The Harvest Spray

Look closely and the bow brooch gives itself away as Art Nouveau: opals, worn thin at the back where a hand has turned it for a century, held by chased naturalistic goldwork. The detail is built up bead by bead, a technique half-lost by the time this was made. A dealer we trust brought it down from a Budapest family, kept in a bank drawer far longer than it was ever worn. You can tell it was worn, not kept — the highest thing we can say of a piece.