Silver Plique-à-jour Owl Brooch / Pendant with genuine Ruby Eyes, Crystal Opal Tummy and a Mother of Pearl Tail

Silver Plique-à-jour Owl Brooch / Pendant featuring genuine Ruby Eyes, Crystal Opal Tummy and a Mother of Pearl Tail. A lovely piece, which can be worn as a brooch or as a pendant and when held up to the light the blue and green vitreous enamel wings and tail take on a new depth of colour. It is stamped 925 on the reverse and measures 3.3cm high and 4cm at its widest point and weighs 8.6g. The French term Plique-à-jour translates to English as "letting in daylight".

Developed in the 6th Century AD Plique-a-jour is a vitreous enamelling technique where the enamel is applied in cells, similar to cloisonné, but with no backing in the final product, so light can shine through the transparent or translucent enamel. It is in effect a miniature version of stained-glass and is considered very challenging technically: high time consumption (up to 4 months per item), with a high failure rate. The modern West generally associates owls with wisdom and vigilance. This link goes back at least as far as Ancient Greece, where Athens, noted for art and scholarship, and Athena, Athens' patron goddess and the goddess of wisdom, had the owl as a symbol.