Mastery of Design: The St. George and the Dragon Brooch, 1855

Brooch
Froment-Meurice, 1855
The Victoria & Albert Museum

This brooch pin is the work of the famed Parisian jeweler François-Désiré Froment-Meurice (1802-1855) whose distinguished work was considered to be of the highest quality. Additionally, Froment-Meurice was known to employ the most talented designers, enamellers, goldsmiths and silversmiths of his era. This enameled gold depiction of St. George and the Dragon was part of Froment-Meurice’s display for the Exposition Universelle of 1855. The brooch would win the gold medal, but Froment-Meurice never saw it. He died suddenly before the opening of exhibition.

The Victoria & Albert Museum purchased the brooch immediately following its first-place win at the Paris Universal Exhibition of 1855. Oddly enough, the pin was stolen during or immediately after the Second World War, when the collections were dispersed for their own safety. The piece was recovered, minus its fittings, in 1953 in time for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.