Céleste, 1929

The whole point of this Victorian spray brooch is restraint — coral, holding a steady oxblood even in shade, and nothing more than hand-chased repoussé. The work is so even you would swear a machine did it, though none then could. The last owner was a house on the Danube; with a note in the box naming the woman who first wore it. Pieces like this do not come apart; they were built to be handed on.