c.1900 Essex Crystal Floral Pendant

A c. 1890-1900 Essex crystal pendant, featuring a reverse intaglio with flower sprigs, in a 14k yellow gold setting with a halo of small rose cut diamonds, the matching bail also charmingly pavé-lined with diamonds. The bail bears a Portuguese gold import mark, but this pendant was likely elsewhere in continental Europe, possibly in Austria, due to Vienna being a well-known source of circular floral themed reverse intaglios c. 1900. Like many late Victorian and Belle Époque jewels, the present pendant is made with a removable screw-on bail, designed for convertibility to a brooch when desired (unfortunately, the brooch pin for this pendant has been lost). A group of Essex crystals from the Hull-Grundy collection is now in the British Museum (1978,1002.1193, 1978,1002.818.b, 1978,1002.451, 1978,1002.148, 1978,1002.1054, 1978,1002.201).

The popular term “Essex crystal” is a misnomer, resulting from the misassumption that William Essex (c.1784 – 1869, a well-renowned enamel miniaturist) was the creator. What is popularly known as an “Essex” crystal today was in fact the work of Emile Marius Pradier, who developed the technique c. 1860 in Belgium. The Pradier crystal can be understood as a modified form of the ancient intaglio, which since classical antiquity has been traditionally carved on the front-facing surface of stones, and generally left as-is without further adornment. Pradier’s innovation consisted of combining two previously separate trades: glyptography and miniature painting. The intaglio was worked deep to the back of a quartz cabochon, and then colored via miniature painting; the resulting crystal appears as if to “contain” a three-dimensional subject, much like an insect time-frozen in amber. Between c. 1860-80, the Pradier method was popularized in England by Thomas Cook for the firm Lambeth & Co.