Lot 243 , Antoni Forrer (1802/3-1889), 'Artiste en Cheveux', 136 Regent Street, London. A pair of gold mounted hairwork drop earrings and a butterfly brooch

Antoni Forrer (1802/3-1889), 'Artiste en Cheveux', 136 Regent Street, London. A pair of gold mounted hairwork drop earrings and a butterfly brooch, the earrings with chased mounts and of graduated ovular form, drop 10cm, the butterfly, 5.25cm. in original card box with printed label 'All Kinds of Ornaments in HAIR viz Necklaces, Crosses, Earrings Etc'
£400-600
A rare survival from the workshop of renowned craftsman Antoni Forrer, one of the most skilled exponents of braided hairwork working in the 19th century. Forrer was a Swiss jeweller from Winterthur who settled in London, establishing a studio which employed a staff of 50 and included Queen Victoria amongst its clientele. The pieces he fashioned out of lacquered woven hair were unbelievably intricate, his trade label stating that he produced 'All kinds of ornament in hair ... crosses, earrings, brooches, chains, watch-guards, &c.'. Forrer died in 1889 aged 86.
See a similar brooch in the Victorian & Albert Museum; https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O130484/brooch-a-forrer/

Condition:
One earring with a hole at the back of the bottom oval, the other with small hole to the top oval and gold mount missing from the base. Box 10cm. Brooch with small area of damage to the top left wing and small holes to both left wings.

Sold for £240