A gold fringe necklace in the Archaeological taste by Eugène Fontenay
consisting of a continuous row of suspended elements composed of engraved and polished wheat motifs alternating with twin scrolls, decorated with twisted wirework centred with a rod applied with a horizontal granulated band.
Signed with the horizontal poinçon of Eugène Fontenay
Paris, circa 1875
39 cm in length
The jewel is contained in its original circular brown leather box, the lid satin bearing Eugène Fontenay’s own lid satin with the address ’19 Place du Marché St Honoré / Paris’, premises he first occupied in 1858.
In the rare instances when original boxes for jewels by Eugène Fontenay (1823-1887) survive, they invariably bear the lid satin of the distinguished retailers he supplied with his works, including Frédéric Boucheron and Tiffany & Co. It is extremely unusual to find a jewel by Fontenay in a fitted case with his name and address fully identified.
An identical necklace to this example is reproduced in La Bijouterie Française au XIXe Siècle by Henri Vever, Vol. II, p 169, (translated edition p.639).