Charming Gold Pendant & Brooch with Aquamarines & Pearls, England c. 1905

Britain's society, fashion, taste and trade have always been focused on the sea. The British fleet has criss-crossed the seas for centuries, creating a global empire and bringing immeasurable treasures home to the British Isles from all over the world. This also influenced British artistic creation. On October 5, 1899, Clara Butt sang the premiere of Sea Pictures by Edgar Elgar, the great English composer. She was dressed as a mermaid, as Elgar's song cycle deals with the sea and its mystical inhabitants. The audience was so enraptured by Elgar's music and Butt's performance that she was invited by Queen Victoria a short time later to sing again at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, accompanied by Elgar on the piano. The whisper of the sea seems to have been captured in this pendant brooch, which was created just a short time after Elgar's Sea Slumber Song became a catchy tune for English society. A seawater blue aquamarine is at the center of the piece and fine seed pearls surround it on delicate bars of gold. Another aquamarine is suspended from the composition. It is the typical design language of the Edwardian Garland style that lends the design its enchanting lightness. Take a chance and wear this piece of jewellery with its marine theme while listening to Elgar's "Sea Pictures" - perhaps you will be as enchanted as Queen Victoria once was?

Estimate:$1,661.13

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