$8,295
Etruscan Revival 18kt Gold, Enamel and Diamond Pendant, Fontenay, Tiffany & Co. , depicting a dancer framed by rose-cut diamonds, with applied bead and ropework accents, 22.2 dwt, lg. 2 1/4 in., within fitted Tiffany box, French guarantee stamp, maker's mark. Note: After the 1867 Exposition Universelle, Tiffany began to acquire through its Paris office for New York "samples of the best French art in Enamel and Diamond jewelry". At the time, Gideon Reed was the firm's partner and buyer in Paris. His sophisticated taste and special relationships with many of the best Parisian jewelers enhanced the firm's stock with the work of Boucheron, Falize and Fontenay. This locket appears to date from the 1867 to 1870 period. For more information on Tiffany's relationship with the Parisian jewelers, and an image of a boxed Revival jewel from Fontenay displayed in a Tiffany window, see Bejewelled by Tiffany, 1837-1987, Clare Phillips, p. 30, fig. 14. Fontenay was considered to have been the most successful of the Parisian jewelers who sought to reproduce the wirework, filigree and granulation techniques of the ancients. Tiffany/Fonentay Box signed with Broadway address, like the one pictured in the book (they moved to Union Square in 1870) Locket glass cracked central area of enamel with slightly darker cast Box red with gilt piping, some abrasions but nice condition, black fitted velvet inside, some oxidation spots to top interior
Auctioneer:
Skinner
Date:
2008-06-17
