Summary

Gold brooch with a pink conch shell cameo, attributed by the previous owner (for unknown reasons) to Lamborn & Wagner, Melbourne, circa 1880.

Monochrome cameo depicting the bust of a young woman, looking to her left. The white shell shows pale pink on the back, but the entire front is worked white-on-white. The frame is an Australian setting, marked as 9ct gold. The carving is effective but casual compared with early-mid-19thC cameos. Some leaves on the frame are a little squashed by time and use, but in sound condition.

The brooch is typical of a late 19th C white-on-white style of cameo featuring a cheerful young woman. The cameo shows characteristic details of its period: the subject's snub nose (distinct from a straight Roman nose), the bead necklace and prominent 5-petal flower and rosebuds (they persist well into the 20thC).

The previous owner considered the cameo brooch typical of the work by Lamborn and Wagner, who would have produced many in this style. Other examples of their work expanded on this style and were more elaborate in their use of gold, as well as enthusiasm in the displays of leaves and tendrils. They also often incorporated an emu, kangaroo or bird.

The fact this piece is set in 9ct gold and not a higher grade gold, is an indication of a product crafted to keep costs to a minimum, to make it more accessible to a wider section of the community.

Lamborn & Wagner were an early manufacturer of jewellery in Melbourne, having been established by William Lamborn and Leopold Wagner in 1856. The company traded through until 1884.

Physical Description

Pink conch shell cameo, featuring a woman in a classical style, set in a 9ct gold surround of vine leaves and tendrils, with a flower at the top and at the bottom. The cameo is set in a narrow gold bezel, itself set in a deeper gold collet, edged with a narrow gold wire rope twist. Each side of the frame is decorated with 5 small, stamped, textured leaves of indeterminate species; they are interspersed with prominent tendrils which serve as the attachment point of each leaf to the frame behind. At the top and bottom of the setting is a 5-petal forget-me-not with a tiny gold ball in the centre. A pair of faux twigs shows at the bottom front to suggest the stems of a wreath. At this point on the back is a small tag stamped '9 CT'. At the back, the leafy frame is certainly in the Australian mode. The leaves are carried on a thick gold wire frame, stabilised by wire arms at top and bottom, and by the brooch pin. The pin has a conventional tube-hinge and C-clasp mounted on small panels, which also stabilise the leafy frame.

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