The high society’s jewelry in the Renaissance: Lucrezia Panciatichi

Lucrezia, the beautiful wife of the Florentine politic Bartolomeo Panciatichi, has come to us in a stunning portrait with no background, where is seems Bronzino, the Renaissance artist who painted it, did want us to focus our glance on this aristocratic amazing woman.

And I don’t blame it… Over her slim and elegant neckline a pearl necklace rests, with a brooch holding from the middle. Then underneath there’s a long gold chain with a little inscription on it that says “Sin fin amour Duré” (love should last forever).

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And in her left hand she wears a little ring in gold and ruby that easily might have been her engagement ring, a piece that is today our protagonist in our Historic Jewels Collection.

The luxurious dress in sateen and red velvet defines her cold and quite beauty. Bronzino made a very good job playing with lights and shadows along her figure.

Lucrezia holds with the right hand a little prayer book over her lap. It seems she was waiting for the artista to tell her it was finished to just keep naturally reading.

The humanist and politic Bartolomeo Panciatichi’s whife since 1528, Lucrezia Panciatichi was inmortalized together with her husband by the artista Angelo di Cosimo, il Bronzino (1503-1572), who always worked under Michelangelo’s shade. Back in that time the art in the city of Florence was controlled by two huge names: The Medici family and Michelangelo.

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Bartolomeo Panciatichi was son of Bartolome “The Old” and belonged to a very influent family of businessmen from Pistoia. They owned a business in the French city Lyon, a place very popular in that time due to the strategic situation it had as a central point of France, Italy, Switzerland and Germany.

Bartolomeo did rather prefer to carry on with his career as an humanist and politic and left aside the familiar business whe he was very young. In Lyon he met Lucrezia and after a few years the whole family moved in to Florence. There he achieved very good positions as an important politic and became in one of the most influential men in his time.

And his spouse, a lady who in this portrait rests solemn, dmure, elegant, devoted and quite symbolises Renacentist women in the high society.

Giorgio Vasari referred to this painting with these words: “…portraits of his and hers are so natural that seems to be really alive, and only surprises the spirit”

Both Bronzino’s portraits are shown in the Uffizzi’s gallery in Florence.

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Bibliography:

Abcgallery.com

Wga.hu

Virtualuffizi.com

Eresie.it

Imágenes: María Vintage Photography 

“P” for “Peineta” or Spanish Haircomb

A “peineta” (the Spanish term for “haircomb”) is a female accesory similar to a comb with a convex boday linked to an area plenty of teeth. This accessory is meant to be put in place in a upsweep or low updo.

There’s proof of the use of this piece since Iberian women used it when living in the Iberian Peninsula. The flirty Roman women didn’t want to be less and also used to wear it on top of their complex and worked updo and hair braids.

Did you know they already used hair curlers back then? They were called “calmistrum” and it actually was a metal pipe that they placed over coal to warm it. Then the ointments did the rest of the work.

So yes, the beautiful Roman women used small combs to dress their hair.

The Spanish “peineta” were usually tortoiseshells. These pieces were very popular in some kind of celebrations like weddings, Holy Week processions, bullfightings, traditional parties and flamenco or copla shows.

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The “peineta” is the perfect accessory for the laced shawls or “mantillas” since it highlights the beauty of the embroidery.

The most common comb models have ornamental curved (or squared somtimes) forms made in shell. Most of them have beautiful miniatures on them on shell. Nowadays however is mostly made in acetate or similar materials since turtles are in danger of extinction. Today there are only very few authentic shell-made tortoiseshells left.

Even more common today is the use of haircombs in silver to decorate the brides’ updo. Those were popularized back in the middle of the 19th century.

Nowadays you’ll easily find “peinetas” in silver with zircons, enamel, coral, semiprecious stones and even brass or gold.

The most valuable “peinetas” for collectors are those made back in the Imperial time in Golden brass and coral and also the art-nouveau style pieces from the beginning of the 20th century

Merle Oberon and the most photaphed Catier’s necklace

Merle Oberon was the alias of Estelle Merle O’Brien Thompson, a British actress who was born in Tasmania by the beginning of the 20th century. She is the first protagonist of our new section “Collectors of Jewelry of the History”

Merle Oberon was living in India until she was 17, when she moved out to London on the purpose of becoming a successful actress in cinema.

