Signed Middle Eastern Antique Miniature Hand Painted Scene on Mother of Pearl: hotsell Vintage Silver, Slv Bells, Vaseline Beads, African Mock Coral

Signed Middle Eastern Antique Miniature Hand Painted Scene on Mother of Pearl: Vintage Silver, Silver Bells, Old Vaseline Beads, Vintage Naga beads, African Mock Coral.

This beautiful, skillful, antique fine art paintings is done with a very fine brush on mother of pearl. It is much prettier in person. I wasn't able to bring out the subtle colors and details and the way it changes in the light in the photos.

This miniature painting is set in a sterling silver setting. The back is silver and the sterling setting has beautiful detailing.

This painting depicts a scene of everyday life, with a women sitting outside, next to a rock. Her skirt is a deep blue and her jacket is red, both have a dotted pattern. A green scarf is gracefully draped over her head. I believe she is cradling a baby. Her face is serene and peaceful.

There is a tree next to her and each leaf is painted separately. On the other side of the women are more plants that are also skillful painted.

This painting is signed. Look closely above the women's head.

This pendant is approx. 60mm long (including the bale) and 47mm wide.

The artist used the traditional technique of building up layers of lacquered pigment. The underlay is of thinly applied gold. Then the artist goes to work with a brush made of a single hair for much of the scene.

 The hotsell under layer of gold pigment gives the painting a special glow that adds to the luminescence of the pearl base.

The mother of pearl became a desirable base for the masters of the 1800s; this piece fits into that later period of the Isfahan school of miniatures. 

I would like to invite you to use the magnifying feature to see the incredible detail in this painting.



I've honored this piece with vintage green ‘vaseline glass' beads. The green is similar to the green tones in the painting. These beautiful beads were made in the mid 19th century by Czech-Bohemian glass makers for the African trade. The name "Vaseline glass" refers to the greasy looking luster that these beads often exhibit.

The beads are approx. 15mm wide and their edges are worn and weathered, due to time and use, not defects.

Two small red coral beads and two vintage silver bells were placed next to the green Vaseline beads. They also bring the attributes of the pendant up into the necklace.

Also gracing are two long slender decorated Ethiopian silver beads, small disk Czech beads, Yoruba mock coral beads and vintage orange Naga glass tube beads from Nagaland, India.

The Yoruba mock coral beads are approx. 21mm long with a 5mm diameter. They have beautiful subtle warm pink and orange coloring, with lovely pitted texture. These handmade beads are glass, made to imitate coral.

Coral, especially red Mediterranean coral, was highly valued in West Africa. Since genuine coral was difficult to acquire, and expensive, many coral imitations were produced, including these beautiful glass beads. They were made in the 20th C, by Yoruba people in Nigeria.

The clasp is handmade silver.

Length of necklace is approx. 21.5 inches (includes clasp).

Note: For those who aren't familiar with the metric system, 25mm is about 1 inch.