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Gem-set brooch with pendant drop

Jones, Ball & Poor (1846–1853)
American (Boston)
about 1850

Medium/Technique Gold, diamond and pink topaz
Dimensions Height x width x depth: 5.2 x 2.8 x 0.7 cm (2 1/16 x 1 1/8 x 1/4 in.)
Credit Line Textile Curator's Fund and Helen and Alice Colburn Fund
Accession Number2011.30
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsJewelry, Americas
ClassificationsJewelry / AdornmentBrooches

DescriptionThis is an 18kt gold brooch set with an oval-shaped, faceted pink topaz with old mine-cut diamonds accents within a scrolling, foliate mount. Suspended from the brooch is a tear-drop shaped pendant set with a pink topaz and diamonds. The topaz is Imperial Russian topaz. The ornament has its original leather fitter box with an applied sticker on the underside that reads "Jones, Ball, & Poor / Sign of the / Golden Eagle / Jewelers / & Silversmiths / 226 Washington St. / & / 1 Summer St. / BOSTON. The brooch was once owned by Rosamond Warren Gibson (1846-1934), a prominent Bostonian whose Back Bay home (136 Beacon St.) is currently a museum (Gibson House Museum).
Marks Unmarked
ProvenanceRosamond Warren Gibson (b. 1846-d. 1934), Boston; by descent to private estate, Maine; by 2010, anonymous sale to Skinner Auctions, Boston, MA; December 7, 2010, purchased by the MFA from Skinner Auctions, lot 264 (Accession date: January 26, 2011)