Antique Gold Brooch with Amethysts, Great Britain c. 1910

It is well known that Art Nouveau was inspired by nature. But did you know that around 1900, not only the shapes of flowers found their way into the designs of arts and crafts artists, but even those of jellyfish and medusae? The German zoologist Ernst Haeckel had studied and drawn these and published them as lithographs between 1899 and 1904 under the title Art Forms of Nature. Haeckel's observations not only inspired German jewelry designers. The Frenchman Fouquet's jewels were also described in 1904 as follows: "The influence of the German professor Haeckel can be seen in the motifs. Some things are created directly in the spirit of the art forms of nature. Shells, corals and seaweed, the strange inhabitants of the ocean, have been transformed here into decorative forms." And it seems that impulses even reached England, where this brooch was created. This brooch is also reminiscent of a jellyfish, as Haeckel saw it as an art form. Three movable bars, on which amethysts are set, swing beneath an elegantly openwork round. Even when worn, this results in a slight movement that is reminiscent of the gentle undulations of sea creatures. The manufacture and material of the brooch attest to its creation around 1910. The brooch with safety clasp was added at a later date. The quote comes from: M. Escherich: Die Ausstellung moderner Kunstgegenstände in Wiesbaden, Journal der Goldschmiedekunst, June 18, 1904, pp. 173-176, here p. 174.

Estimate:$999.43

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