Another spring costume jewelry “find” this year is the following pretty Miriam Haskell set featuring floral porcelain elements. My daughter found and selected this lovely set for her collection.
The bracelet, pin and pendent all feature oval-shaped floral transfer decorations framed by hand-wired seed beads. The frames consist of an oval wire decorated with metal leaves.
Special care was taken with the earrings. The beaded outline consists of groups of three beads mirroring the three-leaf frame design of the other pieces in the set.
This set dates to the mid 1960s through the early 1970s.
The floral inserts are transfer images. The bracelet, pin, and earrings all have one image. The pendant has another.
The tiny dots visible under magnification indicate it is a transfer design on white porcelain.
Often transfer designs are enhanced by highlighting the design with hand-painted brush strokes.
Many brands included transfer images in their designs. The Carl-art pin below mimics the look of a hand-painted miniature with a lovely transfer image of a Victorian beauty. The white on her head piece and dress were hand-painted over the transfer image.
A fully hand-painted image is sharp but a transfer image is blurred. The close view of this lovely Carl-Art pin is an especially well-done, high-quality transfer, but it lacks the defined details, the sharpness of a hand-painted piece.
The Western Germany set below features a bright and colorful floral transfer image on plastic rather than porcelain. Note the yellowish background.
The following interesting and unique plastic bracelet, also from Western Germany, features four transfer images.
For examples of jewelry with genuine hand-painted designs the book by Dorothy Kamm Painted Porcelain Jewelry and Buttons is a wonderful reference.
It is always a joy to find a “set” of signed jewelry, especially a set by Miriam Haskell. This lovely set is a timeless design that was popular when new and remains a favorite today.
Happy collecting.
Love,
Julie