£850.00
An unusually attractive privately printed study of the history, romance and provenance of important jewels, richly illustrated with examples of historic European and Asian jewellery.
The volume examines jewels not simply as decorative objects, but as objects whose histories are entwined with aristocratic families, royal courts, collectors and the movement of precious objects between Europe and Asia.
Among the pieces described is a remarkable Renaissance pendant jewel in the form of a Triton or Merman, enamelled in gold and set with rubies and diamonds, its body formed from a large baroque pearl. The text records its reputed presentation by a Medici prince to one of the Mughal Emperors of India, its later acquisition in India by Earl Canning while Governor-General, and its descent through the Marquesses of Clanricarde.
The book is particularly striking visually, with finely reproduced colour plates showing elaborate jewelled pendants, pearls, enamels and precious stones.
Bound in an elaborate decorative binding incorporating a peacock design, gilt ornament and jewel-like green details, reflecting the subject matter of the book itself.
Of additional interest is the bold presentation inscription on the endpaper:
“For darling Suzanne and Antony with love from Vivien”, dated June 17th 1971.
A highly decorative and unusual volume combining jewellery history, craftsmanship, aristocratic provenance and private-press production.
1 in stock
Jewels have always carried stories far beyond their material value. They were diplomatic gifts, declarations of status, expressions of love, portable wealth and, at times, witnesses to the rise and fall of dynasties.
Francis Stopford’s The Romance of the Jewel approaches jewellery through precisely this historical lens.
One of the most fascinating objects illustrated in the volume encapsulates that idea perfectly: a Renaissance pendant believed to have travelled from a Medici prince, through the world of the Mughal emperors, into the possession of Earl Canning in India, and eventually through British aristocratic collections.
Such histories transform jewellery into documentary objects. Gold, enamel, rubies, diamonds and pearls become physical links between Renaissance Italy, Mughal India and the British Empire.
The book itself is also an object designed to be admired. Privately printed in London in 1930 and lavishly illustrated, its decorative peacock binding deliberately evokes the colour, luxury and craftsmanship of the jewels described within.
The later handwritten presentation inscription adds another layer to its history, recording the book’s continued life as a personal gift more than forty years after publication.
This is an appealing specialist book for several overlapping collecting fields:
