Brooch. Britain. Essex crystal. Borzoi head, c.1870, quartz, gold, enamel
Margaret David wrote: “I saw this in real life. It is in a museum in Adelaide, South Australia after being purchased for thousands of pounds in the UK. Queen Victoria had similar brooches made in the same style. Not sure of the original owner of this piece but it seems to be about 3 of the aristocracy who could have owned it in the 1870s. Whoever created this art work must have had a real Borzoi model to work from. There is a lot of correct detail that could not come from imagination.”
Margaret continues: “For those who don’t know about these crystals, they are first carved as a reverse image from the back of the crystal in great detail. Next they are painted in reverse. That means that bits like whiskers, eyes and whispy hairs are painted first and the rest of the dog is slowly built up a layer at a time. This is opposite to normal painting where details are painted last. It needed a lot of talent from the carver and the painter (not necessarily the same person) to produce this work of art. The technique produces a 3 dimensional view from the front.”