Her better good luck came when the productor and director Alexander Korda found out about her by chance back in 1930. He made her shine as one of the big ladies in British theatres during the 40’s. The ended up getting married and he was one of the first ones who started giving her away really expensive jewelry.

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Merle Oberon wearing the necklace that Napoleon Bonaparte gave to Baroness Haussmann.

One of the very first pieces she acquired was an old necklace in diamonds and emeralds that apparently was a gift from Napoleon the Third to the Baroness Haussmann. It’s said that was his way to thank her for the role of her husband in the new and more modern Paris. Thanks to the alterations made in Paris, this city became in just two decades into the most modern capital in the world. Merle worn the piece in movies like The Divorce of Lady X and Of Love And Desire. Later Merle Oberon removed two tears to the necklace in order to make them earrings.

In 1939 after her marriage, Alexandre got her one of the pieces most beautiful in her collection (at least, it is to me): a Cartier’s piece made with three flowered-formed brooches. The one in the middle, the biggest one, has a charming detail on it: the pistils are diamonds with some movement which adds beauty to the whole piece. These brooches were originary designed to be worn as hair clips but Merle preferred to let them be brooches or even cameos. Sadly after she died the three pieces were sold separately.

There’s a curiosity here that you’ll love to know: a few years later, the Princess Elizabeth of England would get a especial wedding gift from the Prince Philip of Greece: a tiara with three identical flower-formed clips designed by Cartier. Elizabeth II removed them to wear them separately and she did so in many occasions.

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Merle Oberon wearing the Cartier’s three-flowered clip that was supposed to be a hair clip in the origins. Photocourtesy of Fine Art America

However, the most amazing piece within her collection is a necklace of diamonds and 29 emeralds from the Baroque that Korda gave her in 1939. The piece fitted her very nicely due to her exotic beauty. The necklace has a very original design for the time especially because of the sensual and elegant form the emeralds are linked.

The story of this piece is very curious indeed and show how humans always want badly what others have. It seemed the necklace meant to be acquired by the designer Elsa Schiaparelli. However Merle saw it in a store in Paris and when she asked the seller about it, she was said the piece had another admirer. Merle didn’t believe the man and thought it was a strategy to sell it to her. After a few days she realized the seller was right when she passed by the store and the jewel had gone. Her mysterious rival was in a fitting room trying on the piece.

The day after Merle went back to the shop to see if the necklace was still there and she saw how Elsa Schiaparelli leaving the place. She came back so devastated that her husband went out, straight away to the jeweller’s and after asking for the piece he surprisingly got it. The stunning 29 emerald will shine in her exotic neckline from that moment onwards.

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Merle enjoyed that necklace until she died. 

Cartier 1938, 29 stunning Baroque emeralds like tears, linked with platinum and diamonds, 44 cm long and finished in 2,642,500 CHF. This is one of the Cartier’s necklace most photographed ever.

Link to the necklace in the Catalog Antiquorum

Other pieces in her collection:

 

  • A set of two clips designed by Cartier with flowered diamonds, one with the pistil in diamonds and the other with rubies. They might be worn together of separately. Other option was making a bracelet with them. Merle had this bracelet in the movie Til We Meet Again in 1940.
  •   A brooch with saphires and diamonds by Cartier, also detachable to wear as a clip. The piece was set with an oval saphire and petals in diamonds. The stem (also in diamonds) was sold separately. Merle worn this piece many times, not only the clip but also the brooch as a short necklace. I’m sure Merle loved Cartier’s jewelry and the versality of his work.
  •  By the end of the 50’s and 60’s she acquired and changed a big amount of jewelry. She spent a time living in Rome where she got a Bulgari’s brooch with diamonds and rubies. Bulgari also created for her an elegant bag in a non-conventional design (acorn).
  • Van Cleef&Arpels was other of the preferred Merle’s designers during the 70’s. Among her collection is a set of a brooch, earrings and a necklace with turquoises and diamonds in pink that could be transformed into a brooch and a bracelet.
  •  Merle also had a small but good collection of rubies that included an spectacular necklace by David Webb who also made for her a ring and earrings with a big oval ruby in the center.

