HELPP! I give up... what is this?

M

MARYSE CLEARY

Registered Guest
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I can see the faint resemblance to the Boucher Phrygian Cap, too, but the design doesn't look like anything I have ever seen by Boucher. The numbers might be the stone setter's number - since they are very different on each piece - or they might be Boucher's inventory numbers. Could you show the necklace closure and the backs showing how the pieces are put together. Also can you write down the exact numbers on each piece. If they are Boucher, they might be from during WWII and be Parisina made in Mexico, during a brief period when he moved there.

I think the Boucher numbers are in one of the Brunialti books so I will look them up.

Thanks!
 
This is a better image of what the cap and the numbers on a Boucher piece look like. I copied it from CJCI.*

**The Phrygian Cap was registered in October, 1944 and used until the end of 1949 above the mark MB. It was used "rarely" after 1949 up to 1955 if BOUCHER would not fit on the piece.

Costume-Jewelry_Boucher2sig.jpg



**Boucher started using numbers in 1945. These are the dates that numbers were used by Boucher in the 1940s.

c.1945– 2300-2350

c.1946– 2351-2450

c.1947– 2451-2550

c.1948– 2551-2750

c.1949– 2751-3000

c.1950– 3001-3500

c.1951– 3501-4500


The style of the set looks '40s to me - latest early '50s. By that time Boucher was marking pieces BOUCHER unless it wouldn't fit - which could be the case but the numbers on your set are in the mid-5000's which would make it later. And, the set cannot be from the Parisina
period because the numbers are too high - plus he didn't use numbers then!
.
I don't think the pieces are Boucher - the style does not match anything else by Boucher that I have ever seen. Not that i have seen "everything' - but I have seen a lot, and i own a number of Boucher pieces. It's a nice set and looks like good quality.
I don't know who made it.

* Costume Jewelry Collectors International
** This information is from "Tribute to America" by Roberto Brunialti, and is also available online from various sources.
 
That's really great information! I have a couple pieces of Boucher but less older. Although... My mystery set is now still a mystery. :( I spent hours today browsing. Couldn't find anything.
 
True, there’s no way to know for sure unless another similar piece or set is identified. And the shape of the mark and impression will vary, especially from metal to metal.

But for fun, I thought I would compare your mark’s outline with a known piece, and the outline for the piece on the right, does seem uncannily similar. A great mystery for sure!

Maybe.jpg
 
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