comprising of a carved Peking glass peach engraved with gourds on the vine, suspended from a stylised chrysanthemum flower with amber petals mounted in yellow gold, hung from gold wire embellished with three balls decorated with twisted wirework decoration.
Stamped: ‘C.& A.G.’ for Carlo and Arthur Giuliano
Presented in its original tooled blue leather case, the lid satin stamped ‘C & A GIULIANO, 115 PICCADILLY, LONDON.’
Length: 9.5cm
Provenance
The Judith Siegel Collection of Castellani and Giuliano until 2006.
Exhibited in Artists’ Jewellery: Pre-Raphaelite to Arts and Crafts, Wartski, London (1989), no.86.
As the peach tree flowers in the Spring, the season of rebirth and renewal, its fruit is a symbol of marriage and fertility in Chinese culture. It is also believed to act as protection against evil forces. Similarly, the gourd is considered to serve as protection against evil. The Chinese word for gourd is ‘hulu’ (葫芦). The first character of the word is a homophone of the Chinese word ‘hu’ (护), which means to protect and ‘hu’ (祜), which means blessing. The gourd is also associated which good fortune. The chrysanthemum flower is considered an intermediary between Heaven and Earth in Chinese culture and is a symbol of longevity and immortality.