Medal in gold, carved bone, platinum, and diamond, ca. 1940–1950

Devotional medal featuring an angel, ca. 1940–1950.
Made of 18-karat gold, carved bone, platinum, and a diamond.
Weight: 7 g.
Measurements: 35 x 27 mm.

Mid-20th-century devotional medal, centered on a half-length figure of an angel carved from bone, depicted in a prayerful pose with hands clasped over the chest. The carving is set within an openwork yellow gold setting, articulated by volutes and highly sculptural plant motifs, crowned by an antique brilliant-cut diamond and small rock-cut diamonds on the sides, set in platinum. The piece’s appeal lies particularly in the combination of goldsmithing and sculptural carving on a small scale: the central figure does not function as a mere applied element, but rather as the visual focal point of an ornamental structure specifically designed to frame it. The openwork reverse also allows one to appreciate the handcrafted construction of the setting and its adaptation to the central cut stone.