Most of these pieces were sold in an auction in New York back in 1980, exactly a year after she passed away.

Merle Oberon had a really beautiful and huge jewelry collection.

Pictures and biography

Edition.cnn.com

Polyvore.com

Revivaljewels.com

Expertizarebijuterii.wordpress.com

Jewelsdujour.com

 “Hollywood Jewels” by Penny Proddow, Debra Healy and Marion Fasel

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With O: Object d’Art or Bibelot

An “Object of Art” is a small high quality decorative ítem, very valued by collectors. They are pieces often made in reach materials like gold, silver, semiprecious stones, porcelain, mother-of-pearl, coral or enamelwork.

Some of these pieces are made with the only purpose of staying over a display cabinet and being exhibited. Others, however, are made for the personal use of the owner but ended up in a glass cabinet anyway, due to the fineness of the piece or the high value.

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The perfect cabinet to be placed on are elevated, to avoid being touched and covered by glass. These kind of cabinets are closed furniture that back in the past were used to keep safe silverware, porcelains or vintage books.

This way these especial pieces can be exhibited to the public in museums or personal houses, so they are protected against damage, dust or inexperienced hands.

The most frequent collections across the world are fans, little boxes or miniatures in porcelain, silver pieces, golden little statues with semiprecious stones and many other distinguish and exquisite pieces worth of being kept safe and well protected.

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With N for: “Nacre

The nacre (also called mother of pearl) is the internal layer of the mollusc’s shells.

The seashells with the most beautiful nacre are the haliotidae and the nautilus. This material is so precious because it has gorgeous iridescent reflexions that make it proper to embellish jewelry, accesories and other very special decorations.

Within jewelry, the nacre is a material used for a long time, since the old civilizations like the iberian, Egyptian and Romans among others, started using it in order to decorate combs, swords handles, buttons or pieces of jewelry.

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It was during the 19th century when the use of nacre was popularised. Soon enough you might find it in bags, powder compacts, frames, cufflinks or missals. Since nacre is a material easy to sculpt many other jewels started coming out like beautiful cameos or delicate sculptures in earrings, crosses and buttons.

By the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th, the industrial revolution caused in Britain a boom in manufacture of buttons in nacre. In addition, this material has been always linked to fashion and accesories. It’s been used for ages to make buckles, bags or beautiful set of buttons for men, certainly very appreciated back in the time.

By mid of the 20th century, with the discovery of plastics and the termination of many of the mother of pearls deposits, the gorgeous nacre was replaced by imitations in plastic and acetate.

What you probably don’t know is that nacre is also very valued in cosmetic, since it’s commonly used to make lotions, soaps and to whiten unwanted spots on the skin.

Within jewelry made in nacre we can highlight the hand-sculpted crosses, the flowers used to decorate earrings, bracelets or cufflinks and the different pieces used to make brooches.

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Cartier: Marjorie Merriweather Post’s Brilliant Historic Jewelry

Today I bring to you one of those exhibits that you’ll easily retain in your mind forever. The fineness and beauty of a Cartier’s historic jewel, being able to admire it and almost feel it is with no doubt one of my biggest pleasures in life. If on top of that you make that a plan to travel to New York on vacations… what else you can ask for?

The show, under the name Cartier: Marjorie Merriweather Post’s Dazzling Gems brings together the most famous pieces of one of the main Cartier’s clients during the first half of the 20th century: Marjorie Merriweather.

The exhibit takes place in a rustic and very charming atmosphere with a touch of vintage air, placed within the gardens of the Hillwood museum. The building recreates the architecture that was common in the Adirondack Mountains, upstate New York, where our protagonist used to have her summer holidays.

The museum brings its special shows to this building in order to allow the visitor to enjoy a deepest experience of Hillwood.

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Who was Marjorie Merriweather Post?

Meter foto: Marjorie Merriweather wearing Cartiers jewelry – Hillwood museum exhibit – by Vintage By Lopez-Linares – Copy

She was considered an icon in the history of America. She was the founder of General Foods and a leading socialite who lived from 1887 to 1973. When she was 27 she became into the wealthiest woman in the States after inherit her father’s fortune valued in $250 million.

