Australia’s queen of antique jewellery, Anne Schofield, has given most of her rare and historic collection of gemstone jewellery to the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney.
It could have been the jewellery sale of the year, a private collection that would have been the envy of auctioneers. We’re talking about the remarkable personal collection of renowned Sydney antique jewellery dealer Anne Schofield. But Schofield, who at 82 years of age still runs her celebrated shop in Woollahra, is not selling.
The simple pleasure of giving is behind Schofield’s exceptional donation. Schofield has had a long association with the Powerhouse and in 2014 lent 70 significant pieces of jewellery to the museums’ award-winning exhibitiona show so popular that it had to be extended into 2016. She has previously donated individual pieces to the Powerhouse, but this is her greatest gift yet, made with the recognition that Australia’s public museums are in want of the riches seen overseas.
That stunning necklace features 27 intaglios carved from a treasure chest of gemstones: lapis lazuli, bloodstone, chalcedony, cornelian, amethyst, branded agate, dark brown agate, and mid-brown agate. While the intaglios are from the 18th century, the necklace was made around 1870. Each of the stones is carved with a scene from Greek mythology, most of them involving Eros, the winged and naked god of love, who shoots arrows through the hearts of unsuspecting mortals.
This demi-parure, consisting of necklace and earrings in Egyptian revival style, was made of gold and lapis lazuli by Luigi Freschi in Rome in the 19th century.
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