A wonderful large sized Georgian gold cased steel intaglio fob engraved with a family crest.
The fob is crafted in heavy steel and cased in bright yellow high carat gold. Gold casing is a technique often seen in good quality antique fobs, an thick overlay of gold is bonded to the base metal, in this case steel. It is much thicker than modern gold plating and gives a long lasting durability and allows for heavy embossing and engraving.
The fob is beautifully modelled in a baroque style with embossed shell and foliate motifs and a decorative scroll and ball top, it also has an engraved seal with a motto on the base.
The crest engraved on the seal is quite interesting, it features a diagonal cross, known as the St Andrews cross or saltire, within a shield. There is a faint impression of lion rampant behind the cross, an ancient looking crown at the top of the seal with the motto " Corona Fides (faith to the crown) at the bottom. Possibly Scottish in origin.
A fabulous decorative piece, these fancy fobs were originally worn by gents on pocket watch chains and used for sealing letters and correspondence with wax. These days they make for perfect pendants too!
MATERIALS: steel, 18ct gold plating, tested
MEASUREMENTS: Fob height 1-1/2" (35mm) with the base measuring 5/8" x 3/4" (28x20mm)
DATE: Georgian, circa 1800.
WEIGHT: 18.3 grams
MARKS: None.
CONDITION: In good antique condition with expected signs of age and use, please refer to photos. The seal impression is fairly well defined. There is minimal loss to the gold overlay which is still intact and shiny bright. Any dark areas are camera shadow.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
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- Unless otherwise stated any antique boxes in our photos are for display only and are not included in purchase. However, do rest assured all items will arrive gift wrapped in a custom Mercy Madge jewellery presentation box.
- RETURNS, you can return your item for a refund for any reason. Just get in touch within 3 days of receiving your order if you wish to do so.
- Our photographs are taken with a magnified macro lens to show you every tiny detail, flaws are exaggerated and aren't as noticeable to the naked eye, similarly shadows caused by studio lighting can give rise to discoloured areas that don't exist.