c. 1830 Swiss Enamel Chain

A c. 1830 Swiss enamel 18k gold chain, of double-sided design with polychrome floral motifs against a bold lime green ground to one side, and a more reserved black and white counterpart to the other. Weighing a good 42.7 grams, the chain features large chunky links and a late added bolt ring. Swiss enamelwork of the present type can be reliably dated to around 1830; for example, a watch case with similar black & white enameling in the Victoria & Albert Museum is year inscribed for 1829 (accession 328&A-1897). The densely gorgeous design, in marked contrast to the restraint of Neoclassicism, is reflective of the early Romantic movement and its embrace of fanciful ornamentation. The gold scrollwork inlay and champlevé style enameling can be further understood as a historic revival of c. 1600-30 late Renaissance – early Baroque enamelwork. Developing in parallel with its watchmaking tradition, a prolific enameling industry had existed in Geneva since at least the 17th century, initially to craft enameled watch cases, but later evolving to supply Europe with various enameled jewels and objects. Chains of the present type probably first emerged as half-length watch chains like the one example in the British Museum (1919,0211.4). However, by the late 1820s, historical revivalism had re-introduced Renaissance fashion back to women’s dress: as was in the late 16th c., giant gold chains became popular again, replacing the earlier fashion for ribbon chokers. Portraits and fashion prints from this period show ladies with exposed necks and low-cut gowns, accompanied by a large chain draped across the shoulders and hanging almost to the stomach (see p. 287 & 295, French Jewelry of the Nineteenth Century by Henri Vever). The present chain is likely reduced from a longer original. A c. 1830 enameled sautoir, which includes similar lime-green links, is illustrated on p. 201 of Vever; several other examples can be found on p. 295. Parisian jewelry firms often outsourced enameling to Geneva workshops, so it can be difficult to differentiate a French vs Swiss origin for these chains. Broadly speaking, those with more solid plaque-like links are accepted as French, while more rotund repoussé-worked examples are likely Swiss. For example, a c.1835 festoon necklace with such repoussé-worked enameled links is identified by the V&A as Swiss (see M.36-1962).
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