The collection of jewelry, vintage furniture, porcelains, paintings and tapestries that Marjorie ended gathering during her long life is impressive and includes pieces from Faberge and Cartier, among other prestigious designers. The distinguish jewels that Marjorie requested from Cartier are the ones you can visit now in the Hillwood Museum.

Among the displayed jewels a brooch stands out. It’s considered one of the Cartier master pieces, made with seven carved Indian emeralds, tiny diamonds, platinum and enamel. It was designed back in 1928 by the renowned jeweler for her appreciated customer Marjorie Merriweather Post.

It’s also worth mentioning the necklace the designer did for her with pearls, diamonds and platino or the astonishing one with sapphires, among many other pieces worthy of the most demanding art collector.

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Cartier - Marjorie Merriweathers jewelry - sapphires necklace - by Vintage By Lopez-Linares - Copy

With no doubt, Marjorie had a very good taste for jewelry and fashion in general, like she proved with such an amazing collection, that you can visit until the end of 2014 in Washington DC.

Please, visit the Hillwood Museum website for further information or see more pictures in the exposition Pinterest board.

 

The Boticelli’s Venus and the brooch in her neckline

London National Gallery. Sandro Boticelli (1445-1510)

Venus and Mars was painted around 1483 by one of the most important artists of the Renaissance; Sandro Boticelli. The painting has many beautiful details but what really grabbed my attention was that little brooch on Venus’ neckline: A total of 8 pearls or stones in a light color with a ruby in the middle. A simple and timeless piece we’ve brought into our Historic Jewels Collection this month, straight away from Florence. I guess the knowledge Boticelli had as a metalsmith made him being interested in jewelry.

According to the size and form, this painting is 173×69 cm, it seems it was made to be a “spalliera” or headboard, and the reason might have been a marriage celebration.

The protagonists: two of the main mythological gods. Venus, goddess of beauty and love, and Mars, god of war. Venus wears a Florentine design in pure white while Mars is half-naked sleeping at her feet. In the meantime, a few little satyrs play around with his helmet and weapons. It might represent the triumph of love against war.

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It’s said it could be a wedding gift ordered by the Medici family. However there’s a detail on the top of the painting that might indicate otherwise: a few wasps, symbol of the Vespucci’s family. I haven’t been able to confirm who ordered this painting.

What I have verified is that the model for Venus was Boticelli’s muse: a beautiful and young lady in the Medici court. Her name was Simonetta Vespucci, an icon in her time. Simonetta was a gorgeous Genovese married to a rich businessman calld Marco Vespucci. The Vespucci and Medici families were actually very good friends.

I’ve also discovered Marco Vespucci was Boticelli’s neighbour during the time of the painting. The couple was very well-known around not only because of their power but of her beauty. Simonetta died when she was 23 of tuberculosis, but all Boticelli’s paintings have shown u show beautiful she was.

The Boticellis Venus and her brooch - Venus and Mars - Historic Jewels in Vintage By Lopez-Linares

To be honest, I can’t imagine a better feeling than lying with the person you love with this painting over you head… I don’t know why but I imagine a just-married couple enjoying this wonder.

The painting is symbol of harmony and happyness, you could be watching it for hours. I think we all were hypnoticed by the beauty of the protagonists and how idilic the scene is itself.

Bibliography:

youtube.com

Desdeelotroladodelcuadro.blogspot.com.es

With M: Miniature

It seems the name comes from the word “mimium” (red lead oxide), a substance used as a component to make the ink for the illustrations in the old codex.

The history of these miniatures dates back from the beginning of the writing. During the Middle Age this sort of artwork was used to decorate manuscripts and books with illustrations. This type of decoration keeps being used along the Renaissance and Baroque. However, when the printing press the miniatures stopped being useful and the art almost disappeared.

We are going to focus in what means miniatures for jewelry: small illustrations usually made over ivory, shells, metal or any other material that were used to decorate bracelets, pendants or lockets. You also can find these tiny and creative paintings in fans, medallions, watches, jewelry box or earrings. The miniatures are usually made with oil painting over copper, tin or similar metal.

