Antique Victorian Swiss Enamel Portrait of a Lady Brooch

An antique, Swiss enamel brooch, with a portrait of a lady, in regional peasant dress, wearing straw hat, with flowers and holding a small sickle and a sheaf of wheat, on a hand painted enamelled plaque, in a gold mount, with a rub over setting and wire twist surround, circa 1840. Typically Swiss enamels feature peasants in regional dress of the Swiss cantons, or states. They were often made as tourist pieces. Their popularity declined with the invention of photography.