Old operculum brooch, garnet, and porcelain

Rare bouquet brooch in gilded metal, set in its center with a shell cover (or Saint Lucia's eye), in a decoration of floral motifs adorned with painted porcelain pearls, garnets, marcasite, and a turquoise .Work from the beginning of the 19th century. Gross weight: 5.99 gHeight: 3.80 cmWidth: 3.00 cmCondition: oxidation, missing parts, and micro scratches on the metal parts and stones, see photos. The operculum, which means “lid” in Latin, is a limestone structure created by numerous shells, and which serves as a small "trapdoor" to enclose them safely in their shells. Very popular in the 18th and 19th Centuries, jewelry decorated with opercula was worn to ward off the evil eye and protect the person wearing it. All our antique brooches.