A 15ct gold brooch modelled as a swallow in flight, the bird set with seed pearls throughout and carrying a dangling seed pearl in its beak, a detail of real charm and technical accomplishment. The eye is set with a ruby, adding a precise note of colour to the white of the pearls and the warm gold of the mount. The brooch pin is 9ct gold.
The swallow was one of the most charged symbols in Victorian and Edwardian jewellery, a bird of loyalty, hope and safe return. Sailors had swallows tattooed as talismans. On jewellery, the swallow was given to those departing and to those waiting, a promise of homecoming encoded in gold and pearl.
A very nicely detailed piece of genuine quality.
Era: Edwardian, c.1901-1909
Hallmarks: Unmarked, tests as 15ct gold and 9ct gold pin.
