Bracelet Clasps
ca. 1770 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Bracelets at this date were usually worn in pairs. These clasps would have been worn one on each wrist, providing an elaborate fastening for the bracelets, which probably consisted of several strings of large pearls. The clasps were traditionally linked with Queen Marie Antoinette (1755-1793), consort of Louis XVI of France, but the initials do not appear to be MA, and a ring in the Bourbon Parma family jewels (Sotheby's Geneva, 14 November 2018, lot 92) has a monogram of MA in diamonds of a different form.
One of the clasps bears a monogram and the other a trophy of love with doves, a quiver of arrows and a hymeneal torch (named after Hymen, the Greek god of marriage).
One of the clasps bears a monogram and the other a trophy of love with doves, a quiver of arrows and a hymeneal torch (named after Hymen, the Greek god of marriage).
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Parts | This object consists of 2 parts.
|
| Materials and techniques | Gold with brilliant cut diamonds, central plaques of blue paste (glass) |
| Brief description | Pair of ornaments, possibly bracelet clasps, gold with central plaques of blue paste (glass) decorated with brilliant-cut diamonds, made in France, about 1770 |
| Physical description | Pair of ornaments, possibly bracelet clasps, gold with central plaques of blue paste (glass) ornamented with brilliant-cut diamonds. Later converted into brooches. |
| Style | |
| Credit line | Given by Dame Joan Evans |
| Object history | The monogram was once read as being that of Marie Antoinette, but this reading is no longer accepted. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | Bracelets at this date were usually worn in pairs. These clasps would have been worn one on each wrist, providing an elaborate fastening for the bracelets, which probably consisted of several strings of large pearls. The clasps were traditionally linked with Queen Marie Antoinette (1755-1793), consort of Louis XVI of France, but the initials do not appear to be MA, and a ring in the Bourbon Parma family jewels (Sotheby's Geneva, 14 November 2018, lot 92) has a monogram of MA in diamonds of a different form. One of the clasps bears a monogram and the other a trophy of love with doves, a quiver of arrows and a hymeneal torch (named after Hymen, the Greek god of marriage). |
| Bibliographic reference | Tilles, Rebecca; 'La corbeille de mariage de la dauphine en 1770 : le premier serre-bijoux de Marie-Antoinette', Bulletin du Centre de recherche du château de Versailles, December 2015 |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | M.51&A-1962 |
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| Record created | February 10, 2003 |
| Record URL |
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