Silver Mounted Granite Brooch , c. 1850
Middleton Rettie & Sons
Full Silver-Mounted-Granite-Brooch_849
Jeweller:Middleton Rettie & Sons
silver, granite
Silver and granite jewellery was made in a variety of forms – the Maltese cross, bar and oval brooches - with loops which enabled them to serve as pendant necklaces. Middleton Rettie and Sons specialised in this form, exhibiting “Gold and Silver mounted granite” at the 1851 Great Exhibition and also at the 1862 London Universal Exhibition. They employed the world famous Rubislaw Quarry granite, with its characteristic fine grey dappling, which was used to build most of Aberdeen’s celebrated grey granite buildings.
This silver mounted rounded bar brooch with gadrooned border mounting and inset with polished grey granite stone dates to around 1850.
It is marked M RETTIE/ & SONS/ ABERDEEN
Purchased in 1983 with the assistance of the National Fund for Acquisitions.
Overall: Length: 7.6 cm, Width: 1.8 cm
Acc. No. ABDAG001289
Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums