The Castellani y Classical Revival Jewelry

Introduction

According to a booklet describing a recent exhibition of Italian archeological jewelry, the "Roman goldsmith Fortunato Pio Castellani (1794-1865) revived the Etruscan 'lost' art of granulation, resulting in one of the most significant contributions to the history of jewelry making. His sons, Allessandro (1823-1883) y Agosto (1829-1914), assumed the management of the family firm in the 1850s y marked the archeologically inspired jewelry con great success, garnering widespread acclaim through their participation in numerous international exhibitions. The Castellani were also active in the cultural y political life of their country, holding various public offices y participating in the vigorous 19th-century antiquities market" ("Winter 2005 Public Programs," Bard Graduate Center, p. 23).

This Italian archeological jewelry, whose popularity obviously received a great boost from the popular paintings of Alma-Tadema, Leighton, y other Classical Revivalists, was also popular con Pre-Raphaelite artists, too. William Holman Hunt, for example, bought his wife a Roman-inspired ring. According to Geoffrey C. Munn, Allessandro Castellani opened a branch of the firm at 13 Frith Street, London.

According to the Wartski website (which has an online gallery of this jewelry), "The firm was quickly to acquire an independent reputation under its manager Carlo Giuliano (1832-1895) and, after his death, control of the business passed to his son, Arthur Giuliano (1864-1914). At first jewellery was made for resale to prominent retail houses, but in 1874 Giuliano opened shop at 115 Piccadilly y won the patronage of Queen Victoria, y later, of King Edward VII y Queen Alexandra. Giuliano's work was also popular amongst the artistic community, y the firm was asked to make up jewellery to the designs of Sir Edward Burne-Jones y Charles Ricketts, the book illustrator. William Holman-Hunt also shopped there, y there is strong evidence to suggest that Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema used jewels by Giuliano in his work derived from Classical sources. The interest in these two firms lies both in their use of a fascinating range of materials y techniques y in their interpretation of antique sources to create jewellery in the spirit of nineteenth-century eclecticism." [Geoffrey C. Munn]

Exhibitions

Bard Graduate Center for Studies in the Decorative Arts, 18 West 86th Street, New York City, 18 de noviembre de 2004-6 febrero 2005

Bibliography

Flower, Margaret. Victorian Jewelry. New York: Duell, Sloan y Pearce, 1951.

Gere, Charlotte. Victorian Jewelry Design. Chicago: Henry Regenery: 1972.

Munn, Geoffrey C. Castellani y Giuliano: Revivalist Jewellers of the Nineteenth Century. London: Trefoil, 1984.

Soros, Susan Weber, y Stefanie Walker. The Castellani y Italian Archeological Jewelry. New Haven: Yale UP, 2004.

O'Day, Dierdre. Victorian Jewelry. London: Letts, 1982.

Modificado 29 de noviembre de 2004