1860s French Enameled Venus Brooch Locket

A gorgeous and well-made c. 1850-60s French Second Empire brooch, finely enameled in the Louis XVI taste with a figural painting in the ‘Venus with Mirror’ theme, and neatly bordered with black enamel and a radiating halo of six foiled rose cut diamonds interspaced with post-mounted natural pearls. The reverse contains a locket compartment with a hinged and famed glass cover. A protective vertical security pin can be pulled aside to allow the insertion of a chain, converting the brooch to a pendant necklace. A loop ring near the edge also allows for the insertion of a jump ring or bolt ring clasp, meaning the brooch can be worn with a watch chain. Crafted entirely in solid 14k gold, this piece is quite heavy at 22.9 grams (most circular brooches weight under 15 grams).

French jewelers and artisans have long mastered fine miniature painting in enamel: the technique came to prominence in Limoges during the 16th century and was perfected by the 17th century. Enameling involved covering a gold or copper plate with a white base and fine-grained glass solutions with pigments. Each application of color required a firing.

The genre painting featured in this brooch portrays a semi-nude Venus admiring her reflection in a mirror held by Cupid and various cherubs. Several notable works on this theme have been executed by artists such as Titian, Rubens, Velázquez, and Vouet. The subject can be understood as a meditation on the female psyche and a celebration of the feminine form. The pastel palette and pastoral setting of this particular miniature are reminiscent of 18th-century rococo paintings by Fragonard and Boucher. 19th-century French jewelry ‘in the Louis XVI taste’ was quite popular after the restoration of the French monarchy in 1852, due to renewed acceptability and nostalgia for the pre-Revolution past.