The neo-Gothic “cathedral-shaped” bracelet encloses a miniature portrait of Edwin de Fagan, Sophie de Fagan's younger brother, who died tragically in 1829, aged only thirty-two, after a fall from his barouche.
The bracelet was made in the workshop of Jean-Baptiste Fossin, who from 1819 held the prestigious position of “jeweller to the king” as indicated by the label stuck on the original case. The piece can be dated back to the end of the third decade, with its volutes, pinnacles, the two aediculae with knights in armour and the delicate enamel flowers, is a typical example of the neo-Gothic style, inspired by the rediscovery of the Middle Ages, which, after appearing in the early 19th century, experienced a significant revival from the 1850s onwards.
