Featured Flemish heart with French mark?

I have been on the lookout for another Flemish heart (of Vlaams Hart) for a while. These jewels are typical for the region where I live(Flanders and the North of France) and they were made and worn throughout the 19th century.
Sometimes an early 18th century example turns up but nobody really knows what the origins of these jewels are.

These hearts were supposed to be given by the children to their mother on Mother's day (15th of August in Antwerp or the 14th of May in the rest of the world)

Two different types exist: ones with a crown of flowers and twigs on top, like the one I can show you here, and ones with an arrow and quiver on top (fiery love).

They always have some moving parts: the top, the middle part and heart all move.

The middle part is said to depict the virgin Mary, surrounded by her 10 virtues (purity, wisdom, humility, faith, devotion, obedience, poverty, patience, mercy and compassion).

These hearts were usually made in silver and sometimes had a gold plated back as not to blacken clothes. The stones are rose cut diamonds or diamond chips (senailles), backed with silver foil and set in closed settings.

Normally this one would have had a ring on top on which you could hang the pendant on a black ribbon or a chain.

This one has had a rough life. It has a few tiny senailles missing and it has had a few (bad) repairs and for the moment its impossible to wear it because it also misses a needle to the brooch part or a loop to hang it. So I got it for a good price.
It was sent to me from France.

I have actually found the silversmith who made this heart:

The 'C' stands for Henricus Franciscus Coetermans, Antwerp, and he was active as a silversmith between 1821-1863.

But the other mark is a mystery for me.

To me, it looks like the French crab (800 silver for the French departements from 1838-1973).

How could that be possible? Its a typical Flemish jewelry piece and it was made by this Flemish silversmith in Antwerp.

I would suppose there would have to be an import mark for France?
Is it actually the French crab or is it something else?

Thank you very much for your opinions!

 

It has had a life, but it is still gorgeous.
I'm sure you can find a way to make it wearable. Otherwise it will look beautiful in a display case.
Wonderful that you found the maker!

Maria Hemelvaart (of Maria Tenhemelopneming).

I'm not sure it is, I see something else but I don't recognize the mark.

 

Any Jewelry, thanks for your reply.
Indeed, Maria Hemelvaart.
The crab could be something else, but once I saw it I could not unsee the crab
On the short term I plan on simply attaching a brooch- needle. That is fairly easy to do.
On the long term I will try to find a jeweler I trust enough to replace the missing senailles and attaching a ring on the top.

 

Your collection of Flemish hearts is growing

I see the outlining of the crab too some hallmarks can be in total mismatch with era or country though.

Waiting for the repair you can use a thin silver chain, passing it in the left upper opening from the front, going on back to the upper right opening and exit to the front.

 

Kyratango, omg, you see the crab too, its not just me!
These hallmarks often stay mysteries to me.
My collection of Flemish Hearts is complete now! I have enough. (Unless I find one at a fleamarket for 2€...thats totally possible of course)
Might have to be looking for a Saint Esprit now

 

Collecting never stops.

 

and weird stuff never stops cropping up in odd places.

 

A beautiful piece. Thank you for writing about it.

 

Thank you for sharing this wonderful piece, including explanation. Our collective knowledge is growing! You have a real eye for the good stuff.

 

Hi girls! A show and tell.
Lucky me hot a Flemish heart which can be married wit another piece I had.
Both are diamonds set on silver, no marks on top part, French swan hallmark for imported silver on the heart.

 

Kyra, I love your creative thinking!
Great result!
The top part could originally have been the top part of a flemish cross pendant. But it works really well like this!

 

Owww now that I look at my own collection...your top piece could also have been a top piece of a croix a la Jeanette, naturally

 

Sorry to spam you...I love old flemish, you know that.
So here you can see some 'upper parts' for comparison.
One of the good things about them is, you could (theoretically!) combine some of them together as you like
Like you did!

 

Where DO you ladies find your pieces???? I feel so out of the loop over here

All those beautiful solid, heavy, silver, SHINY pieces are calling my name....

 

Ohhh and a final post (pinky promise!): your heart seems to be more teardrop-shaped. Those I showed earlier have a Guirlande top part. I think yours originally had a bow and arrow top part like this one.

 

Great find! And a happy marriage, although I'm sure you'll be on the lookout for the bow and arrow top now.

We love spam like that.

Please keep posting.

 

Ohhhh here I go again.
I think I found your hearts maker. I think it has this 'C with 2 dots' stamp, so it is this maker: Coetermans
Also, this heart I showed earlier is from the same maker, so our hearts are related
If you need a translation, just give a yell

 

Please do!

Interesting to see that the family worked in cities and towns that are now on either side of the Belgian-Dutch border.
My Brabant ancestors also moved back and forth between Den Bosch and Antwerp, with one generation living in one city and the next in the other, etc. The artificial border that cut Brabant in two put a stop to that and they stayed in Den Bosch.

 

AJ indeed, families traveled and crossed the borders.
Half of the Netherlands have the same ancestry as we Belgians have, so I think that is not very extraordinary.
These two hearts seem to be made in Antwerp though, between 1821-1855 ish, so typically Flemish

 

O

Oohhh your collection is indeed GEORGEOUS!
It is me who is spamming YOUR post...
Yes, the top part of my marriage is a part of a Croix papillon, I gather all pieces I can when not irrationally expensive and see if I can marry them (always non permanently!)
The latest heart was not cheap at 149€, but complete of its diamonds! And it is my first one
I keep on spamming with another incomplete Croix papillon... The star at the bottom was already there, hoping to find a drop now!