A Sardonyx Cameo of King George IV by Giuseppe Girometti
Rome, c.1820
A pearl, enamelled and diamond-set brooch
Paris, 1880-82
A pearl, enamelled and diamond-set brooch in the Renaissance taste by Bapst et Falize of diamond form, the openwork frame decorated with black champlevé enamel with nine grey pearls set within, the intersections set with circular diamonds in lozenge-shaped mounts, the border designed as continuous black enamelled curves each inset with a diamond, a quatrefoil diamond-set motif at each of its points, the whole suspending three matching pearls.
£ P.O.A.
The brooch, set with rare lustrous pearls ranging from grey to purple in colour, can also be hung from a diamond-set suspension loop and worn as a pendant. The lid satin of the original box for the jewel indicates it was sold from the 43 avenue de l’Opéra address, therefore preceding the firm’s move to the rue d’Antin in 1882. Its lid bears the initials A.G. for Anna Gonse (1856-1929), wife of the Director of the Gazette des Beaux-Arts, Louis (1846-1921). The reverse of the box bears an original label with the name ‘Madame Gonse’ penned in ink, revealing the identity of the owner.
Lucien Falize contributed several articles to the distinguished art publication Gazette des Beaux-Arts and shared Louis Gonse’s passion for Japanese art.
They may have first met in 1878, when Falize’s review of the goldsmith’s work, jewellery and bronzes exhibited at the Exposition Universelle of 1878 was published in his periodical; Louis Gonse added a Post Scriptum describing Lucien Falize’s own contribution. Their shared interest in Japan is brought to light in Falize’s review of Louis Gonse’s pioneering retrospective exhibition of some 3,000 Japanese works of art held at the Galerie Georges Petit in 1883. Under the pseudonym of M. Josse, Falize penned an open letter addressed to Gonse and in it revealed his own intimate knowledge of Japanese metalworking techniques.
Until the discovery of this jewel and the evidence that it belonged to Anna Gonse, it had not been known that her husband had been a customer of the firm.
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