Four designs for bracelets with stylized flowers and leaves, ribbons, and scrolling motifs
Four drawings in graphite of designs for bracelets, in the style of the French School of the 19th century, designed for the French jewelry company Mellerio-Borgnis. Each drawing was created on a separate sheet of semi-transparent paper, all adhered to the same page of the album. The first design is made up of two tubular strips, held together by scrolling motifs, and with a large heart motif in the center, inside a scrolling frame with a crown motif above and an inscription scroll underneath, possibly to be personalized according to the consumer; the sides of the heart are framed by C-curved scrolls and ribbon motifs, and are flanked by thin garlands of flowers and leaves. The second design is made up of two tubes with striped incisions, and holds in the center a large bundle of large, stylized leaves, stylized flowers with round pearls as pistils, and small, stylized flower buds. The third design is made up of two horizontal tubes that frame a bundle of stylized flowers and leaves, with elongated, thin, stylized leaves scrolling around it and around the tubes. The final design is made up of thin tubular strips that form a knot in the center of the bracelet, which frames a stylized, exotic flower with long pistils ending in pearls, and with offsetting, scrolling branches forming to the sides of the central knot. The designs would have likely been manufactured using gold or silver, and probably using brilliants, diamonds, or other (semi-) precious stones to add color and shine to the designs.
Artwork Details
- Title: Four designs for bracelets with stylized flowers and leaves, ribbons, and scrolling motifs
- Artist: F. Mellerio Borgnis
- Date: ca. 1830–70
- Medium: Graphite heightened with gray wash
- Dimensions: Sheet: 11 3/4 × 8 3/8 in. (29.9 × 21.2 cm)
Album: 8 11/16 in. × 12 in. × 1 3/8 in. (22 × 30.5 × 3.5 cm) - Classifications: Albums, Drawings, Ornament & Architecture
- Credit Line: Gift of Raphael Esmerian, 1957
- Object Number: 57.662.4(3)
- Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints
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