Victorian Style Plique a Jour Dragonfly Brooch with Marcasite Accents 925 Sterling Silver Hallmarked
The Dragonfly's Body is Sterling Silver adorned with Plique du Jour detail and sparkling Marcasite’s. Hold this up to the light and enjoy the translucent beauty of the plique du joure.
A beautiful statement piece!
Victorian Era 1837-1901
Victorian Era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 1837 until 1901. There was a strong religious drive for higher moral standards. Ideologically, the Victorian era witnessed resistance to the rationalism that defined the Georgian period and an increasing turn towards romanticism and even mysticism with regard to religion, social values, and arts. Victorian design is widely viewed as having indulged in a grand excess of ornament. The Victorian era is known for its interpretation and eclectic revival of historic styles mixed with the introduction of Middle-east and Asian influences. It is also described by its amazing functionality.
Plique a Jour
Plique-à-jour (French for "letting in daylight") is a vitreous enameling technique where the enamel is applied in cells, similar to cloisonne, but with no backing in the final product, so light can shine through the transparent or translucent enamel. It is in effect a miniature version of stained-glass and is considered very challenging technically: high time consumption (up to 4 months per item), with a high failure rate. The technique is similar to that of cloisonne, but using a temporary backing that after firing is dissolved by acid or rubbed away. A different technique relies solely on surface tension, for smaller areas. In Japan the technique is known as shotai-jippo (shotai shippo), and is found from the 19th century on.
Marcasite
The mineral marcasite, sometimes called white iron pyrite, is iron sulfide (FeS2) with orthorhombic crystal structure.
In marcasite jewelry, pyrite used as a gemstone is termed "marcasite" – that is, marcasite jewelry is made from pyrite, not from the mineral marcasite. In the late medieval and early modern eras the word "marcasite" meant both pyrite and the mineral marcasite.