Victorian Forget-Me-Not Nicolo Intaglio Ring
Victorian Forget-Me-Not Nicolo Intaglio Ring
$1,650.00
Description
DATE: Victorian, c.1890
Super charming late victorian signet ring featuring a nicolo intaglio of a forget-me-not flower, cut cleverly so that the flower appears black against a white background. Dating from the late 19th century, circa 1890, the symbolism (as per Kate Greenaway's Language of Flowers) is "True love. Forget me not". The oval stone is set in a simple collet mount, with mark for 18 karat gold to the inside of the band as well as a makers mark of S Blanckensee & Son Ltd.
Polish-born Abraham Solomon Blanckensee founded his first jewellery manufacturing business in Bristol, England, in 1826 which later relocated to Birmingham before opening a showroom in Hatton Gardens, London. By the time of his death in 1864, he was held in high esteem and had crafted a successful business - acquiring a number of smaller companies along the way - to pass down to his children, Abraham and Aaron. Their success brought the family a certain (presumably unwanted) fame and notoriety, resulting in a number of grim robberies that made it into the press:
"On Monday a case containing jewellery valued at £1,000 was abstracted from the trap of a Mr. Blankensee, principal of a Birmingham firm of manufacturing jewellers, which was standing outside a shop in Tottenham Court-road, London. The coachman stood at the horse's head, and a policeman was standing within a few yards of the end of the vehicle at the time." - The Pembrokeshire Herald and General Advertiser, 27th January 1882.
"A daring robbery from a London railway station of £6,000 worth of jewels is reported. It was made at King's Cross Station of the Great Northern Railway. The victim is Mr. Blanckensee, of Messrs. S. Blanckensee and Son, Ltd., wholesale manufacturing jewellers, of Frederick-street, Great Hampton-street, Birmingham, manufacturing jewellers, with a London office at Ely-place, Holborn. Mr. Harry Blanckensee is well known on the road as a traveller in high-class goods. He arrived from Hull about 8 o'clock on Friday night and handed in at a temporary cloakroom close by the entrance to the Tube Railway at King's Cross Station a brass-bound leather case containing his samples, valued at £6,000." - Llais Llafur
Polish-born Abraham Solomon Blanckensee founded his first jewellery manufacturing business in Bristol, England, in 1826 which later relocated to Birmingham before opening a showroom in Hatton Gardens, London. By the time of his death in 1864, he was held in high esteem and had crafted a successful business - acquiring a number of smaller companies along the way - to pass down to his children, Abraham and Aaron. Their success brought the family a certain (presumably unwanted) fame and notoriety, resulting in a number of grim robberies that made it into the press:
"On Monday a case containing jewellery valued at £1,000 was abstracted from the trap of a Mr. Blankensee, principal of a Birmingham firm of manufacturing jewellers, which was standing outside a shop in Tottenham Court-road, London. The coachman stood at the horse's head, and a policeman was standing within a few yards of the end of the vehicle at the time." - The Pembrokeshire Herald and General Advertiser, 27th January 1882.
"A daring robbery from a London railway station of £6,000 worth of jewels is reported. It was made at King's Cross Station of the Great Northern Railway. The victim is Mr. Blanckensee, of Messrs. S. Blanckensee and Son, Ltd., wholesale manufacturing jewellers, of Frederick-street, Great Hampton-street, Birmingham, manufacturing jewellers, with a London office at Ely-place, Holborn. Mr. Harry Blanckensee is well known on the road as a traveller in high-class goods. He arrived from Hull about 8 o'clock on Friday night and handed in at a temporary cloakroom close by the entrance to the Tube Railway at King's Cross Station a brass-bound leather case containing his samples, valued at £6,000." - Llais Llafur
Nicolo refers to an intaglio in sardonyx, agate, or glass, whereby a thin lighter layer at the surface is carved away to reveal the darker background.
STONES
Sardonyx intaglio
MEASUREMENTS
Size: 9
Head: 10.8 x 7.7mm
Rise off finger: 4.9mm
Width of band: 2.5mm
WEIGHT
4.1g
MARKS
Stamped 18ct. Maker's mark SB&S Ltd for S Blanckensee & Son Ltd of Birmingham
CONDITION
Excellent, with light antique patina
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