Enameled Crown? Large photo file.

Blackhawk · July 9, 2008 1:48PM

I got this one this week. The piece is made from a British crown (somewhere around 1820), and was once a pin/brooch if the removed mounts on the reverse are any indication. It's now in a modern screw-top bezel. When I first saw it in photos, I thought that the piece looked a little too perfect to be enameled and after purchasing it wondered if I did the right thing as my second guess was that the artwork was really a sticker, not unlike the colorized Silver American Eagles that seem to always be listed in magazine ads.

When I got the piece I took a quik look at it with the loupe, then put it under the microscope. The piece still has me baffled. The outer rim of the obverse has the standard type enameling between the letters of the garter, but the center device of George and the dragon seems to be cut into the base metal of the coin. The whole design appears to be skillfully cut out, then enameled/painted. The colored enamel appears to have a layer of clear glass/enamel over it that appears to be as old as the rest...there are quite a few old scratches crossing the glaze, but not cutting into the colored paint.

I attempted to get photos to show how the enamel is inset into the surface of the coin. The detail like the three demensional effect in the cape, appears to have been laid on in layers...the darker lines layed over the base coat of lighter color. The last photo shows the end of the helmet adornment, where some of the enamel/clearcoat has come out of the incuse design.

Did anyone ever see anything done like this, and if so is it indeed period enameling? Maybe a modern artist passed some ime by enameling on an old worn crown? It's a neat miniature piece of art, whatever it is.