c.1820-30 Gothic Revival Cross Pendant

A c. 1820-30 French Bourbon Restoration era gothic revival cross pendant, bearing a Paris rams-head mark for 1819-38, the richly bloomed solid 18k yellow gold body chased with foliate scrolls, set with natural pink sapphires and garnets, and ornamented with polychrome enamels and granulated trims. A gold cross from the same period, also with an enameled rosette to the center and formerly belonging to Queen Josephine of Leuchtenberg, is now in the Royal Armoury Stockholm (Livrustkammaren). Another gothic revival cross, also with enameled rosettes and chased foliate scrolls, is illustrated on p. 284 of “Jewellery 1789-1910” by Shirley Bury. The present cross is a synthesis of workmanship elements considered late Georgian (that is, c. 1780-1820) with early Romantic era traits. The stones are still set in a cut-down/tipped collet style commonplace since the mid-18th century, while the chased and granulated embellishments are characteristic of c. 1820 design. However, the gothic revival motifs, along with the naturalistically enameled foliate and floral ornaments, reflect the influence of the early Romantic movement. Nearly all of the aforementioned elements can be seen on a c. 1825 bracelet in the Victoria & Albert Museum (M.91-1951). While of a different form, it too bears a Paris rams-head mark and features similar enameled rosettes (including the white enamel “veins” drawn on individual petals), granulation, and chased foliate scrolls. Even the plain gold back with traces of moulding and rounded depressions for rivet connections are similar in appearance. According to Henri Vever in “French Jewelry of the Nineteenth Century”, there was a “momentous revolution in literature and the arts” around c.1820-30, spurred by the works of Chateaubriand in France, Goethe and Schiller in Germany, and Walter Scott in England, and kindling an interest in gothic architecture as well as all things Medieval and Renaissance. On the present pendant, black enameled outlines echoing the look of Gothic pointed ogival arches can be found throughout the cross arms. In Paris, this motif would have been considered of the “cathedral style”, which according to Vever, was “the highest fashion” of the day. He further noted that “not only were jewels subject to this influence, every detail of clothing became gothic and medieval”. This revivalist mania can be seen in portraits such as that of Amélie de Leuchtenberg by Karl Stieler (c. 1825, Musée national des châteaux de Malmaison), as well as that of an unknown lady, c. 1823, by Joseph Krafft (see p. 92 “Schmuck” by Brigitte Marquardt). Both subjects wear Renaissance style clothing (ruff collar, plumed cavalier hat, puffed sleeves), along with a gold Renaissance revival cross. While the Gothic revival movement would remain popular throughout the 19th century, experiencing second and third waves during the 1860s and 1900s respectively, the c. 1820-30 first wave produced designs that were not wholly imitative in nature, instead combining novel period workmanship traits with imagined historic elements, unlike some late 19th and early 20th c revival jewelry that were purely forgeries or facsimile copies of originals.
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