This art stamps a very special nature to the piece and makes it unique and a once-in-a-life-time jewel. Wearing a bracelet with a tiny decoration over ivory, or a pocket watch with little illustrations made by a master makes you feel different, important, unique. You are wearing a piece that you could easily find exposed in an exhibition.

Unfortunately, it’s not easy nowadays to find an artisan able to create these miniatures. We actually spent a lot of time looking for a reproduction that was really worth being included in our collection. The only two workshops we finally found in Italy and Spain make tiny pieces in Golden brass, those that I’m including in this post, and decorations over fans .

We keep looking for more pieces with miniatures as decoration, but they are very special jewelry worth being part of our historic jewels collection…

pulsera-flickr

 

Your dreamy vintage wedding dress… Now in our new window

We’ve just realeased a new shop window design! Since we are in the favourite time of the year for couples to get married, we’ve decided to add a touch of a vintage wedding to it, a retro wedding from the 50s.

Thanks to the overwhelming generosity of a very good friend of my family, Paula Vallejo Rey del Castillo, Mrs Esteban, we have today one of the most refined and exquisite wedding dresses from the late 50s. We asked to much of her, we knew it. We were asking to show not only her lovely dress but also the memories that entails to take out such a piece. But she gladly agreed and I think her effort was really worth it. This magnificent dress deserved to be shown to the world, don’t you think so?

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This piece was made back in 1957 in chantilly lace and silk tull in the sewing workshop own by Purificacion Sepulveda in Madrid. What really caught my attention was the spectacular 2 meters-long tail in chantilly lace and tull. That detail gives the dress an unusual fall and movement. It was so difficult to make it fit in our shop window!

It also was a bit tricky to take these pictures since the dress, my camera and I didn’t fit in the shop window all at once! You can imagine how superb this piece is.

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We’d love to show it to you in person, and chat with you about how fashion was that time. So don’t hesitate to come and see me at C/Claudio Coello, 60 in Madrid if you plan to be around any time soon!

If you also have a vintage dress like this one and you’d love to see it in our shop window, don’t hesitate to contact us. We’ll be glad to show it to the world if you take part in our iniciative.

Looking forward to your thoughts!

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3rd Edition Jewelry of the History

We are celebrating the third edition of our Show “Replicas of Jewelry of the History”. After the great success of our two previous editions and also using the momentum of the release in theatres of Grace of Monaco, we’ve decided make it very special this year. 

The big opening will be next Tuesday, the 20th, at 12 pm (GMT + 1) with the History specialist María Romero de Cuenca who will lead you across the most amazing life of jewelry.

And we have a surprise! Both you who happens to be in Madrid and want to join us, and you who will follow the event on Facebook, Twitter and Google+ will have the chance of being the first to see and enjoy our new collection “Grace”, based on the jewels Grace Kelly was gifted during her royal wedding. Did you know it was a very special order made by Rainier III, Prince of Monaco? A necklace with pearls and double clip, a bracelet and a pair of earrings compound the beautiful gift.

But we won’t stop there! Beyond those replicas, we’ve made a lovely tiara inspired in the one Grace Kelly preferred the most. She wore it in a few events, with a pretty hairstyle by the famous stylist Alexandre.It’s a jewel made in silver and zircons. The original piece had on it 214 bright-carving diamonds and 45 baguette-carving diamonds. The Princess wore it in several special occasions like the Gala pre Spanish Royal Wedding in Athenas and also during the party previous to the wedding between the Infanta Pilar Duchess of Badajoz and Luis Gomez-Acebo back in 1967.  

During the show you’ll also find many other luxurious accessories our Princess could have worn: hand bags, gloves, earrings…

The next 20th of May will be a very special date. We’ll open our space in Madrid in a non-stop timetable from 11 am until 8.30 pm. That day we’ll also make a toast with a glass of Oporto and we’ll have the chance to know each other better at the same time we enjoy these iconic pieces.

Here’s the invitation to the event: INVITATION TO THE SHOW JEWELS OF THE HISTORYin case you are in Madrid in that date and wish to join us.

For those of you who can’t attend that day, feel free to follow the event on Facebook and Twitter using the hashtags #historicjewels and #GraceKelly. We’ll also have a hangout on Google+, so stay tuned!

Looking forward to seeing you all!.

Maria y Ana López-Linares