A Child & Child, Arts & Crafts movement, pair of enamel heart shape cufflinks, with mottled green and blue guilloche enamel, over an engine turned design, with a central heart, with a sunburst surround and radiating dashes. Mounted in silver-upon-gold, with chain links and maker's marks. Made in London, England, 1890-1901.
The mark features a sunflower with two Cs for brothers Walter Child (1840-1930) and the younger Harold Child (1848-1915). In 1878 they had inherited a fortune from their father, a London pawnbroker, and they used this to set up their own manufacturing firm. Their business was established at 1 Seville Street, Knightsbridge, in 1880. They registered their maker’s mark with Goldsmiths Hall as silver plate workers. By 1892 the firm had moved to 35 Alfred Place West (now Thurloe Street). It wasn’t until they moved to this address that they began to make the artistic jewellery for became known. They created gem-set jewellery in both traditional and revivalist styles but it is their Arts and Crafts enamel and silver pieces that are most renowned. Bright shades of green, turquoise and blue enamel are hallmarks of their work. Designs frequently featured wings, leaves, feathers, hearts and butterflies on brooches, pendants and buckles. Sometimes the enamel work was the only source of colour in a piece, other times it was combined with gemstones as in the beautiful brooch set with a large amethyst encircled by a vivid green enamel snake which is now part of the Victorian & Albert Museum collection. The firm attracted a wide circle of clients including Pre-Raphaelite artists such as William Holman Hunt and Sir Edward Burne-Jones for whom the firm often created jewels to his own personal designs. The celebrated architect Sir Edwin Lutyens was another well-known client who commissioned the firm to make pieces for him, such as the ebony, silver and pearl crucifix he designed as a gift for his wife-to-be whilst they were courting.
The partnership was dissolved in 1899. The firm continued under the same name, in the ownership of Harold Child, until his death in 1915. In 1913 the firm listed amongst its patrons, the late Queen Victoria, the late King Edward VII, King George V, the late Empress Frederick of...
Category
Early 1900s Antique Arts and Crafts Cufflinks