Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Mastery of Design: The Maison Fonsèque and Olive Brooch, 1889

Brooch
French, 1889
The Victoria & Albert Museum
This stunning brooch takes the form of green glass grapes on a branch of silver backed in gold with rose-cut diamonds. It is believed to be the work of the firm of Fonsèque and Olive. Olive, had previously worked for the renowned Parisian goldsmith and jeweler, Lucien Falize. He later went into partnership with the jeweler M. Fonsèque in 1885.


Olive was known for such naturalistic designs and often created objects of glass fruits. His designs very popular for a number of years and his ingenuity led to the firm's tremendous success.

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