Russian Art Nouveau at Shapiro & Co

One of the first stands that I visited at the Chelsea Antiques Fair was Shapiro & Co – who usually resides at our favourite Grays Antique Market in Mayfair.  They showed me the most exquisite pieces of antique jewellery:

Shapiro & Co, Russian Gold, Amethyst and Green Garnet Pendant 1908 – 17, £3750

Shapiro & Co, Russian Gold, Amethyst and Green Garnet Pendant 1908 – 17, £3750

We have previously found out that the finest amethysts were historically found in Russia: February Amethyst Allure.  This pendant comes from Russia’s  and was made sometime in between 1908-17, during the exciting Art Nouveau (“New Art”) period.  In Russia designers took inspiration from folk tales and history during the Art Nouveau era, and Moscow and St. Petersburg were the two centres for this “Stil’ Modern”.  The appearance of St. Petersburg today was very much shaped by the Art Nouveau movement and you will find whole suburbs built in the distinctive style (1).

Antique Citrine Cocktail Ring, Shapiro & Co

We also adore large cocktail rings here on the blog, so this stunning citrine ring simply had to be featured in the blog.  Ladies, how would you wear it?  As you know we have a similar ring in the Decades of Elegance collection and one of our models wore it with a blouse and pencil skirt when we took this photo a couple of summers ago:

Styling ideas for a citrine cocktail ring: a dressy blouse and a pencil skirt – and those perfectly painted nails!

You can visit Shapiro & Co at Grays Antique Market where they specialise in jewellery, silver, objects d’art, British arts and crafts and imperial Russian works of art, including Faberge pieces.  Shapiro & Co Stand 380, Gray’s Antiques Market, 58 Davies Street, London, W1K 5LP.

Sources:

(1) Art Nouveau Around the World

A sparkling Christmas party at Grays Antique Centre II

In this last post before Christmas we are visiting DB Gems at Grays Antique Centre, where I was mesmerised by this late 19th century diamond tiara:

Late 18th Century tiara with rose cut diamonds at DBGems, Grays Antique Market

The centre stone is a Rose Cut Diamond, and this sounds so alluring that I just had to find out more:

The Rose Cut dates all the way back to the early 1500s (1) and was a very popular choice of diamond cut during the Georgian and Victorian eras (2).  However, as cutting technology developed the Brilliant Cut became the popular choice in diamonds, as it provided more sparkle in candle light and so the rose cut fell out of fashion for a while.  It did however regain popularity soon again and has remained a treasured choice in engagement rings until this very day.

A rose cut diamond as the centre stone

You might notice in the photo above that the centre diamond is raised above the others?  A rose cut stone is cut to resemble the spiralling petals of a rose, so it features a flat bottom and a dome-shaped crown.  It can have anything from 3 to 24 facets, which are the flat areas on the stone that allows it to reflect light and dazzle us!

Vintage cufflinks at DBGems, Grays Antique Market

I was also delighted to see the amazing collection of cufflinks at DB Gems, that will make the perfect Christmas presents for the gentleman in your life who has everything!

Antique diamond rings at DBGems, Grays Antique Market (please forgive the reflection in the photo!)

I also spent a looong time admiring their necklaces and diamond rings.  We can also glimpse some sapphires and rubies in the photo above, just in case anyone is after a wedding present for their loved one for example..?

Grays Antique Centre, 7 Davies Mews, London, W1K 5AB 

A huge thank you to Grays for having us over!  Hopefully you will get a chance to pop by there during Christmas as it really is a wonderland of beautiful jewellery and works of art.

Sources:

(1) Tracy Matthews

(2) Brilliant Earth

Antique Lace at Diane Harby’s, Grays Antique Centre

So we are still at Gray’s Christmas Party, and we have now come down the stairs where we passed the Haywood Sister’s lovely singing – and we are finding ourselves by Diane Harby’s beautiful antique lace stand:

Diane Harby Antique Lace at Grays Antique Centre

Diane Harby sources the finest quality lace and I loved reading what she has to say about the history of lace:

“In Europe from the 16th to the 18th century the finest quality laces were so highly prized that their value was greater than gold and they became the ultimate status symbol throughout the courts. The tradition of handworked lace continues to the present day. Diane stocks handworked and machined lace collars, shawls, scarves and veils; Normandy and Tuile lace tablecentres; embroidered linen, cut-work and crochet traycloths, and much more. Also available are custom-made cushions and curtains.” – Diane Harby at Grays Antique Centre

Bows and lace… my absolute favourites!

