A must have for every jewelry aviary
In 19th century Paris, Maison Robin was an indispensable jewellery house. Founded by Jean Paul Robin (1797 – 1869) and continued by his sons Paul and Edouard, they were known for their excellent craftsmanship and refined taste.
Maison Robin was the first in France to popularise the English style of matt gold jewellery. By means of an acid bath, the English were able to bring out the intense warm yellow of the gold in jewellery and called this ‘bloomed finish’. The technique was extremely popular in the last quarter of the 19th century. Robin was able to obtain the recipe for this acid bath, which meant that this fashionable finish could also be applied on the mainland.
The various Robin family members are all mentioned in Vever’s standard work on French 19th century jewellery. The owl-head brooch model is even mentioned twice with an illustration, on p. 813 and 1014 in the English reissue of 200. The owl-head is known in various finishes, with diamond eyes, moonstone, tiger’s eye, with diamond ‘eyebrows’ etc. The example we are offering for auction (lot number 20) has cat’s eye eyes in an entourage of fine rose-cut diamonds. The ‘eyebrows’ are also set with rose-cut diamonds.
