Large French regional clasp in 18-karat rose gold (750). This large Normandy clasp is made of hollow gold. It is richly decorated with colorful enamels. On one side, three partially enameled flowers blossom in the center of the clasp within a cartouche. The cartouche is surrounded by a frieze of dots and semicircles. On the other side, a flower basket composed of pansies, wheat, a rose, and a tulip is featured within a blue enameled cartouche. The presence of pansies is typical of the iconography of sentiment jewelry from the early 19th century, signifying “think of me.”
This Normandy regional clasp is a French sentiment jewel from the early 19th century.
Clasp Dimensions: 35 mm x 19 mm.
Condition: Scratches from use, missing enamels, slight indentations.
Weight: 3.30 gr
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More informations : The sentiment jewel, as described by Valérie Goupil, a doctor, expert, and historian of jewelry, is a piece inspired by love in its broadest sense: romantic, fraternal, filial, or friendly. It is offered or exchanged, serving as a tangible token of the unbreakable bond between the wearer and the giver. Worn close to the body, sometimes directly on the skin, it acts as a mediator to maintain physical contact with the beloved person, even when they are apart. These very intimate jewels, often not “readable” to external observers, display a delicate ingenuity and use a highly personal language to keep the absent person’s presence alive. Various modes of representation are employed, including portraits, symbols, emblems, allegories, inscriptions, and fragments of the body to keep the loved one near.
