Antique gold and gold-plated brooch Venus, Mars and Vulcan by Thorvaldsen

Group of antique jewelry objects: brooch

Condition: very good condition
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Country of origin: unknown

Style: Empire - The Empire style, sometimes considered the second phase of Neoclassicism, is a design movement from the early 19th century in architecture, furniture, decorative arts, and visual arts, which developed in Europe and America until around 1830. This style originated and takes its name from the period when Napoleon I ruled France, known as the First French Empire, where it aimed to idealize Napoleon's leadership and the French state. This style corresponds to the Biedermeier style in German-speaking countries, the Federal style in the United States, and the Regency style in Great Britain. An earlier phase of the style was called the Adam style in Great Britain and "Louis Seize" or Louis XVI in France.
- See also: Empire or more info on styles

Stylistic features: Style borrowing stylistic features from Ancient Greece and the Roman Empire (hence its name: Empire). The Empire period represents the second part of the neoclassical style and shows a strong French influence. This style originated from Napoleon's desire to revive the luxurious majesty of Imperial Rome. Traditional classical motifs, already present under the reign of Louis XVI, were complemented by symbols of imperial grandeur: the monogramme of the emperor and his emblem, the bee; representations of military trophies; and, after the victorious Egyptian campaigns, Egyptian motifs. To briefly characterize this style, we could focus on two fundamental concepts: massiveness and symmetry.

Period: circa 1880
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Source of inspiration: Mythology (and more specifically a bas-relief by Bertel Thorvaldsen)

Theme: Venus, Mars, and Vulcan

Material: the plaque is in electrolytic silver and the setting and pin are mainly in 14-carat gold with some minor details in 9-carat gold (all tested on the touchstone)
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Technique: Electroplating - Electroplating is a process of electrically depositing a layer of any metal onto another material. This term also refers to the electrical oxidation of anions on a solid substrate, such as the formation of silver chloride on a silver wire for the manufacture of silver/chloride silver electrodes. Electroplating is mainly used to modify the surface properties of an object (resistance to abrasion and wear, protection against corrosion, lubricating power, aesthetics), but can also be used to increase the thickness of undersized parts or to form objects by electroforming. (Source: Wikipedia)

Additional information: Bertel Thorvaldsen (November 19, 1770 – March 24, 1844) was a Danish sculptor and medalist of international renown, who spent most of his life (1797-1838) in Italy. Born in Copenhagen to a modest Danish/Icelandic family, Thorvaldsen was admitted to the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts at the age of eleven. Working part-time with his father, a woodcarver, Thorvaldsen won many honors and medals there. He received a scholarship to travel to Rome and continue his studies.

In Rome, Thorvaldsen made a name for himself as a sculptor. With a large workshop in the city, he worked in a heroic neoclassical style. His patrons resided throughout Europe.

Upon his return to Denmark in 1838, Thorvaldsen was welcomed as a national hero. The Thorvaldsen Museum was built to house his works next to Christiansborg Palace. Thorvaldsen is buried in the courtyard of the museum. In his time, he was considered the successor of master sculptor Antonio Canova. His strict adherence to classical standards tended to alienate the modern public. Among his most famous public monuments are the statues of Nicolaus Copernicus and Józef Poniatowski in Warsaw; the statue of Maximilian I in Munich; and the funerary monument to Pope Pius VII, the only non-Catholic work preserved in St. Peter's Basilica. (Source: Wikipedia)

History of electroplating
Modern electrochemistry was invented by the Italian chemist Luigi Valentino Brugnatelli in 1805. Brugnatelli used his colleague Alessandro Volta's invention, the voltaic pile, five years earlier, to facilitate the first electrolytic deposition. Brugnatelli's inventions were banned by the French Academy of Sciences and were not used in general industry for the next thirty years. By 1839, British and Russian scientists had independently developed metal deposition processes similar to Brugnatelli's for the electrolytic copper plating of printing plates.

In Russia, Boris Jacobi not only rediscovered electroplating, but also developed electroplating and electroformed sculpture. Electroplating quickly became fashionable in Russia, thanks to personalities such as inventor Peter Bagration, scientist Heinrich Lenz, and science fiction author Vladimir Odoyevsky, all of whom contributed to the development of this technology. Among the most famous cases of the use of electroplating in mid-19th century Russia are the gigantic electroformed sculptures of St. Isaac's Cathedral in St. Petersburg and the gold-plated dome of the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, the tallest Orthodox church in the world.

Soon after, John Wright of Birmingham, England, discovered that potassium cyanide was a suitable electrolyte for the electroplating of gold and silver. Wright's associates, George Elkington and Henry Elkington, obtained the first patents for electroplating in 1840. They then founded the electroplating industry in Birmingham, from where it spread worldwide. The Woolrich electrical generator of 1844, now on display at the Thinktank in the Birmingham Science Museum, is the first electrical generator used in industry. It was used by Elkington.

The Norddeutsche Affinerie of Hamburg was the first modern electroplating factory, starting production in 1876. (From: Wikipedia)

Hallmarks: "14K" indicating 14-carat gold
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Dimensions: 5.25 cm (2.07 inches) x 4.12 cm (1.62 inches) - See the image with a ruler in cm and inches

Weight: 20.20 grams (12.99 dwt)

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