Stunning lacework

Beautiful lace collar and a shrug at the back

Diane Harby Antique Lace at Stand 148, Grays Antique Centre

So all you brides looking for that perfect lace shrug to wear around your shoulders, do pop by Grays Antique’s in Mayfair and have a look around Diane Harby’s collection.  She offers such a wide range of styles and colours that I am sure you will find your perfect piece.

A sparkling Christmas party at Grays Antique Centre

We received a lovely invitation to a Christmas party at Grays Antique Centre last week, which really put the sparkle into this year’s Christmas!

Grays Antique Centre in Mayfair

Grays Antique Centre is based in Mayfair, just by Bond Street tube station and with Christmas coming up it is such a wonderful place to find some very special presents for your loved ones.  You can get everything from very high-end pieces of jewellery (diamonds, emeralds, amethysts etc) to very reasonably priced costume jewellery – from all the glorious decades gone by!

Any favourites?

I stopped by Westleigh Antiques and had a lovely chat with the trader there – and I just couldn’t take my eyes off the most stunning pieces antique and antique-style jewellery!  I was especially delighted to see the most glorious cocktail rings shimmering and sparkling back at me:

30 karat Aquamarine cocktail ring at Westleigh Antiques, Grays Antique Centre

Diamond and pearl cocktail ring at Westleigh Antiques, Grays Antique Centre

Chandelier Diamond Earrings at Westleigh Antiques

The Haywood Sisters at Grays Antique Centre

We also had the pleasure of seeing the Haywood Sisters performing Christmas songs for us.  This lovely vocal trio were styled top to toe in vintage and brought a wonderful touch of glamour and sparkle to the evening.  With backgrounds in West End musicals and other high-end performances they are the perfect addition to a wide range of events, so do check out their beautiful singing here: The Haywood Sisters.

John Joseph at Grays Antique Market Christmas Party

We have seen a few pieces from John Joseph before and I couldn’t resist the temptation of photographing their vintage and antique engagement collection:

Antique Engagement Rings at John Joseph, Grays Antique Centre

They also do the most beautiful cocktail rings with all the precious gemstones you could ever dream of:

Sapphires and emeralds at John Joseph Antiques

We still have a few dealers to visit so stay tuned and I will take you along to see some heavenly antique lace, a late 19th century tiara and some very handsome cuff links – the perfect present for the gentleman that has everything!

All the curious things… Lawrences Auctioneers – Chapter III

So in this last post from the auction viewing at Lawrences in Blethingley I have collected a number of beautiful yet curious things that were up for sale in the auction.  I have also managed to find out the hammer price for quite a few of these pieces:

Georgian Birmingham silver two piece opium pipe – Hammer Price
£150

The most odd piece at the auction would be this silver opium pipe, which I found out sold for £150.  Opium was used widely as a medicine back in the days and we can read the following on Wikipedia:

“Opium is mentioned in the most important medical texts of the ancient world, including the Ebers Papyrus and the writings of Dioscorides, Galen and Avicenna.  Widespread medical use of unprocessed opium continued through the American Civial War before giving way to morphine and its successors, which could be injected at a precisely controlled dosage.” – Wikipedia

Victorian silver inkstand with two cut glass bottles and taper stick on low shapred supports date 1854 makers mark E.B. and J.B. – hammer price £390

Oh I loved this Victorian silver inkstand with glass bottles – how very Alice in Wonderland!  Drink me?

Enamel decorated clips and a 19th Century miniature watercolour portrait

Enamel decorated clips 

Above you can see a set of twelve unusual enamel decorated clips in the form of various flowers.  The case was marked Zarger and sold for £45.  In the top photo on the right you have a 19th Century miniature watercolour on ivory portrait of a seated lady in purple dress.  Gilt framed unsigned inscribed verso Thomas Hargreaves, and the hammer price was £720!

Silver wine etiquette at Lawrences Auctioneers

Heavy brass figures of horses 

A collection of composition dolls that sold for £5

This collection of Lalique perfumes sold for £110

Four Lalique perfumes

This copper water urn, copper teapot brass and wrought iron trivit and two post horns sold for £30

Set of five reproduction oak dining chairs with padded backs and overstuffed seats on baluster turned front supports with stretchers – sold for £60

So check this out: the five oak dining chairs above sold for a mere £60 – how incredibly reasonable!  I say head to your nearest auction and start discovering awesome stuff!!

