Description
What an incredible treat! A c1900 hand-crafted piece of stunning Arts and Crafts work by Horace Minns for the Artificers’ Guild. It is such a rare thing to have it signed and indeed it is, with the “MINNS HOWIE” stamp, which appears on a few of the confirmed MINNS pieces of the era.
This is a large and impressive piece, show casing a wonderfully vibrant and lively opal, carefully set by hand and having a foliate decoration in silver and gold around the setting. The typically stylised leaves of the Artificers’ Guild are instantly recognisable, as are the gold rope twist edging around the setting and the gold flattened rivets. There are individual silver berries interspersed throughout the design and a large cluster of berries sits atop the pendant. The original, hand-crafted split bale, also with gold rivet decoration accompanies the pendant.
The opal is astounding. A large irregular pear-shaped opal of a milky white base colour and the most intense flashes of lime greens and purples I have ever seen, so I assume it is Australian in origin. It is easy to see why this opal was selected for the pendant and you can begin to understand why so much care has been taken in its embellishments. It makes such a fabulous statement. The pendant measures approx 6.2cm in height, including the bale, with the opal measuring approx 3.8cm in height. In very good condition for her age. There is a small crack in the very right bottom corner of the opal but it is secure and the valuer says it is within “normal” wear for its age. It is secure and is not noticeable when you wear the pendant- far too much of a large and vibrant opal so there is so much to see. It will come with the expert valuer’s appraisal certificate, stating the current value of £1500 of the piece.
A fabulous thing and a one-off piece of English Arts and Crafts heritage – a show stopper of an opal too! I shall send in a new gift box by Special Delivery within the UK or else by courier internationally. Thank you. Ref:ctx
