This is a fabulous 1990s designer brooch by William and Christina Steensons - who are Northern Ireland's leading independent craft jewellers. They have a store on Bedford Street in Belfast and a workshop in the village of Glenarm.
The Steensons both studied the art of silversmithing, and jewellery while attending The University of Ulster. After graduating, they set up a workshop in 1976 at Glenarm in County Antrim. They sold their jewellery to various galleries and jewellery shops through the UK, Ireland and even as far afield as New York. In 1988, they opened their first store and subsequently moved to larger premises on Belford Street in 1995.
In recent years, the Steensons were awarded commissions to design jewellery for the TV Series: The Game of Thrones.
This is an early piece from their Overlapping Leaf Series. The design of this brooch is deceptively simple - but it is made with a lot of skill. It concentrates a use of clean, geometric lines and the alternate use of two-tone metals of gold and silver.
The brooch was made by hand-piercing shapes from sheet silver, The metal is then filed and shaped - and the little rose gold overlapping leaves are soldered into place. It is finished with the addition of a high reflective polish.
As one of Ireland's leading contemporary, their jewellery is always sought after - my asking price for this interesting vintage piece by them is a fair one. It will be posted to UK addresses for free, and it will be sent to you in a simple black velvet gift box.