Bracelet
ca. 1870 (made)
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The grandeur of the gold work and the imposing scale of this piece, part of a parure (matching set of jewellery), are in sharp contrast with the simple, rustic scenes depicting figures in traditional costume. To convey the effect of antique treasure, the micromosaic has been left deliberately unpolished and the tesserae spaced out to resemble ancient pieces.
The term 'micromosaic' is used to describe mosaics made of the smallest glass pieces. Some micromosaics contain more than 5000 pieces per square inch. The earliest attempts at micromosaic revealed visible joins between the pieces (known as tesserae) and a lack of perspective. Later artists such as Antonio Aguatti made huge advances in micromosaic technique, resulting in renderings that were truer to life. Glass micromosaic technique developed in the 18th century, in the Vatican Mosaic Workshop in Rome, where they still undertake restoration work today.
Sir Arthur Gilbert and his wife Rosalinde formed one of the world's great decorative art collections, including silver, mosaics, enamelled portrait miniatures and gold boxes. Arthur Gilbert donated his extraordinary collection to Britain in 1996.
The term 'micromosaic' is used to describe mosaics made of the smallest glass pieces. Some micromosaics contain more than 5000 pieces per square inch. The earliest attempts at micromosaic revealed visible joins between the pieces (known as tesserae) and a lack of perspective. Later artists such as Antonio Aguatti made huge advances in micromosaic technique, resulting in renderings that were truer to life. Glass micromosaic technique developed in the 18th century, in the Vatican Mosaic Workshop in Rome, where they still undertake restoration work today.
Sir Arthur Gilbert and his wife Rosalinde formed one of the world's great decorative art collections, including silver, mosaics, enamelled portrait miniatures and gold boxes. Arthur Gilbert donated his extraordinary collection to Britain in 1996.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Micromosaic, gold |
| Brief description | Bracelet, micromosaic and gold. Jewellery set. Rome. Gold, ca. 1870. |
| Physical description | Gold bracelet set with a octagonal micromosaic depicting a seated woman in peasant dress with a sheep at her side within a gold frame with five graduated arch-shaped micromosaics on the top and bottom. Two side panels, attached to two gold panels with spool-shaped hinges, hold a micromosaic of a dove with a laurel branch. |
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| Credit line | The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Collection on loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum, London |
| Object history | Provenance Acquired by Arthur Gilbert from S.J. Phillips Ltd, London, 1976. Historical significance: The Roman firm of Castellani introduced historicising styles in micromosaics in the second half of the nineteenth century. Castellani used traditional glass mosaics whereas this set is composed of smalti tesserae.Smalti means enamel. An opaque vitreous substance, it is made by heating a matrix of Venetian glass to a high temperature and mixing in micro crystals of opaque materials and pigments. It is poured in to cake shapes and cooled for use as mosaic tesserae. The exact Vatican formula is secret. The process was developed by Allesio Mattioli, a chemist, who was in charge of tesserae production in the Vatican Mosaic Studio from 1730-50. |
| Historical context | Peasants were a popular subject for micromosaic jewellery and boxes. The image of a seated woman with doves may have been taken from paintings on porcelain. |
| Subject depicted | |
| Summary | The grandeur of the gold work and the imposing scale of this piece, part of a parure (matching set of jewellery), are in sharp contrast with the simple, rustic scenes depicting figures in traditional costume. To convey the effect of antique treasure, the micromosaic has been left deliberately unpolished and the tesserae spaced out to resemble ancient pieces. The term 'micromosaic' is used to describe mosaics made of the smallest glass pieces. Some micromosaics contain more than 5000 pieces per square inch. The earliest attempts at micromosaic revealed visible joins between the pieces (known as tesserae) and a lack of perspective. Later artists such as Antonio Aguatti made huge advances in micromosaic technique, resulting in renderings that were truer to life. Glass micromosaic technique developed in the 18th century, in the Vatican Mosaic Workshop in Rome, where they still undertake restoration work today. Sir Arthur Gilbert and his wife Rosalinde formed one of the world's great decorative art collections, including silver, mosaics, enamelled portrait miniatures and gold boxes. Arthur Gilbert donated his extraordinary collection to Britain in 1996. |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | LOAN:GILBERT.139-2008 |
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| Record created | June 19, 2008 |
| Record URL |
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