consisting of a graduated yellow gold bracelet with articulated segments centred by an enamel lozenge decorated with a chased gold cupid with enamelled wings, mounted in front of a forget-me-not blue enamelled background with a hand painted scrolling foliate design, the enamel punctuated with rose-cut diamonds, possibly suggesting the shape of a constellation of stars, the lozenge framed by a black champlevé enamel and pearl border, a glazed compartment located to the reverse.
Signed: C.G.
London, 1860-1863
Provenance
Oliver Messel (1904-1978)
Anne Parsons (nee Messel), Countess of Rosse
Oliver Messel was an artist and design, who worked on costume and set designs for the ballet, opera and the theatre. During his early career, he worked for Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes and for C B Cochran.
Messel’s niece Anne, Countess of Rosse, inherited the jewel after his death. She was a keen art scholar who established the Victorian Society in 1958 to protect Victorian and Edwardian architectural heritage.