Bring your auction to collectors worldwide!
Get listed nowBy subscribing, you are agreeing to the privacy policy. Unsubscribe anytime.
Barnebys HQ
Brahegatan 10
BOX 5038
114 37 Stockholm
All auctions / Jewellery & Gems / Sentimental Classicist Friendship Brooch With Pearls & Diamonds, Circa 1800
Towards the end of the 18th century and well into the 19th century, people cultivated a true cult of friendship and love. Wonderful friendship albums were created, called liber amicorum, with artistic ink drawings and verses. Silhouettes were exchanged to remember the silhouette of a loved one's face, and jewellery also became a bearer of heartfelt feelings. This brooch is a sentimental expression of this culture. Beneath a pane of curved glass, we see a touching scene in front of royal blue guilloché enamel. Two winged cupids hold an oval plaque with the French inscription "Amité" (friendship). A surrounding ribbon lends the depiction a cheerful elegance. The oval centerpiece is framed by a wreath of shimmering natural pearls. Two cushion-shaped old mine cut diamonds in closed silver settings set glittering accents at the two tips. This piece of jewellery was created in the 1800s and was obviously a gift of friendship, intended to preserve the sympathy between the giver and the recipient forever. And yet a mystery remains. Was love involved here that went beyond friendship, and was the brooch intended as a tender hint? On the type and time of origin of the brooch, see Gisela Zick: Gedenke mein. Freundschafts- und Memorialschmuck 1770-1870, Dortmund 1980, with numerous examples.
Estimate:£1,945.19
To the auctionView all items fromHofer AntikschmuckorJewellery & Gems
Estimate:
£1,945.19
Kette mit 3 Anhängern, besetzt mit Rubin, Smaragd und Saphir, 925er Silber.
10/06/2026
£199.22
Est: £288.49
OCT 17 | 10:00 PM
Bring your auction to collectors worldwide!
Get listed now
£1,696.49
KAIJA AARIKKA (FINLAND, 1929-2014). Armband, silver, Finland, 1900-talets
10/06/2026
£84.38
Est: £75.36
HÄNGE, 18K VITGULD & LITEN VIT STEN, TOTALT CIRKA 0,4 GRAM.
10/06/2026
£22.7
Est: £45.21
HALSKEDJA MED HÄNGE, 15K GULD, HALVPÄRLOR & TURKOSER, 1900-TALETS
10/06/2026
£264.89
Est: £301.44
