c. 1890-1900s Victorian Griffin Diamond Ring

A striking c. 1890-1900s chimera diamond ring, of bloomed solid 14k gold, in the form of a griffin with a 0.46 ct Old European cut diamond clinched within its beak. The modeling blends fluidity with power, merging high Victorian preference for figural design with emerging Art Nouveau lines and curves. This type of chased gold jewelry in the form of mythological beasts first appeared around 1880 in Paris. According to Henri Vever, such designs originated from the work of MM. Bottentuit and Plisson, a celebrated Parisian firm who made the first chased gold chimerae. “These pieces achieved only a lukewarm response when they first appeared,” Vever wrote, “but they soon became all the rage” (p. 1063, French Jewellery of the Nineteenth Century). From Paris, this fad spread to the rest of continental Europe, Britain, and America. The design of a griffin with a gemstone within its mouth was particularly popular, though most surviving examples are brooches and pendants; rings of this form are seldom seen. The griffin, a legendary composite creature with the body of a lion and the head (and sometimes wings) of an eagle, has captured the collective human imagination since antiquity, having spread to Greece from the near east (the Levant, Syria, Egypt, and Anatolia). No written records have survived to explain its significance, but scholars speculate griffins held talismanic powers to protect against evil. Having survived in Greek records, the griffin was adopted during the medieval era as a symbol of Christendom, its dual nature as an aerial bird and a terrestrial beast serving a metaphor for the duality of Christ, who was both human and divine. This creature once again became popular in the decorative arts during the late 19th century, when Victorian gothic and archeological revivals reinvigorated interest in ancient and fantastical motifs.
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