A favorite motif of jewelers is the flower basket or flower vase. First popularized in the seventeenth century, this form has been going strong ever since. It’s fascinating to see how designers have interpreted this motif in fine gems as well as humble materials over the years.
Medieval Pilgrim Badge
The earliest flower basket brooch I found is more accurately called a “fruit” basket, because I think those are bunches of grapes nestled in the basket. The brooch dates from the middle ages, somewhere between 500 – 1500 AD.
Copyright British Museum
18th Century Diamond Brooch
The lovely brooch shown below is from the Cooper-Hewitt Museum in New York. It is made of silver and gold set with diamonds. It was likely made either in France or England and dates to 1750 to 1790.
Copyright: Cooper-Hewitt Museum
Fabulous Belle Epoque Gemstone Brooch
I think most of the prettiest flower basket brooches date from the Belle Epoque, the period from the late 1800s until the outbreak of World War I in 1914. The piece below was made in Paris in 1890. It is made of gold and platinum and is set with diamonds, rubies, emeralds and sapphires. What a beauty!
Copyright: Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Another 1890s “Giardinetti” Brooch
Jewelry made in the form of vases or baskets of flower was termed “giardinetti” from the Italian for “little garden.” The giardinetti brooch below was made at approximately the same time as the one above. It’s fun to think that a stylish lady might have looked at both of them in the same shop window. This one has a much more rustic look, though it was also made with gold and diamonds. The flowers are formed from rock crystal that has been carved and enameled from the reverse. The basket is also enameled.
Copyright: Victoria and Albert Museum, London
1940s Moonglow Flower Basket Brooch
One style of flower basket is ubiquitous on the vintage jewelry market. Two examples from my shop are shown below. Made of pot metal and often enameled, each is set with faux moonstone glass cabochons. Because the stones seem to glow from within, they are often called “moonglow.”
It isn’t surprising that these brooches are so plentiful on the secondary market when you realize that a similar one was featured in the Sears Roebuck catalog of 1940. (See upper right hand corner, below.) Thousands of women must have purchased them!
Gemboree Vintage 