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Lot 82
MASRIERA Y CARRERAS pendant; Barcelona, 40-50s.In white gold, pliquè-a-jour enamels, diamonds, emerald and ivory.Signed.Measurements: 7,5 x 3,5 cm (pendant).Pendant with oriental figure by the prestigious Catalan firm Masriera y Carreras with the same design, although with some changes in the materials, as the one published in "Els Masriera, Un segle de joieria i orfebreria", page 136, whose original Indian ink drawing (scale 1/1) appears, in turn, in the "Catàleg de models de Masriera Hermanos y Joaquín Carreras", vol. 3, n. 2998 and vol. 4, num 3672. Both pieces have also been published in "Els Masriera. Josep, Francesc i Lluis", Mnac, Editorial Proa, 1996, p. 131.Within the iconographic repertoire of Lluis Masriera's jewellery, the numerous representation of female figures stands out, in contrast to the almost non-existent presence of male figures. This pendant, which has an oriental figure as its subject, is one of the exceptions.The pendant's exceptional design features a frontal decorated with the image of a turbaned man whose face has been worked in ivory. The surface is decorated with pliqué-à-jour enamels, in the style of Masriera and Carreras, with the background in dark blue with vegetal and floral decoration in oranges and ochres, and with brilliant-cut diamonds around the whole of the piece. The upper part of the pendant features a knob-cut emerald, bordered with diamonds and contained in a masterly interplay of openwork. With a yellow-gold chain and a loop clasp.The plique-à-jour technique, French for "letting the light in", is a vitreous enamelling technique in which the enamel is applied in cells, similar to cloisonné, but without any backing material on the finished product, so that light can pass through the transparent or translucent material. It is an extremely expensive technique (up to 4 months to produce a piece), with a high failure rate.The silverware and jewellery firm was founded in Barcelona in 1839 by Josep Masriera Vidal. The process of making the pieces, from the design to the final polishing, was carried out in the family workshop, which gradually expanded as demand increased and, with it, production. By the end of the 19th century, the Masriera workshop was already the most important in the city of Barcelona, winning the Gold Medal and the Unique Prize awarded by the Associació d'Artífexs en Joieria i Plateria de Barcelona (Association of Jewellers and Silversmiths of Barcelona). In 1887 the firm was renamed Masriera y Hermanos, with Josep Masriera Manovens at the helm. At this time, production was extended to jewellery, partly thanks to the revival of various enamelling techniques, and Lluís Masriera Rosés, Josep's son, became the jeweller of Catalan modernism, achieving international renown. In the second decade of the 20th century, the firm left the Art Nouveau style behind in favour of more geometric lines, close to the new Art Deco. At the height of the Noucentisme, in 1915, two of the oldest families of silversmiths and jewellers in Catalonia, the Masriera and Carreras families, who had been in business since 1766, merged thanks to the association of Masriera and his brothers with Joaquim Carreras Nolla. The Masriera and Carreras firm was born, focused on the production of Lluís Masriera's designs and on the new and thriving European Art Deco style. Their participation in the International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts in Paris in 1925, and in the Universal Exhibition in Barcelona in 1929, brought the firm definitive international recognition. In 1985, Masriera y Carreras and Bagués, another of Barcelona's historic firms, joined forces. The Bagués-Masriera firm remains active to this day.
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