Victorian Essex Crystal Turquoise Pendant

A lovely c. 1870s English Victorian sentimental pendant-locket, the center a quartz crystal cabochon bearing a reverse intaglio of the cipher monogram ‘AIR’, colored pale sky-blue to match the setting of Persian turquoise cabochons collet and pavé-set in a radiating petalike formation. The original coloring of the turquoise are well-preserved; there is an arresting immediacy to the pendant’s blue hues. The monogram appears to ‘float’ in a pool of light. The reverse contains a detachable glass cover; the inscription “Adele Robert” has been engraved to the gold frame. Both turquoise and the color pale blue are associated with forget-me-not flowers, and thus well-represented in sentimental jewelry commissioned or gifted to convey affection. A related pendant from c. 1875 is in the Cecil Higgins Museum, Bedford, and is illustrated on page 564 of “Jewellery 1789-1910 Volume II” by Shirley Bury. The present pendant can be further dated to the 1870s decade due to the use of corded gold wire for embellishment, which was highly popular during this period due to archaeological and etruscan revival influences. The practice of carving crystal with reverse-intaglios was first developed in Belgium, but was popularized in England in the 1860s by Thomas Cook, who made crystals for Lambeth & Co. The quartz crystals had to be polished by hand before up to 250 scribing tools were used, along with diamond dust, to carve out the designs.