Among the many styles of brooches from the past still floating around the secondary market, the porcelain brooch is one of the best preserved. Because of the durability of porcelain when used as jewelry, there are many porcelain brooches available from the past. Often these are smooth ovals decorated by hand painting or decals with a plethora of subjects. There are horses, dogs, cats, birds, various flowers including all the colors of roses, gilt figures in quaint old costumes and the signs of the Zodiac, just to begin with.
Flowers are a common theme on porcelain vintage brooches. You may find the smooth oval porcelain cabochon with hand-painted flowers, or with the flowers carved into it like a cameo. Porcelain readily forms petals in the hands of a master worker, so there are brooches with flowers formed of petals added individually. If you have a favorite flower, you are bound to find it on a vintage porcelain brooch at least once, but probably many times.
If some extra sparkle was required, the brooch maker surrounded the porcelain plaque with rhinestones or pearls, giving the porcelain a beautiful frame. All of this would usually be placed by a jeweler on a gold brooch base, although there are porcelain brooches in silver as well.
In the past, small portraits were painted on porcelain disks for royalty and the very highest ranks of society, and there continue to be portrait-like paintings of women on this material. Originally these portraits were mounted in jewelry and worn or collected like gemstones, which would explain the continued tradition of generic portraits on porcelain brooches. They continue to be made today on the basis of those old royal portraits from a time before photography.
For an interesting collection, there are porcelain disks painted with the word “Mother” and additional small decorations, usually flowers and ribbons. How many different brooches of this kind do you think there are?
If you are not interested in brooches, these porcelain cabochons are also made into rings, earrings, necklaces and bracelets. You could collect the porcelains in these forms as well, or instead of brooches. And, if people, flowers and horses are not your style, there are designs based on geometric forms from the various styles that used this kind of decoration, including Art Deco and the Nineteen-sixties. Look for porcelain jewelry from these eras for a different style and motif set.
If you decide to look into this porcelain collectible, make sure you do a little research and begin by working with reputable antique dealers. Some of these brooches were made by names famous in the porcelain world, like Limoges and Rosenthal, but this kind of jewelry has been made for hundreds of years, so there is a lot of less illustrious makers’ pieces out there. And the brooches and other jewelry is still being made today, so you need to be sure you do not pay antique or vintage prices for a new brooch. As a matter of fact, you can acquire new porcelain jewelry in the manufacturer’s packaging, save it all and wait for the porcelains to become vintage or antiques. Buy famous names and this strategy may make yours a desirable collection in your children’s or grandchildren’s lifetimes.
More information about collecting other kinds of porcelain is available * here *.
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