Jewellery, Watches, Antiquities and Objects of Vertu

A Victorian oval portrait miniature brooch, by John Brogden, the oval glazed panel painted to depict the head and shoulders of a gentleman, dressed in white collars, black coat and cravat, the gold mount with beaded border between corded wires, with hinged pendant loop to the reverse, the brooch fitting clasp bearing maker’s mark ‘JB’ in oval punch, contained in original shaped fitted case, the interior silk signed ‘John Brogden, Goldsmith, Manufactory, 16 Henrietta Street, Covent Garden, London’, brooch dimensions 36 x 31mm. £300-£500

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The Private Collection of a Gentleman.

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John Brogden (1820-1884), was an English goldsmith, best known for his ancient, Egyptian and Renaissance revival designs. Working in partnership with Garland between 1826-1835, from 1842-64 his company was listed as Watherston & Brogden, and from 1864-1880, he set up independently working out of Henrietta Street in Covent Garden. He was an exhibitor at the London and Paris exhibitions of 1851, 1855, 1862, 1867 and 1878, winning a prize medal at the Great Exhibition of 1851, and another at the 1855 Paris Exhibition.

He entered a mark ‘JB’ at Goldsmiths’ Hall in 1848.


See: Bury, S., Jewellery in the International Era 1789-1910, Vol II, Antique Collectors Club, 1991, colour plate 143, p 564, for another locket pendant by John Brogdon, with a similar bead and wirework border.

Tait, H., The Art of the Jeweller: A catalogue of the Hull Grundy Gift to the British Museum, British Museum Press, 1984.