Jewellery, Watches and Objects of Vertu

A French silver and silver gilt Revivalist chatelaine clip by Jules Wièse, second half of 19th century, centred with a red enamelled armorial, within chased scrollwork, reverse stamped ‘WIESE PARIS’ with lozenge maker’s mark incorporating initials ‘JW’, and further lozenge mark to the hinged clip, with graduating Mannerist inspired links below, (unmarked), together with a late 19th century French silver Renaissance Revival brooch by Wièse, with central mask amidst Mannerist scrolls, reverse stamped ‘WIESE’ chatelaine length overall 11cm, brooch length 3.5cm. (2) £300-£400

Jules Wièse (1818-1890) was born in Berlin and at the age of 16 became the apprentice of the German court goldsmith Johann Georg Houssauer. In 1839 he moved to Paris where he initially worked for Jean-Valentin Morel, a skillful goldsmith, before starting his collaboration with the famous master jeweller Froment-Meurice, becoming his workshop manager in 1844. A year later he set up his own independent atelier, working exclusively for Froment-Meurice until the master’s death in 1855. Wièse’s first exhibition in his own name was at the Paris World Exposition in 1855 where he was awarded a ‘First Class’ medal in goldsmithing and jewellery. Louis created sculptural figural jewels combining Gothic and French Renaissance revival styles, working in oxidised silver and gold. He exhibited at the London World Exhibition in 1862, receiving a gold medal for his work in the Renaissance style. That year The Art Journal catalogue devoted a whole page to Wièse as 'a worthy disciple of a great master’. In the Paris Exhibition of 1867, Wièse’s stand included classical motifs alongside his popular Renaissance-style angels and cherubs.

Jules’s son Louis (1852-1923) took over the workshop after his father’s retirement in 1880. He was, according to Vever,”an exceptionally modest and truly talented artist”.

Jules Wièse’s maker’s mark was a lozenge with the initials JW. After 1890, Louis registered the maker’s mark ‘WIESE’ with a star above and below, within a horizontal lozenge. Jules often used his own maker’s mark, but later both were known to use ‘WIESE’.

Literature:

Charlotte Gere & Judy Rudoe: Jewellery in the Age of Queen Victoria, pub. The British Museum Press, 2010.

Henri Vever: French Jewellery of the Nineteenth Century, pub. Thames & Hudson.