Art Nouveau Amethyst Brooch Art Nouveau Amethyst |
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A beautiful Art Nouveau brooch with a vibrant amethyst set amid elegant guilloche enamel work. The center is framed by a border of gold bands which meet at the ends in interlacing Art Nouveau curves. Created by Whiteside & Blank in 14kt gold, circa 1900.  This brooch is finely crafted. Note the strong safety clasp and pin which secure the brooch when worn and the sturdy back plate which protects the enamel work. A chatelaine hook beneath the pin allows a small watch or other pendant to be suspended from the brooch. It is these small, hidden details that indicate the forethought and craftsmanship employed when the jewel was created.
 The side of the clasp is stamped "14" for the purity of the gold. The maker's mark of Whiteside & Blank - a crescent pierced by an arrow - is stamped on the top of the clasp. The tip of the arrow is visible just above the "4" in the above photo. Whiteside & Blank was a maker of elegant, finely crafted brooches, cufflinks and other jewels in the decades around 1900. Name: Art Nouveau Amethyst |
Suffragette Jewelry |
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Jewels, like this brooch, with a color scheme of green, white and purple are sometimes identified as "suffragette jewels." This color scheme was adopted by the suffrage movement in Great Britain in the early 1900s and featured prominently on banners, flags, medals and no doubt jewelry of the period. So the question arises "Is this brooch an example of suffragette jewelry?" The honest answer is maybe/maybe not. It would be a mistake to attribute all period jewels with a green-white-purple color scheme to the suffrage movement: many green, white and purple jewels were created and enjoyed solely for their aesthetic appeal. So, whether this brooch was proudly worn by a suffragette or was enjoyed just for its beauty is a mystery that was lost with the passage of time. A mystery that only adds to the allure and beauty of the jewel.
Here are a few more elegant jewels from
the past ...
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| Antique Jewelry Galleries Antique Brooch Gallery If you have any questions, suggestions or comments, I can be reached at 978 525-8951 or arthur@jewelryexpert.com.
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