Featured Finally Posting the Miniature Painting Brooch.....

Hello all! Finally getting around to posting the bits I purchased before my trip. I do like these a lot, so excited to show!

Group photo (with one missing) cause why not:



Here's the lady of the hour! Circa 1860 based on the silver hallmark. The gentleman I got her from was a lovely private collector, who had to get rid of some as his stash had become enormous. He was excited to chatter with someone who was as enthusiastic as he was, as most of the people he sees aren't chatty apparently. One lady took a vintage pair of earrings but left the matching necklace which killed us both but I digress. I ended up spending 20e at his stall, 10 for this and 10 for the bracelet below, and some freebies which was kind of him.



This is marked 925 silver, and has seen better days poor thing. The only stone that's not been glued back on is in a chipped setting. But its not noticable when on and I do love it. He dated it to AD, but I saw somewhere here that 925 wasn't really used until the 90s?



Also from him was this interesting brooch, late 19th? Although the length of the pin....



The last freebie he gave me was this stunning brooch. I loved it and kept looking at it but it was chipped and I was already spending loads. Just before I left he handed it to me. Ignore the wires, this was me in the middle of securing it as a pendant for the airport. Looked rather lovely with a matching scarf I have. What sort of age does this beauty have? Early 20th?

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Now for another week, another vide grenier, another 3.50 euro haul!

What and when is this? Are we talking another pressed sort of material, or is this some sort of plastic? It does have a shiny, tappy sort of surface.



I do quite like this, but what is this material? And what age? It gives me an older sort of vibe. The top is very textured, but the back is shiny.



This filigree is an oddball. Has some sort of silver content, but no mark. The pin is enormous, but the hinge is more modern. The hinge itself is a new one to me.



I searched forever but I couldn't find their partners Very pretty little things though..




I LOVE this bracelet. The clasp is missing its tongue, which when I bought it I assumed was where the 925 stamp was. I acid tested it and it looks like I was right! Shouldn't be hard to replace it, and all the stones are there.



In this same lot I also picked up 3 pieces of a pair of tuxedo studs, marked 12ct! Thanks very much for that.​

 

And finally, a little ebay find. I paid 11.50 +p for this ant! 925 and amber.


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The 925 mark was already used in the late 19th century, but I agree, this isn't Art Deco. It is late 20th century, and made in Turkish Kurdistan.

It is Maltese silver filigree, ca 1930s.

A spider, eight legs. No marks?
It is Baltic amber, post WW II. I think they are still making similar ones.

 

The black piece looks like jet. Fairly light in weight?

 

That's what I was thinking.

 

Congratulations on your haul! Lots of fun stuff in there.

Black piece could be vulcanite. Give it a good rub and see if it smells like an eraser or rubber.

Purple brooch has clawed collets on it so it could be older.

Bracelet has a lobster clasp which is always a tell that a piece is not that old. The style is more recent as well as AJ pointed out.

Agreed too many legs for an ant so certainly a spider. I loooove bug jewelry. This one is so sweet to put crawling up your lapel or across a collar.

I love miniature portraits! She looks to be watercolor on ivory. You can just see the edge of her painting on the left side. A loupe is good to catch the Schreger lines and to see the edges of the substrate. Sometimes they would pad the backs of these with bits of cut up playing cards or business cards. She may be a commission.

 

So many fun, neat items!!!!! And loving the miniature portrait pin!!

 

Drat on the bracelet, but still a lovely piece.
I had no idea the filigree would be so old, what fun! Ty for the ID.
I blame the shape on that spider, it was advertised as an ant and it looks far more like one than a spider to me I never counted the legs

 

Yes very light, but I'll also check as @mirana suggested!

 

I would love for the purple to be older, that would be just the icing on the cake.

Definitely agreed as to the silver bracelet, it was more of a silver show off than an assumption of age. I'm glad to have rescued it from the bottom of a dirty box for about 20 cents haha!

I'm starting to get a liking for bugs and snakes thanks to the enthusiasts here! Theyre just so creative sometimes. That's awesome that it's Baltic amber, that's considered the good stuff isn't it?

I'll check up on that ivory suggestion! That would be a neat little surprise. A commission would be very interesting, though we'd never know who she was. What sort of quality is it? I have zero clue when it comes to miniature paintings, so I don't know if this is a well done piece or just average etc.

 

The spider is marked, here's the sellers photo until I can get some better light!

Interesting, the listing says spider not ant, but the French word of course starts with an A, I guess I had already decided it was an ant and my brain didn't bother to read/correct myself.

 

I'll wait.

Brains can be so lazy.

 

I bow to others on the amber question. I probably couldn't tell the difference between the real and fake with my current knowledge!

If you are interested in an excellent crash course in miniature portraits, the Gibbes Museum has a really fantastic collection! Through that link you can view their entire collection of hundreds online in great detail. The images are large and well presented, unlike some fussier museum collection sites. They have a whole range of styles. I also highly recommend this article they created about how miniatures were made. It includes extreme close ups of different techniques and materials to guide you in identifying what yours may be. I would say yours is more a naïve painter, but you can't compare really tiny pieces to the "larger" card sized miniatures that are more prevalent. The one in my icon is also extremely tiny...about the size of an American penny...so finding similar to compare to is difficult.

 

@kyratango - Amber spider alert!!!

 

I happen to know kt already has amber in a bug, but maybe not araigne.

 

Nice finds!
I bought a similar style silver bracelet with multiple chains in Turkey when I was there for the first time with a friend in the early '90s. I m sure you can still buy them there.
I have the same baltic amber little spider. Cute, isnt it? I wear it around Halloween (Allerzielen bij ons) with a silver spider ring and some Mexican spider earrings.
The back of the yellow flower brooch makes me think it could be bakelite, the details are painted on. you can check for bakelite with simichrome

 

Those are some beautiful examples Mirana! Thank you for sharing them, there's much to learn just by looking at them. That's crazy that someone can paint that small as in your piece..I've always been able to draw super tiny better than a large size, but I'm not sure painting is really the same haha

 

Yes! I did get it just before Halloween but I didn't get to wear it. Definitely one to bring out for the holidays! I don't have simichrome in the house, but I'll see if I can get some locally.

 

What about sodium bicarbonate? That's all I ever used. 1 damp cotton swab, dunked in baking soda. Rub hard on the back and the q-tip/swab should turn yellow-brown. Do it while holding close to your nose and it should stink to high Heaven. Rotten milk is galaith, and formaldehyde is bakelite/catalin.