Super Early 19th Century Black Dot Paste Brooch Inscribed P.D. 13 - 4 - 40
A lovely Early 19th Century Clear black dot paste brooch in the form of a flower with 8 petals. The black dot paste stones are skillfully mounted in a foil-backed silver mount with a curved back. As with many brooches from this period, the back is almost as nice as the front, having a lovely curved form, and the pin curves to exactly match the brooch back curvature. The back is inscribed P.D. 13-4-40 which dates the piece to 1840, but the brooch could easily be a little older than the inscription. The pastes are mounted so there is almost no space between them, giving the entire surface of the piece an extremely sparkly look. There is some wear to the top of the pastes, but nothing too bad. The foil backing has degraded in a few areas (see pics), but this super brooch still has plenty of sparkle. Pin, hinges and closure in good working order, and look to be original. All stones secure, none are loose.
The paste is fully backed in, and deeply set into the silver, and this gives the stones a silvery mirrored look when seen at an oblique angle, very much resembling Georgian diamonds. When looked at directly front-on, especially in daylight, one can clearly see the black dot at the base of each stone. This was done to replicate the diamonds of the day, which had a wide slice taken off the pointed base of the diamond, and area known as the culet, or tail. This cutting technique created the illusion of a hole, or black dot at the centre of the diamond when viewed from above. As much of the Georgian paste jewellery was made to replicate the real thing, jewellers began to imitate this effect by painting a black dot to the base of each paste. This was usually reserved for the better quality pieces, as the process was hand-applied, and thus highly labour intensive. The last picture shows a real diamond with a culet cut, which is the effect they were imitating.
Diameter 30mm
Weight 9.3g
Price includes free signed-for postage
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