Posted 8 years ago
kiwipaul
(117 items)
This is a rare enameled penannular brooch by Alexander Ritchie circa 1939. The date letter is rubbed however it looks like a P, the Birmingham hallmark for 1939, the last year of Ritchie's production on Iona.
It's a large piece at 55mm diameter, with a distinctly Art Deco styling. You can see more details on this model of brooch on the marvelous www.alexander-ritchie.co.uk site. I'll put a clickable link to the page in the first comments box below.
You never know where, when or how you're going to make a find. I was browsing a large London antique silver dealer's site recently, looking for examples of a Georgian snuff box. I saw they had a small jewellery section so had to take a look, and nearly fell off my chair when I saw this for just over a hundred quid. How on earth did a silver dealer fail to check the hallmarks?
Here's the link to this model on the Alexander Ritchie site: http://www.alexander-ritchie.co.uk/enamel_brooch2.htm
Great find...love and collect Iona Silver. One of my pieces of Richie's work is displayed in David James book.
Hi Moonhill, do you mean David James' website? (He is the author of the site I quote above). I don't think he has a book about Ritchie, the standard reference is the book by E. Mairi MacArthur.
If you do mean the website which piece is yours?
stunning and a lovely rainbow of color!!
There's a lovely detailed article on Alexander and Euphemia Ritchie here: http://www.ionahistory.org.uk/iona-conf-macarthur-word.doc
On the same site there's a lot of the fascinating history of the Isle of Iona: http://www.ionahistory.org.uk
What a pretty brooch.
On David James' website....under pendants, the last page, Prioress Anna pendant with long chain.
Hey Moonhill - what a magical piece, totally unique. It's right up there in the Ritchie catalogue, I'd say it would do better than this one: http://www.greatwesternauctions.com/alexander-ritchie-celtic-jewellery-soar-high-at-gwa/
Hay kiwipaul...thank you for the information. Found it at a flea market in Pennsylvania USA at a very good price. I also have one of his knotwork crosses with the same kind of chain and some other pieces of his. Love his work.
Hi Moonhill, a fabulous piece scored at a flea market, way to go! Sounds like you might be a bit of magnet for Ritchie pieces, keep looking!