Jubilerski bukiet kwiatowy z kolekcji wilanowskiej

The rare jewel which is kept in the Museum of King Jan III's Palace at Wilanów is a flower bouquet of asymmetrical, diagonal composition. It consists of flowers set with precious stones, tied with a large bow also set with precious stones. This largish jewel, measuring 19.8cm in height, was made of gilt silver. The flower petals and the bow are tightly filled with amethysts and rock crystals; a total of about 1,105 stones were used in its making. The hitherto findings point towards the circles of jewellers who made use of patterns by Augustine Duflos found in his pattern-book Recuevil de Desseins de Joallerie… (published in Paris, 1767); one of the charts in this book shows a composition of flowers almost identical to that in the Wilanów bouquet. The Wilanów jewel was probably made before the end of the 18th century. The precise cuts of small stones could point to the 19th century; yet such cuts were possible to make much earlier. For instance, masterful cuts can be observed in the eminent works by the Swiss jeweller Jerome Posier, working for the Russian tsars in the 1760s.