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It is made of gold and ivory and laqueur and diamonds and emeralds. It has black enamaling and it has a Chinese motif to it. It is bordered with a ring of Turquoise. And on top ... the bust of a lady, her head graciously turned while tilted in thought. She is bare shouldered. She is wearing emerald and diamond earrings. And the lady and the box upon which she rests is worth somewhere in the neighborhood of $38,000.
The year is 1875. The place: Paris, France. Four brothers unite with the idea of founding another branch of their jewelry manufacturing firm. Their names are Jules, Jacques, Ferdinand, and Leopold. The company: LaCloche Frères ... originally founded in Madrid. They specialize in vanity cases, boxes, cigarette cases. We are in the era of Art Deco. The LaCloche brothers peak in popularity. The Jabot brooch is their signature design and becomes their most representational products from the '20's through the '30's.
If brevity and conciseness represent the absolute height of effective commuication ... then I would venture to say this Tidbits is a prime example of this art ... born--may I say--out of necessity ... for I find myself once again pressed for time.
For those of you who are new to this thing called Tidbits...may I direct you to my home page at
And there ya have it. That's it for this week folks. Catch you all next week. Benjamin Mark