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'Duke of Burgundy' butterfly brooch
British
about 1880
Medium/Technique
Gold and painted enamel
Dimensions
Height x length: 1.9 × 3.2 cm (3/4 × 1 1/4 in.)
Credit Line
Museum purchase with funds donated by Susan B. Kaplan
Accession Number2016.793
NOT ON VIEW
ClassificationsJewelry / Adornment – Brooches
DescriptionSmall yellow, orange, brown, and blue brooch meticulously detailing the Duke of Burgundy butterfly. Reverse is also enameled. Nearly as weightless as the butterflies themselves, the enamel was done on an extraordinarily slim gold surface. These jewels demonstrate Giuliano’s meticulous observation of nature and the mastery of the enameller. Extraordinarily rare, there are less than ten known butterflies in Giuliano’s oeuvre and each is unique.
Marks
C.G.
ProvenanceBy about 1990s, private collection, United States; sold by this private collection to Wartski, Ltd., London; 2016, sold by Wartski, Ltd., to the MFA. (Accession Date: December 14, 2016)