Antique Victorian Renaissance Revival Neo-Classic cross pendant. 18k Gold, sapphires, spinels, tourmaline, pearls and enamel. Made in Great Britain United Kingdom circa 1870 by Phillips Brothers and Son - of Cockspur St. Unisex - can be worn by a man or a woman.
Measurements:
Weight is 8.4 grams. Length including the bale to pearl drop 2 1/16th inch (5.5cm). Width 1 1/8 inch (3.25cm). Blue sapphire approximately 0.85ct.
Description :
Pendant cross with a distinctly Renaissance form - 3 dimensional with rich, colorful gems and enamel work. Formed by 5 partially openwork pyramidal blocks that form the cross. While all of these sections are in high relief, the central block is subtly raised higher than those forming the transepts. Each block is flat on top and set with a colorful gem. The sides are adorned with exceptionally fine enamel work on gold - a half circle of white enamel painted with a black enamelled pattern. This style of opaque enamelling on gold was derived from Renaissance gold work.
The 4 diagonal corners of the central block are joined to it's neighbours via a golden flower - 4 globular gold petals surrounding an enamel on gold centre.
The 3 bottom sections have gold loops attached followed by pearls held by gold wires. These have full range of motion independent of the main body of the pendant.
The pearls are almost certainly natural given the period when the pendant was made, but have not been tested.
The gems are as follows: In a line from top to bottom - pink spinel; purple spinel, pink sapphire. Going across from left to right: blue sapphire, previously mentioned purple spinel and pink-red tourmaline. The gems are open at the back (not foiled), which allows light to pass through them and add to shine and gleam.
A sturdy, large bale/loop suspends the pendant. The upper surface with a line of raised, 3-dimentional angled blocks. Two sides of each block are enamelled in white and black and two, alternating sides are gold. A gold loop suspends the cross drop, allowing it to swing and sway as the wearer moves.
Quality of the workmanship is superb. The back is immaculate.
Marks and Metal:
slightly worn Maker's mark for Phillips Brothers and Son. The mark is a doubled 'P' often described as back-to-back, surmounted by the Prince of Wales' feathers. This mark served as an indicator of their royal patronage, recognizing their position as suppliers to the Prince and Princess of Wales (the future King Edward VII).
There are some scratched numerals and letters on the back, behind some of the gold square bases of the gems. These may have been notes of the maker, or inventory numbers of a previous owner. They are almost illegible.
As with most antique English jewelry, there is no gold mark. Gold was professionally tested as above 18k.
Condition:
Good with negligible wear commensurate with age. Please see enlarged pictures and don't hesitate to ask questions which we will do our best to answer.
THE STORY:
Known for Archaeological Revival jewelry, inspired by Etruscan and Greek designs. Their pieces were so admired that Robert Phillips was the only English jeweller to receive a gold medal at the 1867 Paris Exposition Universelle. The firm created custom works for royalty and aristocrats, including a tiara for Princess Louise’s wedding. Page 242 of Shirley Bury's book on Jewelry (Vol I) says:
"There were few London firms to rival Phillips..."
The work of Phillips, including this wonderful pendant is closely echoed by the work of Carlo Giuliano, who made similar items in the Revivalist tradition.
A pendant in the book on Castellani and Giuliano, (Revivalist Jewellers of the Nineteenth Century) page 34-5 shows a pendant with similar raised blocks of gold. The author writes: This jewel bears the marks of Giuliano and that of Phillips Brothers and Son as retailer and illustrates Giuliano's relationship with prominent retail jewellery houses during his first fourteen years in London. Enamel work in the Renaissance Revival style was almost a signature of much Giuliano jewelry as was the mixing up of colored gems.
On page 489 of her book on Jewellery (Vol II), Shirley Bury tells us that Giuliano was actually seen by some as the head of the Phillips Brothers workshop. If that was an exxageration, it was true that he did work for other jewellers until later in the 1870's when he opened his own shop.
A pendant almost identical to that above sold, lot87 in the Castellani and Giuliano Sothebys auctioin of the Judith Siegel collection 2006. Estimate $10-15000 (sold $15600.00).
Another example of this work in a bracelet, lot 90 with estimate of $30-40000 sold for $144000.00
Note:
As mentioned above, gold was tested to be above 18k. This is normal for antique gold which was made at a time before modern technology made gold standard so uniform. Gold purity at the time, could fluctuate within the same item. It was often recycled from other items, no longer in fashion, so the same item could test slightly above/below a standard. In this case, it tested as better than the 18k gold standard. One of the charms of antique jewelry is that it was unique, hand made, without the precision of computers and cookie-cutter technology. We should appreciate it for this reason amongst many others.