Early 20th Century Art Nouveau style figure of a seated lady with silver gilt and painted decoration 

Judge by my surprise when I found out that this lovely lady wasn’t sold at the auction.  I think the design is so beautiful and a great example of Art Nouveau, which often portrayed women as well as nature scenes and images.

You can find Lawrences Auctioneers in the beautiful English country village of Bletchingley

Were you surprised by any of the hammer prices for these pieces?  Anything you liked the look of and would have put a bid on?  I would love to read your thoughts below in the comments section!

Christie’s Summer Jewels

Christies’s Summer Jewel Sale

Today we are visiting Christie’s, the world’s oldest fine art auctioneer, who conducted their first sale in London in 1766..!  They have just had their first ever online jewellery sale and though the sale was focused on contemporary pieces I thought it would be interesting for us to take a closer look.  So I popped by their global headquarters on King Street where they have been based since 1823 to find out a bit more for us:

Christie’s on King Street, London – where we will return for another very interesting sale in September

During the 200+ years that Christie’s have been around, they have seen the most extraordinary pieces pass through their hands.  My favourite one is of course the Collection of Elizabeth Taylor, which took place in 2011 and celebrated the extraordinary collection of the Hollywood movie star – featuring diamonds, historic jewels and glorious gemstones.

So to return to their online-only sale of Summer Jewels; Christie’s introduced a couple of young shining stars of jewellery making today: Lily Gabriella Elia and Olivia Wildenstein.   Glorious pieces from Marina B, Roberto Coin and Salavetti were also presented in the auction and the sale ran from July 17th until Friday last week, July 26th.

Lily Gabriella Elia’s Diamond and Gold Ear Pendants

Brazilian born designer Lily Gabriella Elia presented her collection Lily Gabriella, which featured gold pieces often combined with precious and semi-precious gemstones.  Elia’s design is influenced by fine art and modern architecture, and she produces contemporary designs using traditional methods.

I am absolutely loving drop-down earrings at the moment, so this beautiful pair is definitely on my wish list.  They also brought my thoughts back to Art Nouveau, where the pieces often had very intricate patterns, and I find the following to be a very accurate description of the Art Nouveau style: sudden violent curves generated by the crack of a whip.  The expression comes from Pan magazine, describing Hermann Obrist’s wall-hanging Cyclamen (1894) (quote found on the Naturalistic Spoon-website).

An example of Art Nouveau jewellery – from Lawrences Auctioneers

To give you an example of Art Nouveau-jewellery, the photo above is from my visit to Lawrences Auctioneers a few weeks ago – a post coming up!  You can see how the whip-theory can be applied here as well.

Keemee-cultured pearl and diamond “Coeurs Enlacés” ear pendants

Then there was the Kemee designer Olivia Wildenstein, who did an intership with Oscar de la Renta and developed her eye for accessories there, which in turn led to her creation of gem-set jewellery.  Her creations often include rounded and organic jewels and 18k gold, diamonds and cultured pearls.  My favourites are these cultured pearl and diamond ear pendants “Coeurs Enlacés”, with their simple yet elegant design, that make the so versatile to wear.

We will come back to Christie’s very soon, as during my visit I had the opportunity to photograph a few extraordinary posters from the exhibition Graphic Masterworks: A Century of Design.  This is a landmark exhibition of highlights from the archive of vintage poster collector and connoisseur, Martijn Le Coultre – so stay tuned!

Vintage cocktail rings in stunning Sweden

We are back at that wonderful old house that we started visiting last week and it is time to take a look at some of the glorious rings in the collection.  These beauties will be up for sale, as mentioned before, so if you see anything that takes your fancy do let me know:

I absolutely adore this ring, which has the colour of smoky quartz and comes in a gold setting.  I would wear this with one of my white summer dresses and match it with some gold earrings.  It is such a stunning cocktail ring and even though we haven’t yet had it valued, its intricate details bring my thoughts back to Art Nouveau-style.  Art Nouveau had its peak between 1890-1910, before Art Deco took the world by storm.

This beauty looks very much like an aquamarine, a name which comes from Latin and means Water of the Sea.  You lucky March-born children – this is your birthstone, and here is a poem written just for you:

“A March born shall always be
Soothed by Aqua, gem of sea
This mermaid’s treasured stone you wear
Will bring happiness, love, affection and care.”