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Lot 12
Antique Apsley Pellat demi-parure sulphide necklace and earrings (ca. 1850), the portrait profiles on lilac ground, enclosed in gold and enamel mountings. A demi-parure is a matching set of jewelry, usually containing a necklace, earrings, and a pin. While the portraits have not been identified, they are clearly images of a family, or related persons, dressed in a Roman manner. Having written about his own "invention" of the sulphide process in Curiousities of Glass Making (London, 1849), Pellat's self-promotional techniques were well-known. His purpose in making a difficult demi-parure ensemble, (no other complete examples have surfaced) may have been as an elaborate advertisement of his skills, intended for his spouse to wear at social occasions, to garner interest in his glass and more commissions. The necklace chain and some earring filigree has detached. -See Sulphides, fig. 1; also, The Jokelson Collection of Antique Cameo Incrustation, p. 96.
Dimensions: chain length 17 7/8", earrings 2 15/16". $10,000-15,000
-Provenance: The Corning Museum of Glass, 1988 exhibit.
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