Topic: Iridescent Glass Brooches c.1905 Maker?

[on.off]

hello.  i am an antique jewelry enthusiast and a recently came upon a pair of brooches that are beautiful but mysterious to me.

each features a piece of handmade (not molded or pressed) iridescent glass.  the rectangular brooch has a twisted look with several small raised "nubs".  the glass is orangey with a matte iridescent finish and the setting is handmade brass.  the nautilus shaped brooch is similar in color but the iridescent finish is not matte.  it is decorated with a small rhinestone and set in a sterling silver mounting handmade to fit the piece of glass.

the glass is more iridescent than it shows in the picture, particularly the nautlius.

to me it looks like the glass could have been leftovers or unused bits from the factory/workshop that were made into brooches so as not to waste them.  i wondered if anybody might recognize the style of glasswork and be able to identify possible makers...

although i know nothign about the glass, i can tell from the style of construction on the brooches that these were made c.1900-1910.

any thoughts greatly appreciated. 

[Paul S.]

hi welcome to the GMB              We haven't gone to sleep - it's just that we rarely get questions regarding jewellery - hopefully we may have someone here who is able to help.

You mention that these are not mould formed or pressed and that each piece is hand made, and would assume from your comments that the decorative features of twisting and shaping are therefore hot-formed.
Forgive my complete ignorance, but if someone had asked me to date such pieces I would have said 1930's - based solely on the art deco look of chunky simplicity.            As you will know much better than me, there was much Bakelite jewellery from that period that had this rectangular look and with a similar oblique/slash/twist pattern.

You will know of carnival glass I'm sure - the surface decorated usually cheap decorative wares where the coating was created by salts introduced after the shape was formed and whilst the glass was very hot.           The nearest carnival colour that might be related to yours would be marigold, but as far as I know the base glass for that was clear, and the date of manufacture that you're quoting is a tad early possibly, although I suspect that marigold may have been one of the earliest of the carnival colours.
I've been through one or two books which include cheaper non-precious dress items, but no luck.

sorry this is of no help  -  fingers crossed someone will be able to provide some useful information.