Castellani Archaeological Revival brooch, c.1870s

This Castellani Archaeological Revival brooch dates back to the 1870s. The circular disk is styled as a flower head with a garnet in the centre, surrounded with white enamel beads and turquoise enamel petals. This entire Brooch features seventeen cabochon cut Garnets weighing 0.01 carat each and eight Turquoise cabochon cut stones measuring approximately 0.5 carats each. The rest of the brooch is covered in superbly executed colourful enamels, in matching colours to the stone in garnet red and turquoise blue. All over the brooch are double petals decorated with powder granulation, within a surround of burrs, to an applied scrollwork and rope twist border on every possible edge. This piece weighs a total of 15.3 grams.

The brooch is presented in its original gold tooled high quality leather box retailed by F. Rotig Havre and is initialed B.M.E on the top surface all in gold. The Brooch is not signed but is from the Castellani workshop During the 19th century in Rome. Three generations of the Castellani family created their jewellery inspired by the Etruscan, Greek and Byzantine antiquities that were being excavated at the time. Their work consisted of finely wrought gold often combined with delicate and colourful micro mosaic or as in the case of this Brooch fine and subtle enamel work