French work from 1870-1880 - Rare "Colibri" Egret,... Lot 32

French work from 1870-1880 - Rare "Colibri" Egret, transformed into a Brooch, in 585 thousandths yellow gold and 800 thousandths silver. Posed on a branch, wings spread, its feathers are entirely set with faceted rubies and rose-cut diamonds. Its tail feathers are set with old-cut diamonds mounted on a fil-couteau. Its eye is adorned with a cabochon ruby and its head is crowned with a pear-shaped rose-cut diamond. Its wings and body, on the reverse, are fully chased. 585 thousandths yellow gold pin. Length: 5.3cm; Width: 3.2cm; Depth: 1.7cm. P. Gross: 16.8g. (Restorations, alterations, missing stones). This model can be compared with the animal jewelry produced by Maison CHAUMET or Maison ROUVENAT during the same period. The naturalist taste, so pronounced in the 19th century, gave rise to the production of birds in jewelry. Whether worn on a corsage, a hat or as part of a headdress, these birds were a great success, not least because of their transformability. The Brooch shown here was originally worn as an Aigrette, its diamond feathers blending with natural feathers. The bird's movement is enhanced by the mounting of some of its feathers and by the setting technique employed: "tremblant" mounting and "fil-couteau" technique, suggesting an impression of the stone floating in the air. Bibliography: GLORIEUX, Guillaume (dir.) Catalogue de l'Exposition " Paradis d'Oiseaux ", L'Ecole des Arts Joailliers, 2019.