Beschreibung:

AN EXQUISITE PAIR OF ANTIQUE DIAMOND EAR PENDANTS Each elongated openwork pendant set with rose-cut diamonds of varying shapes and sizes, enhanced by rose-cut diamond drops, suspended from a rose-cut diamond floret, mounted in silver and 18K gold, with French hallmarks, circa 1820 Girandole earrings were very fashionable in the 1820s and 30's. The form, designed principally for the display of diamonds, is an elaboration of the simple pendant earring in which three pear-shaped drops are suspended from a larger stone that is attached to the ear. The illustrated ear pendants are indeed elaborate versions of the basic girandole style. The single stone from which the pendant elements hang in traditional examples has been replaced with a cluster-style setting made up of a central diamond, surrounded by seven smaller stones. From this decorative element is suspended a series of rose-cut diamonds, softened with leaf-like motifs on either side, increasing in size until the largest one becomes the central stone of a circular design with radiating diamonds, similar in conception to a Gothic-style stained glass rose window. From it hang three pendant drops. The diamonds on these ear pendants are set into silver with a gold backing, characteristic of jewelry from this period. The reverse is beautifully finished, a mark of a fine jeweler. These ear pendants are an excellent example of French jewelry of the period. Although girandole earrings from the first part of the ninteenth century are seen in the marketplace, very few examples with such a bold design and finished with such attention to detail have survived.