Gilded Victorian Amethyst Brooch with Seed Pearls, London 1974

A Victorian style gilded 9ct gold and amethyst brooch, the…
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A Victorian style gilded 9ct gold and amethyst brooch, the filigree frame with oval facet cut amethyst and two seed pearls set to the centre, a conforming gold framed amethyst suspended from the base. London 1974. 10gms.

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  • Gilding - Gilding is a method of ornamentation whereby a thin sheet of gold metal is applied to items made of wood, leather, ceramics, glass and silver for decorative purposes.

    For furniture including mirrors, the sheet of gold is usually applied over a coating of gesso. Gesso is a mixture of plaster of Paris and gypsum mixed with water and then applied to the carved wooden frames of mirrors and picture frames as a base for applying the gold leaf. After numerous coats of gesso have been applied, allowed to dry and then sanded a coat of "bole", a usually red coloured mixture of clay and glue is brushed on and allowed to dry, after which the gold leaf is applied. Over time parts of the gilding will rub off so the base colour can be seen. In water gilding, this was generally a blue colour, while in oil gilding, the under layer was often yellow. In Victorian times, gilders frequently used red as a pigment beneath the gold leaf.

    Metal was often gilded by a process known as fire gilding. Gold mixed with mercury was applied and heated, causing the mercury to evaporate, the long-term effect of which was to kill or disable the craftsman or woman from mercury poisoning. The pursuit of beauty has claimed many victims, not the least of which were the artists who made those pieces so highly sought after today.
  • Victorian Period - The Victorian period of furniture and decorative arts design covers the reign of Queen Victoria from 1837 to 1901. There was not one dominant style of furniture in the Victorian period. Designers used and modified many historical styles such as Gothic, Tudor, Elizabethan, English Rococo, Neoclassical and others, although use of some styles, such as English Rococo and Gothic tended to dominate the furniture manufacture of the period.

    The Victorian period was preceded by the Regency and William IV periods, and followed by the Edwardian period, named for Edward VII (1841 – 1910) who was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India for the brief period from 1901 until his death in 1910.
  • Filigree Work - Jewels - Filigree is delicate and intricate ornamental metal-work made from thin threads of gold or silver, soldered and twisted together to give the effect of lace. The filigree work may be freestanding, or attached to the surface of an object.
  • Faceting - Faceting is a technique of removing material from a curved surface, to give a series of flat surfaces but retaining the profile of the original surface.

    The technique is most commonly associated with diamond cutting where the various cuts used such as rose cut and brilliant cut, add life and sparkle to the stone, whilst at the same time removing as little of the stone as possible.

    Faceting by grinding is also used to decorate glass. The stems of many drinking glasses are decorated by cutting a series of flat surfaces on a circular stem, and hollow vessels such as vases may have faceted surfaces.

    In furniture faceting is often applied to legs of tables and chairs, where a circular baluster shaped section is flattened so as to form an octagonal section.

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