Victorian Models and Miniatures

Dating to the early Victorian era circa 1850-60’s an incredibly rare and exquisite diamond winged Turquoise cherub brooch. The wings are set with sixteen rose cut diamonds and to th...

This vintage unmounted Carnelian shell cameo depicting the profile of the beautiful young lady with a little bird is very well carved in exquisite detail. This cameo dates back to around the 1930s-1940s. The carving on this cameo is excellent and well-detailed, with good relief. This was carved by Giovanni Noto, an excellent carver, sculptor, artist, and professor (1902 - 1985). This loose cameo...

A fine antique silver dog whistle. Made in sterling silver in the form of the bust of a hound mounted atop a functional whistle. The dog holds a bail i...

Deaigner Aurelio Teno. created this Surrealist Sterling Silver & Whole Sunken Shell ,as the back ,Squirrel Character with red coral Stone eyes Presented on a marble stone base. Creat...

A very fine antique portrait miniature in gold with a pendant fitting. It is a large piece with a rich 9 karat gold bezel frame with glazed covers either side, the front features the most beautiful hand painted portrait of a lady in a dress with a pearl necklace, her hair worn high. The reverse features a large lock of light brown hair, swirled and fixed with a small section of metallic thread on a silk backing. It could be worn as a large pendant. This stunning piece is truly a sight to behold, it comes in the original leather fitted triptych case, marked on the reverse for Dickinsons Regent Street (London). Dickinsons were a very renowned team, all brothers and at one time they dominated the photographic and print making industry of London. They were considered pioneers with the swift pace of technology they utilised and new techniques they adopted to produce the finest images and at a faster pace. They gained recognition for the work they created quickly and their customer base included dignitaries and Royals, Prince Albert himself commissioned a number of lithographs from the company. One of the brothers was Lowes Cato Dickinson, it is thought his primary work with the company was painting and portraits, Lowes was an artist who is widely recognised for his works and he taught with John Ruskin and Dante Rossetti...

Truly charming Early Victorian 14kt yellow gold watch key. The outside of the watch key is hand engraved on the front. It's also hand engraved with the initials "CCC" on the reverse. Upon opening the locket, you will discover the hand painted portrait of a woman. Watch keys were generally worn by men to wind their pocket watches when pocket watches were worn attached to their waist coat. This one is all the more special given the locket style- a rarity as opposed to the purely utilitarian watch keys usually in style at the time. Men were generally in public more often than women and while they owned portraits of their wives and family (the only way to get an image of your family prior to the advent of photography) those portraits were usually left at home. The fact that this one is concealed inside a locket meant that the original owner of this watch key wanted to keep his wife with him all the time- sort of like a little secret that he had. This watch key symbolizes love in it's all it's forms. The sitters dress and hairstyle date this watch key to the 1840's to 1850's. Daggerreotypes were developed in 1839 and by the 1850's, photography had almost completely replaced hand painted portrait miniatures. This miniature portrait seems to have been painted in a time before photography had completely eliminated the art form of hand painted miniatures altogether. By this, we can surmise a couple of things about man who commissioned this; One- he most likely was more wealthy than the average man. It was by far less expensive to have a photograph taken than it was to pay a painter to paint his wife's portrait. Two- this man most likely valued established traditions. He chose to continue a centuries old practice rather than switch to a modern technology no matter how much money...

The antique micromosaic frame (or micro mosaic frame) is a genuine CIRCA 1869 - Victorian era- antique fine jewelry piece. This 19th century frame ha...

The Arch of Constantine is a miniature version of the famous arch in honour of Constantine' triumph in Rome and a fine example of a quality grand t...

C1900 18K figural dog fob depicting a greyhound, or possibly a whippet, with adorable blue collar, perched atop a bed of lapis. He or she would look wonderful ...

This is a piece to be treasured. The young man pictured in the miniature obviously held a special place in somebody's heart. The guilloché pattern surrounding the centre of each pane...

Victorian 1890s French Bulldog stick pin enamel diamond and gold. The dimensional, full-front face design features diamond-set eyes and realistic ena...

Charming Victorian 18K gold Essex crystal stickpin of an English terrier. Essex crystal is a process where rock crystals are cut as a cabochon (...