Louis Osman: The Jenkins Family Collection

An 18ct electrum gold sapphire and niello parure by Louis Osman, 1985, comprising an articulated collar necklace, bracelet, pair of pendant earrings and ring, each of hand drawn rectangular openwork links with linear niello detail, each link centred with a rectangular step-cut sapphire, the necklace, bracelet and earrings bearing partial London hallmarks for 1985 and sponsor’s mark ‘LAO’ for the London Assay Office, in wooden case, necklace length 40cm, ring size P. £15,000-£20,000


Please note ARR will apply to this lot (Artist’s Resale Rights).

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, Louis Osman: The Jenkins Family Collection.

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Collection

During the early 1980s, Maurice Jenkins resumed buying sapphires for his wife during his trips to Australia, continuing to purchase from the Perth jewellers Mazzucchelli’s.

For this suite Mr & Mrs Jenkins asked Louis to design delicate settings, where light would ‘shine through’ the sapphires. Louis satisfied this wish, enhancing the suite through the use of electrum and niello.

In a letter to Mrs Jenkins regarding the commission of this necklace Louis wrote:
“I promised to explain NIELLO to you. […] BLACK is not an accurate description, its a very subtle dark blue grey with a very individual metallic sheen. Examples are:
Ring of Queen Ethelswith of Mercia, sister of Alfred the Great, gold with Niello inlay : English mid 9th Century : British Museum.
Ring of King Ethelwulf of Wessex : gold with Niello inlay: English late 9th Century. British Museum.
English 13th Century Ring Brooch with closed designs : gold inlaid with Niello & decorated with precious stones : British Museum.” (1984).

Electrum is a naturally occurring alloy of gold and silver, with other trace metals. The name is mostly applied informally to compositions between 20–80% gold and 80–20% silver. Its colour ranges from pale to bright yellow, depending on the proportions of gold and silver. The necklace in this suite has been tested using an XRF Analyzer and comprises 78.8% gold, 20.7% silver and 0.41% copper - this composition accounts for the pale colour of the metal.

The suite is constructed of hand drawn wires - an invoice survives from H. Brittain Ltd for the supply of a draw plate for “three stage reduction grooved rectangular section wire” (2 May 1985). In a caveat to his quote to Mrs Jenkins for this suite, Louis says: “but there are 800 cut united & fitted joints to be made and half an hour extra on each can make a lot of difference.” (22 June 1984).



Exhibited:
Louis Osman Jewellery Exhibition, by The British Council of Arts, in Lisbon, 14 November - 11 December 1990. The reverse of the case bears a sticker for this exhibition. Paperwork related to this exhibition, including details of this piece can be viewed at the Tate Archive, London (ref: TGA 200317/4/12).

In Celebration of Gold and Silver: An exhibition of exquisite jewellery and magnificent silver made during the reign of Queen Elizabeth II, a Goldsmiths’ Company exhibition at Goldsmiths’ Hall, May - July 2002, exhibition catalogue no. 96, (part illustrated).



An original pen and watercolour design for this suite was sold as part of The Personal Archive of Louis Osman at Noonans on 27 March 2018 (lot 291).


This lot is accompanied by a catalogue for the exhibition: In Celebration of Gold and Silver, together with photocopies of related paperwork and press cuttings and an original leaflet relating to the Louis Osman Jewellery, Lisbon exhibition.



This lot is also accompanied by further related correspondence.