Description
A huge, vibrant and particularly rare c1905 Liberty & Co double-sided enamel Art Nouveau locket of statement proportions. It is firmly attributed to the “Glasgow Girl” Jessie Marion King. I actually have another King piece for Liberty with the same mix of colours ie, the lime green and orange-it is a very similar creative style in the flower design too, as you can see. Another locket of this type was sold in the past at the marvellous Tadema Gallery in London. It had mother-of-pearl in the centre, instead of glass and also did not seem to have the gold rims on either side of the glass that this pendant has. It is a scarcity of a thing with lustrous green and blue enamelling covering most of the pendant-on both sides!!
I love the typical Liberty & Co triangular bale, which attaches to the top, separate enamelled flower in orange, green and white. Suspended below this is the large circular locket / portrait pendant. The peacock colours in the enamelling on both sides runs all the way around with the green/orange flower motifs at the top and some smaller motifs further down on each side. The gold rims, which retain the original glass are another sign of the high quality of this piece, which was most likely made at Haseler’s workshop in Birmingham.
As with the Tadema Gallery example, there is minor wear to the enamel, in fact, to me, however, it looks like part of the manufacturing process, as it is quite a complex piece. The wear is limited to some tiny parts of the petals but, as said, I wouldn’t be surprised if it looked like this on creation. No obvious chips or major damage at all. I believe it would have been made to hold a portrait of a loved one, so as it is empty, it needs something in there if it is to be worn otherwise the glass rattles in the rims a little. I should imagine though that this will be a collector’s piece and put on display. What a beauty it is!
Ref: Liberty Jewellery Sketchbook p140 for similar designs. She measures approx 6.6cm in height by approx 4.2cm wide. definitely a larger Liberty pendant. Please note the listing is for the locket only and not the chain, which I have used for demonstration purposes only.
I shall send by complimentary Special Delivery within the UK or else by International courier, in a new gift box, as the boxes in the images are for display only. Thank you.
Ref:cua
