Thursday, January 2, 2014

Girandole earrings in 18th Century Paintings

When I started testing out the designs for my reproduction girandole earrings, I was a little worried that they were too large.  Here's a crappy picture of me wearing the largest I offer, so you can get a sense of the scale:

These Girandoles are about 2 inches long and are available here

Then I started looking for images of girandole earrings in 18th Century paintings and HOLY SMOKES, those women were not afraid of wearing some incredibly large pieces of jewelry!

I call this collection "Do these earrings make my bling look big?"

(Note: almost all of these are detail shots of larger and lovely paintings!)

Portrait of Maria Francisca Pignatelli by Anton Mengs, before 1769

Self Portrait with Daughters by Antoine Pesne, 1754

Catherine the Great by Aleksey Antropov, 1760-1770

Charlotte of Mecklinberg by Thomas Frye, 1761

Infanta Maria Ludovica by Anton Mengs, Prior to 1779

Maria Luisa de Parma by Anton Mengs, 1765

Juliane Marie, Queen of Denmark by Unknown, 18th Century


Portrait of Princess Ekaterina by Ivan Arguvnov, 1754

Maria Luisa de Bourbon by Anton Mengs, Prior to 1779

Maria Amalia of Austria by Martin van Meytens, 1760s

Queen Charlotte at her Dressing Table by John Zoffany, 1764

So the lesson I leave you with, lovers of Georgian sparkles, is please do not fear the giant rhinestones.  Especially if you are an 18th-Century Aristocrat!


1 comment:

  1. These paintings are amazing....just beautiful,and inspiring, as are your new earrings. Very lovely!

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