This is an impressive and highly decorative Regency Period ormolu, malachite and Blue John tazza, Circa 1820 in date.
It features an ormolu winged cherub holding a Blue John tazza on a stepped Malachite base.
Add some Regency charm to your home with this beautiful sculpture.
Condition:
In really excellent condition with no dings or dents, please see photos for confirmation.
Dimensions in cm:
Height 22 cm x Width 9 cm x Depth 9 cm
Dimensions in inches:
Height 9 inches x Width 3 inches x Depth 3 inches
Malachite is a bright green copper carbonate hydroxide mineral contain 57.48% Cu in the purest form. The commercial quantity of malachite occurs worldwide including Congo, Gabon, Zambia, Namibia, Mexico, Australia, and with the largest deposit/mine in the Urals region, Russia.
Blue John (also known as Derbyshire Spar) is a semi-precious mineral, a rare form of fluorite with bands of a purple-blue or yellowish colour. In the United Kingdom it is found on
...ly at Blue John Cavern and Treak Cliff Cavern at Castleton in Derbyshire. During the 19th century, it was mined for its ornamental value, and mining continues on a small scale.
The most common explanation for the name is that it derives from the French bleu-jaune, meaning ''blue-yellow''. The story goes that Blue John was exported to France where it was used by ormolu workers during the reign of Louis XVI (1774–91). However, there is no archival record of any Blue John being exported to France and the early ormolu ornaments which use Blue John were being manufactured by Matthew Boulton of Birmingham in the 1760s.
An alternative origin of the name derives from an old miners'' name for the zinc ore sphalerite, which they called ''Black Jack''. Thus, the unique blue stone mined in these caverns could easily have become known as ''Blue John''.
Another derivation comes from the Cornish miners who began working the Derbyshire lead mines in the 1740s. The name ''Blue John'' is used for several rocks in Cornwall, including fluorspars, and derives from the Cornish language word bleujenn, in Old Cornish blodon, a flower, bloom or blossom.
Ormolu - Gilt Bronze (from French ''or moulu'', signifying ground or pounded gold) is an 18th-century English term for applying finely ground, high-carat gold in a mercury amalgam to an object of bronze.The mercury is driven off in a kiln leaving behind a gold-coloured veneer known as ''gilt bronze''.
The manufacture of true ormolu employs a process known as mercury-gilding or fire-gilding, in which a solution of nitrate of mercury is applied to a piece of copper, brass, or bronze, followed by the application of an amalgam of gold and mercury. The item was then exposed to extreme heat until the mercury burned off and the gold remained, adhered to the metal object.
Our reference: A3893
Internal Reference: A3893
Antique ID Number (AIDN): SA1104194
Dateline of this antique is Regency
Height is 22cm (8.7inches)Width is 9cm (3.5inches)Depth is 9cm (3.5inches)
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