Description: A really enigmatic and beautiful plique-a-jour enamel pendant. Plique-a-jour translating loosely to "let in the day" its a tricky process, similar to cloisonne but requiring the molten glass to set with no back to hold it. This would have been made 100 times trickier given that tiny, individual foils have all been laid precisely and the correct way round inside each section - remarkable really, we don't know how they've done it.
Quite hard to pin it down to a time or place but here goes...It has very definite Arts & Crafts vibes, especially the unusual chain that is gathered a couple of inches up. This assumes that the chain started life with the pendant - we can't say for sure. This is almost certainly French though so we're into Art Nouveau territory rather than arts and crafts, however, this looks more like a precursor to Art Nouveau, the lines aren't quite freaky and elaborate enough for French A.N. and the engraving around the frame is pure Georgian in style and execution and whilst the technique of plique a jour is ancient, this feels too precise to be Georgian (although just to confuse things, the bottom foil backed drop is certainly Georgian and presumably has been recycled from an earlier piece. If its always been there then it must be a Georgian piece on a later chain). So, honestly, we don't know and we'd love to know your thoughts!
Age:??? Definitely has Georgian components but likely a later piece.
Size and weight: 19.4g, 20.5" drop to the gathered in section. 8cm drop for gathered in section. Pendant itself is 5.5cm to bottom of drop and x 4.7cm wide
Materials: Silver, plique-a-jour enamel, paste (glass), foil.
Condition: Excellent
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