Lot 170. Ruby, diamond and enamel brooch, Philippe Wolfers, circa 1900. Estimate 32,000 — 53,000 CHF (30,189 - 50,000 EUR). Lot sold 47,500 CHF. Photo Sotheby's

Designed as a winged insect, the wings applied with plique-à-jour enamel, the head, body and wings accented with an oval, two cabochon and calibré-cut rubies, and variously shaped diamonds of near colourless and yellow tints, maker's mark for Wolfers, inscribed EX. UNIQUE, brooch fitting detachable. 

Please note that the diamonds of yellowish tints have not been tested for natural colour. 

Literature: Cf: Marguerite de Cerval (Ed.), Dictionnaire International du Bijou, Paris, 1998, pg. 555 for further information on the maison Wolfers.

Cf: Shirley Bury, Jewellery 1789-1910, The International Era: Volume II, 1862-1910, Woodbridge, 1991, pg. 765 for an orchid hair ornament by Philippe Wolfers, dated 1900, of similar design.

Note: Founded in 1812, in Belgium, the Wolfers atelier produced jewels for several European royal courts. Phillipe Wolfers, born in 1858, attended drawing and sculpture classes at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, while learning the family trade of jewellery-goldsmithing. His interest in Japanese design and the burgeoning Art Nouveau movement was cemented by his visits to the Exposition in Vienna in 1873 and in Paris in 1889. From 1893 to 1905 he produced a catalogue of one hundred and fifty-two Art Nouveau works including vases, fans, lamps, sculptures and jewels. Often compared to his contemporary, René Lalique, his motifs were inspired by flora and fauna.

Sotheby's. Magnificent Jewels and Noble Jewels, Genève, 12 mai 2015, 10:30 AM