for jewelry, silver was the preferred metal in which to set diamonds, as white metal enhances the radiance of these stones. On the illustrated brooch, the diamonds are set into a mounting that is silver, with gold on the reverse. The flower head, buds and leaves have been decorated in a rare enameling technique, plique-à-jour, that was popular during the Art Nouveau period. Primarily a French process, a few jewelry firms in this country also specialized in this technique including Whiteside & Blank and Riker Brothers in Newark and Tiffany & Co. in New York. In plique-à-jour enameling, the area to be enameled is either cut out or formed by cells which are then filled with enamel in powder form. A copper foil is applied to the reverse side of the metal, serving as a backing for the enamel, and subsequently peeled off after firing. Without a metal backing on one side of the enamel, light can penetrate, creating an effect similar to that of stained glass windows. In this brooch, the plique-à-jour yellow hues contrast the deep red coloration of the rubies in the center of the flower. (3)