17th c French Enameled Slides

A rare matched pair of 17th c French ribbon slides, c. 1650-80, enamel decorated on 22k gold with pastoral landscapes, the reverse with typically 17th c duck egg blue counter-enamel. Later brooch and bracelet fittings enable the slides to be worn four-ways: as a choker, chain pendant, bracelet, or brooch. A pair of late 17th c pastoral enamel slides from the Hull Grundy collection is now in the British Museum (1978,1002.1077). The enameling workmanship of the present slides can be identified as French, probably from the workshops of Blois, Châteaudun, or Paris, where enamel painters decorated watch cases, various jewelry, and other small items in silver and gold. Many of these enamelers were also goldsmiths; both trades shared close links. These French artisans led the way in technique innovations during the 17th century: whereas previous 16th c enamels were mostly applied in champlevé troughs, or set against a dark ground in the Limoges style, new techniques of painting enamels c. 1620 allowed delicate compositions resembling tiny oil paintings to be created against a white-based ground. These enameled pieces were created by firing finely milled glass which had been colored with metal oxides onto a gold or copper base. The various enamel colors had to be fired in several stages, due to different temperature requirements. Great precision was needed for a successful outcome, as each firing carried the risk of enamel cracking or bubbling. Similar pastoral scenes, c. 1630-80, can be found on a variety of surviving 17th century jewels: two watch cases in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (17.190.1627; 17.190.1417), a pendant from Christie’s (sale 7556 lot 121), and a locket from the Victoria & Albert Museum (GILBERT.301-2008). The rather ubiquitous popularity of such pastoral scenes was an offshoot of the European Renaissance. Rekindled passion for classical antiquity led to a romanticization of the ancient Greek lifestyle, of a fabled pre-Alexandrian “golden age” where humanity lived a virtuous life as shepherds and herdsmen in the pastoral wild. This idealization of the simple country life, where the soul is free from the corrupting touch of civilization, led to a flowering of pastoral theme poems, literary romances, and artwork throughout the 16th-18th centuries.
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