Description
I am absolutely blown away by these superlative Arts and Crafts beauties….what rare and important earrings. Bearing all of the usual Edward Spencer motifs and touches, these would most likely have been designed by Spencer for the Artificers’ Guild, c1905-1910. They are lovingly hand crafted in high carat buttery yellow gold and they are just so incredibly beautiful in their pink touches, foiled by whites and other gem colours in the arrangement of stones. I have never seen another pair even similar-so I am certain they are unique earrings.
So many typical Spencer touches, from the use of the gold forget-me-not motif at the very top of the design and the one below the synthetic pink sapphire, which is actually double-sided. If you flip over the earrings you cans see the flower on the verso too. Lovely! That domed and delicate synthetic pink sapphire at the top of the design is just gorgeous in colour and each is decorated with four gold balls, giving that typical Spencer touch once again.
The main section of each earring is a sublime gathering of stones, interspersed with a singular or else, cluster of gold balls at random intervals. You will see that each earring has its own design of cluster and stones. This is true hand crafted genius at play. There are pearls, topaz, moonstone and amethyst stones among others. All irregularly shaped and creating such a naturalistic palette. All stones are closed-backed in this section (the synthetic pink sapphires are gloriously open-backed) and some stones have been foiled. For their age, they are in pleasing condition-I cannot see any chips, just the merest ageing of some of the foiled backs. Nothing significant-they are a celebration of sublime design. I have seen a similar design with a similar grouping of stones, both in a pendant and in a brooch-both by the Artificers’ Guild c1910 and both attributed to the design of Edward Spencer.
The earrings measure approx 4.3cm in height. They have been fitted well (hurrah) with 9ct gold hooks so that they can be enjoyed on the ear with ease. Minimum of 18ct gold- I didn’t want to acid test for obvious reasons but you can see the quality of these earrings and immediately see the rich buttery yellow colour of the gold used in the crafting of these fabulous things. I will send in a gift box by complimentary Special Delivery post within the UK and by courier internationally. Boxes in the images are generally for display only. Thank you.
