Posted 8 years ago
Efesgirl
(1017 items)
I only emailed them yesterday....so quick off the mark! This is their reply:
"Dear Bonnie,
Many thanks for your enquiry. The H&T mark is the one registered by Hilliard & Thomason at Birmingham Assay Office in 1847.
The attached scan is from John Culme, Directory of Gold and Silversmiths…1838-1914 (Woodbridge, 1987), vol. 1, pp. 446-7. It quotes the entry in the 1851 Official Catalogue and gives a reference to the Art Journal Illustrated Catalogue. I have checked the 1851 Official Catalogue, which does not give more detail, and the Art Journal Illustrated Catalogue, which shows three pieces from Hilliard and Thomason’s display – but none of these is your brooch.
Clearly an example of your brooch could have been in the Great Exhibition, but I fear that it is impossible to prove this.
Best wishes,
Richard
Richard Edgcumbe
Metalwork Collection"
The PDF file contains the history of the silversmiths Thomason & Haselar Brothers also known as Hilliard & Thomason. I will be sending Richard Edgcumbe a great big "thank you!". The mystery remains, but I know a great deal more than I did yesterday.
I wonder how in the world this brooch ended up in a flea market in a small town in South Limburg. Only thing I can think of is that it was decided that this piece would not be exhibited because it was going to be sold to a private buyer.
Question, questions....LOL!
Thanks for looking!
~Bonnie~
How great is this!
A so detailed and quick answer is fantastic!
I wish the Musée des arts décoratifs was so helpful ...
Kyra - I was really surprised. My email was forwarded twice until it got to Richard. :-)))
I have a very unusual piece of jewelry with a mysterious past.....
What a very kind and generous reply, and it certainly does help with your research, Bonnie! At the very least you know you have an important piece of work, there! :)
The thought that often occurs to me when I see brooches like this is that it may have been commissioned/made to give as a prize, in this case an archery competition.
katherine - now there's a thought! Would have to have been a women's tournament, though. We can imagine all sorts of scenarios. Maybe I can conjure up the silversmiths and ask them.... :-))))
That is amazing Bonnie :).... Appraisals here with that kind of info always have fees attached.
Mike - the V&A very kindly sent the PDF file to me! They found the brooch to be of great interest and my email passed through two other people before landing in Richard's Inbox. I think he was disappointed that this particular brooch wasn't found in the document listings.
Oh, here are my comments, there are two threads, lol! Okay, I feel better now. :)
LMAO @katherine! I came here to look to see if maybe you got confused....
:-))))))))
BTW, there's a rather famous example of the prize arrow in the Age of Innocence, if you recall the novel. :)
http://www.bartleby.com/1005/21.html
katherine - I know the book but never was interested in reading it. Books like that put me straight to sleep. I read crime novels...murder and mayhem courtesy of James Patterson, my favorite author.
Really cool piece. Just woke up did I miss anything. Lol did you see my question about your profile picture.
Okay, well, do you remember the movie, lol. In the movie, May Welland competes in an all female archery competition and wins first prize, an arrow brooch, rather sumptuous as I recall. Anyway, that's one famous example but I'm sure you can find more, and possibly yours could be such a brooch, anyway, that was my thought. :)
Caperkid, your question reminds me of Truman Capote and Gore Vidal, lol. ;)
I'm kinda crushing on her toon OK KC. Lol
In another life wouldn't it be awesome to curate at the V and A?
LOL@Caperkid~! I didn't see your comment. What was your question?
What is you profile pic from?
Very beautiful detailed metal working ! Love this.
Caperkid - I took it from the internet. No idea of it's origin. :-)
racer4 - I have been to the V&A - used to live in England. I would love to be a curator there...of the jewlery..... :-))))
PhilDMorris - thanks for the nice words. As far as I know, there is only one of these and I have it. :-)))