Reply With QuoteCan't see it!
Saw this today. The seller's assistant said, "It's South American. 1838. But that's all I know."
So, there's very little to go on. It's yellow gold, about 5m x 3cm and the rubies, emeralds, sapphires and diamonds seem real.
What do you think? What is it?
Last edited by Tinker; 14th March 2015 at 22:26.
Can't see it!
Now?Originally Posted by Kingstepper
Nope.
P.S. Just checked. You are linking to an attachment in your university's email system. It won't allow anyone but you to see the image. You need to copy the image somewhere else that does not require authentication to see it. E.g. Your own website or an image hosting provider.
^^^ If that's it then all I can say is "cor". Don't know anything about it but it appeals to my inner shiny thing fancier. :-)
It's 'naive', 'primitive', but striking.
In the shape of a cross, the piece could be a clasp from an ecclesiastical vestment or even from a decorated Bible.
Whatever, at the moment, it has no provenance and research is proving difficult.
So, the obvious place to come is to the body of knowledge that is TZ-UK.
Let me repeat, "1838 ... South American".
It's horrible, that's for sure;)
Any pics of hallmark?
If say judging by the colour the centre 3 red stones running across are garnets and not ruby.
No hallmark.
Yes, the centre 3 red stones look more like garnet than ruby in the photograph.
Under a loupe and in good light, the 'rubies' look like ruby, the 'emeralds' look like ... et cetera, but all are crudely cut, weak colour (but decent clarity), except the sapphires, which are a good blue. The 'diamonds' appear to be low-grade stones.
The seller wants £7.5k, by the way.
No provenance but very specific about the date! Where does that come from - how do they know?
Yep, it stinks to High Heaven. BUT, if provenance emerges or can be found - and it's a piece of early South American Christian jewellery, for example - the game will certainly be worth the candle.
£7500??? Was the guy wearing a mask?!
Without a hallmark or any stamps it will be impossible to trace its origins. Christ knows where they have pulled South American from but it looks far more like similar French jewellery I've handled, even Celtic from the shape of it.
The swirls and scrolls are something the Native Americans were very good at, but generally they worked silver rather than gold, and rarely with polished stones.
IMO the filigree finish on the interior design is more European...
Pinning your hopes on this being an early piece of Christian South American jewellery feels like a real stretch, it doesn't look remotely religious to me, but I sincerely hope to be proven wrong. (I mean that, I'm by no means an expert in this stuff).
I agree that it could be described as 'Naive', however while that is a word which can be a positive thing in the art world, with jewellery Naive generally just means poorly/cheaply made.
Last edited by kevkojak; 15th March 2015 at 12:01.
It certainly looks a very interesting item and worthy of research but the price is absurd without provenance and the vague opinion of the sellers 'assistant' is entirely without value.
Do not assume that the seller has not tried to do his own research and drawn a blank before he decided to put a speculative price on it and put it on sale.
I cannot see how you can go further with your interest in this without having the opportunity to have the piece independently and professionally appraised.
I am not an expert, nor am I in the trade but I believe my comments to be 'sensible' and imho kevkojak is a guy whose opinion should be taken note of.
Last edited by KavKav; 15th March 2015 at 11:12.
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