FINE JEWELLERY

FINE JEWELLERY

17th & 18th November 2020

DEPARTMENT MARIELLE WHITING FGA +44 (0) 1722 424595 mw@woolleyandwallis.co.uk

JONATHAN EDWARDS FGAA (consultant) +44 (0) 1722 424594 je@woolleyandwallis.co.uk

CHARLOTTE GLYDE FGA +44 (0) 1722 424586 cg@woolleyandwallis.co.uk

Now accepting consignments for the 28th January 2021 sale.

Closing date for entries 20th November 2020.

OPPOSITE. Lot 337. A Gentleman’s steel Omega Seamaster 300 Edition watch Accompanied by two army diving logbooks (1974-1979) and (1979-2012), with two fabric MOD service-issued diving badges (supervisor grade) Provenance: owned and submitted for auction by Mr Burton who joined the Royal Engineers in May 1970 as a Sapper and left August 1995 as a Warrant Officer class 1 (WO1), Engineer Diver. Amongst his diving achievements were helping to raise the hull of King Henry VIII’s favourite ship, the Mary Rose in 1982, which sank in the Solent in 1545. Sergeant Major Burton also served in Belize, Hong Kong, Norway, Northern Ireland, Oman, Cyprus, Germany and Kenya where his extraordinary diving skills were deployed throughout Estimate £20,000 – 30,000

BELOW. Snakes Lots 419, 420, 421, 423, 426, 429, 430, 431, 433, 434, 435, 436, 437 Various items of snake jewellery George III – modern Estimates range from £400 – 7,000

SNAKING THROUGH HISTORY From Ancient Egypt to Rome, through the book of Genesis to modern day we see serpents revered and despised throughout history. The snake in the garden of Eden commonly symbolises the devil offering up temptation to man, but even earlier than that we see snake motifs representing royalty in Ancient Egypt, and everlasting love and wisdom in Ancient Rome. They were adorned as pendants, painted as murals and even worshipped as gods; Cleopatra was renowned for bedecking herself in snake jewellery.

In 1839 Queen Victoria received a coiled snake ring from Prince Albert; a symbol of everlasting love. This inspired a trend in England, and subsequently Europe, for snake-inspired jewellery in the form of coiled and gem-set rings, flexible and realistic necklaces and stylised bracelets, brooches, earrings etc.

The snake jewellery included in the November auction shows just a small selection of the diversity within the snake motif. My favourite example, lot 435 is almost an ouroboros where the snake eats its own tail, a symbol of the eternal cycle of life, death and rebirth. It typifies Victorian jewellery of the period (c.1860) with its lifelike appearance, the traditional garnet with muted gold and the decadent addition of a diamond headpiece, all beautifully finished. Many of the great collections, Liz Taylor and Wallis Simpson’ to name a couple, boasted snake jewellery within their catalogues and today’s collectors are just as enamoured as the Victorians were over 150 years ago.