Alessandro, the elder brother, was perhaps one of the most striking
personalities of his age. Born in 1824, he first assisted his father;
but his political opinions, which led him to take an active part in the
revolutionary movement in Rome in 1848, and implicated him in the
conspiracy of 1852, resulted in his imprisonment in the Castle of St.
Angelo; but successfully feigning madness, he was liberated and sent out
of the Pontifical States. He then proceeded to travel about exploiting
the productions of the Casa Castellani. Gradually he devoted himself to
archæological pursuits. His knowledge of these matters was profound, and
he became the finest expert of his day. He was continually collecting,
and dealt largely, his chief customers being the museums of Europe and
America. The finest of the antique jewellery in the British Museum was
purchased from him in 1872-1873. A few years before, in 1867, his
unrivalled series of peasant ornaments, gathered together from all parts
of Italy, was acquired by the Victoria and Albert Museum, which also
made large purchases at the sale that took place after his death in
1883.
The art of filigree and granulation practised by Castellani was carried
to still greater perfection by another Italian, Carlo Giuliano, who was
largely indebted to the discoveries of his compatriot. Examples of his
work, with that of Castellani, are in the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Since his death, his business house in London has been continued by his
sons.
Another Italian who has surpassed both Castellani and Giuliano in the
reproduction of the antique is Melillo of Naples. His jewellery, though
"copied closely from ancient models, has a certain modern _cachet_" and
is in fact "a translation of the most refined ancient art into modern
language."
An eminent English jeweller, whose name is worthy of record, was Robert
Phillips of London, who died in 1881. He also came under the influence
of Castellani. At the same time he was responsible for the production of
some of the most original work executed in England during the Victorian
era.
A forerunner in France of the modern movement in artistic jewellery,
and one entitled to a high place in the history of the art, was the
goldsmith Lucien Falize (b. 1838), who was a partner with M. Bapst,
crown jeweller of the Second Empire. He succeeded Bapst as official
goldsmith to the French Government, and died in 1897. Another great
French jeweller was Eugène Fontenay, author of the important history of
jewellery, who died in 1885.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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