After many personal problems and issues, I finally opened up the information Yvonne sent to me and I do appreciate reading it... It's the most that I was able to acquire from any source since I acquired the pin. It is a lovely brooch and I treasure it because the last person in possession was my mother. I will look into this information to see what else I can find out about it so I can pass it down to one of my daughters... Thank you.
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Many Thanks by: nanlie
This is a very interesting commentary on my bird pin. It's more than I imagined being filled with food for thought. I thought the bird was sideways LOL... but while I took a couple of pictures, this one was the most detailed and the clearest. The markings on the belly of the pin are indistinguishable to me although I have a jewelers loop... It is more like signs then any numbers... They could be LLL's or I_I_I_'s with what looks like a triangle on the side. I tried to take a picture but it just wouldn't show up.
However, I appreciate what you wrote and also that you think this is as beautiful as I think it is. By the size being almost 3 inches from wing tip to wing tip and the width from the head being about 2 1/2 inches... and a jeweler stating it is 18 ct gold and the turquoise appearing to be Persian with the tiny ruby eye... I can only guess that it's value is in being a hand crafted vintage piece of jewelry and if I ever had to sell it, auction would determine it's value. Thank you so very much...
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Bird Marks and Bird Pins by: Yvonne
Good Morning!! Nanalie, Thank you so much for writing in an uploading an image of your beautiful 20th century bird pin! Thank you also for your patience. It's been a privilege gazing upon this dazzling bird, quite obviously given in the name of love, to your well travelled friend, in the early 1900s. Even if he is upside down; I am now quite giddy! (i say this smiling)
The extravagant, fanning & colorful plumage, represented in the gorgeous blue turquoise, plus the mechanical head that moves, suggests to me, an extravagant display in the name of love, performed by a bird expert in the art of seduction. The Birds of Paradise, come to mind. Birds of Paradise are native birds of Papua New Guinea. This doesn't however mean the brooch was made in New Guinea.
Birds were pretty popular down under at this time, evident in the fact that bird stamps were adopted as hallmarks, not only as subjects for jewelry design.
.75 most likely indicates the caratage is 18 carat gold. If it does happen to be Australian, (you will need to identify the makers mark) this is how a gold standard was stamped in the early 1900s down under. For silver, you might find a "symbol" of a wren with the stamp .925 within an oblong punch mark. The tail feather of the wren being almost upright makes it easy to identify.
In Australia by 1923, the Manufacturing Jewellers Association of New South Wales endorsed "the "Australian Hallmark" and adopted symbols and marks for gold and silver. The kookaburra and wren stamps were used to mark gold and silver respectively, however, not all jewellery that was manufactured in Australia, during the early hallmarking days, bears these stamps. A jeweler, was not obligated to use the stamp, but could still stamp their products, with any mark they should choose....
The numbers and letters you describe in the triangle/ diamond shape could be a registration mark, if so, you can even work out the month from a registration mark. You might like to try using a hand lens to see if you can work out the other marks...it's amazing what this tool can reveal.
Warm Wishes,
Yvonne
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Info from a jeweler by: nanlie
I did not get any information about this pin so I took it to a jeweler doing appraisals on seven pieces of my jewelry and he said that this pin looked like a custom piece made in an Asian Country and the value would best be determined at an auction. It is 18K Gold, has Persian Turquoise and a slanted ruby eye. If an appraisal could be done it would be basically only on the weight of the gold which would be considerably lower then this vintage, custom, quality and beautiful piece.
If anyone has any ideas regarding it's origin or can take a guess on the markings at the underside of the piece that I described to the best of my ability...please let me know. Thank you.
