Brooch

Edward Burr

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

By the mid-nineteenth century, Americans were experiencing an era of innovation in science and industry. Among the latter was the jewelry industry, which, like fashions in dress, looked to Europe for inspiration. A nostalgic romanticism infused contemporary styles in both England and America. Such mid-eighteenth-century motifs as flowers and scrolls began to reappear. This lovely half-set of brooch and earrings emulates French and English designs in the use of dark blue enamel set with diamonds and pearls. Enameling was still a little-practiced art in America, requiring the skills of a specialized craftsman. The process involved heating vitreous (glassy) enamels to bond them onto a metal surface, in this case gold. This jewelry is still housed in its original box, the lid of which is imprinted with the name and address of the jeweler: E. W. BURR / 573 B.WAY / NEW-YORK. City directories indicate that Edward Burr moved to 573 Broadway by 1858, helping us to establish a date for the set.

The American Wing

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The American Wing's ever-evolving collection comprises some 20,000 works of art by African American, Euro American, Latin American, and Native American men and women. Ranging from the colonial to early-modern periods, the holdings include painting, sculpture, works on paper, and decorative arts—including furniture, textiles, ceramics, glass, silver, metalwork, jewelry, basketry, quill and bead embroidery—as well as historical interiors and architectural fragments.

Metropolitan Museum of Art