Jewellery, Watches and Objects of Vertu

A 9ct gold spider web pendant by Murrle Bennett & Co., circa 1910, realistically modelled, the turquoise and seed pearl set spider descending from an asymmetrically set triangular-shaped web pendant with seed pearl centre, to a belcher-link chain, the spider stamped ‘9CT’ MBc’, length 43cm. £400-£600

Murrle, Bennett & Co. was an Anglo-German partnership between Ernest Murrle and Mr Bennett. They were wholesale jewellers whose jewellery and silver products were mostly made in Pforzheim in Germany (the largest centre for jewellery production in Europe). Marks indicate that at least some of their designs were made by Theodor Fahrner. They sold their jewellery on the English market, through various outlets including Liberty’s, the Goldsmiths and Silversmiths Co. Ltd. and D. G. Connell & Co. The partnership ended at the outbreak of WWI.

Murrle, Bennett & Co. produced pieces in silver and gold in the English Arts and Crafts and Jugendstil (German Art Nouveau) styles, often featuring turquoise, enamel and small baroque pearls.