(Australia) Mother of Pearl Brooch enquiry.

Hey all!

I stumbled across this forum whilst looking for ways to find some history on a mother of pearl Australian brooch that my mother has.

No one seems to give her a solid answer, other than it's probably from the 1880s - 1910s due to the clasp on the backing. Some people seem to be giving her vague information as to rip her off.

Does anyone know where this brooch might be from, and what it's worth? Backing has a 9k gold stamp on it as well.

 

Welcome @ILovePurple .
A lovely brooch. The berries are natural blister pearls that are still on the mother of pearl.

Australia has an important history of mother of pearl manufacture, specifically on the Torres Strait Islands (in the north, between mainland Australia and New Guinea).
This brooch wouldn't have been made in the Torres Strait, but the MOP was likely sourced there and sent to one of the cities to be made into jewellery. I can see why such a special piece of MOP with blisters would end up as jewellery.

The extra little safety chain+pin also suggests antique.
Could you post a photo of the back please?

Blister pearls on MOP are lovely, but they aren't very valuable, maybe that is what some people tried to tell her.
The value would be mostly in the gold, which is 9ct. Not very high, but often used in Australia, so perfectly fine. We don't do values, but if you post a picture of the back we can tell you a bit more.

 

Some people seem to be giving her vague information as to rip her off.

do you mean folks that are offering to buy it......?
what r they offering???

 

The brooch is lovely, @ILovePurple -- Welcome to Antiquers!

As Any Jewelry said, it would be helpful to see a picture of the back of the brooch, for purposes of figuring out a date.