Antique Belle Epoque French Gold Brooch Pendant

Antique jewellery object group: combined brooch-pendant

Condition: excellent condition

Country of origin: France

Style: Belle Époque - The Belle Époque (French for "Beautiful Era") was a period in European social history that began during the late 19th century and lasted until World War I. Occurring during the time of the French Third Republic and theGerman Empire, the "Belle Époque" was named in retrospect, when it began to be considered a "golden age" the major powers of Europe, new technologies improved lives and the commercial arts adapted Renaissance and eighteenth-century styles to modern forms. In the newly rich United States, emerging from the Panic of 1873, the comparable epoch was dubbed the Gilded Age. In the United Kingdom, this epoch overlaps the end of what is called the Victorian Era there and the period named theEdwardian Era. or more info on styles

Style specifics: The Belle Époque (French for "Beautiful Era") was a period in European social history that began during the late 19th century from the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871) and lasted until World War I (1914-18).

Occurring during the time of the French Third Republic and the German Empire, the "Belle Époque" was named in retrospect, when it began to be considered a "golden age" the major powers of Europe, new technologies improved lives and the commercial arts adapted Renaissance and eighteenth-century styles to modern forms.

In the newly rich United States, emerging from the Panic of 1873, the comparable epoch was dubbed the Gilded Age. In the United Kingdom, this epoch overlaps the end of what is called the Victorian Era there and the period named the Edwardian Era.

In the Belle Époque cheap coal and cheap labour contributed to the cult of the orchid and made possible the perfection of fruits grown under glass, as the apparatus of state dinners extended to the upper classes; champagne was perfected during the Belle Époque. Exotic feathers and furs were more prominently featured in fashion than ever before, as haute couture was invented in Paris, the centre of the Belle Époque, where fashion began to move in a yearly cycle; in Paris restaurants such as Maxim's achieved a new splendour and cachet as places for the rich to parade, and the Opéra Garnier devoted enormous spaces to staircases as similar showplaces.

After mid-century, railways linked all the major cities of Europe to spa towns like Biarritz and Deauville; their carriages were rigorously divided into first-class and second-class, but the super-rich now began to commission private railway coaches, as exclusivity was a hallmark of opulent luxury. Bohemian lifestyles gained a different glamour, pursued in the cabarets of Montmartre.

Period: ca. 1880

Source of inspiration: Mother Nature

Theme: The Rose - First of all a symbol of love but there are many prophecies, legends and fairy tales made about this beautiful flower.

A rose that blooms in autumn can mean a marriage. And you must remember the fairy tale of Sleeping Beauty. The bad queen pricked the beautiful, young princess with a thorn from a rose. She slept 100 years and a beautiful, young prince woke her up with a kiss. They married and they lived happily ever after. There exists a legend about how the rose got her thorns. The rose grew originally in the Garden of Eden and had no thorns. After the fall the rose got her thorns to remind people of their sin. Her beauty might be kept as memory of Paradise.

In the antiquity, Eros, the Greek God of Love, was represented as a fresh and rosy (colour of roses), lively and cheerful boy with goldish hair (like the stamens). The arrows were like the thorns and his wings were like the petals of the rose. In beauty, shape and scent, the rose is outstanding and hence has become the most commonly used floral symbol in the West. Roses have symbolical meanings in classic and Christian art. For example, Venus was associated with roses, symbolizing love and beauty, whereas Virgin Mary sometimes was called a « rose without thorns » because of her purity.

Material: 18ct yellow gold

Precious stones: One natural seed pearl

Birthstones: Pearl is the birthstone (or month stone) for June.

Hallmarks: The French control mark for 18ct gold representing an eagle's head that was in use in France from about 1838.

Dimensions: 4,29 cm (1,69 inch) x 3,38 cm (1,33 inch)

Weight: 8,90 gram (5,72 dwt)