This rare, eighteenth-century bronze cuff exhibits a distinctive style of casting, which consists of a repetitive design of raised heads each positioned in the centre of two curved arms with splayed fingers. Alternating with the raised profiles of the abstracted heads are smaller, more realistically depicted heads. The walls of the casting are extremely fine and fragmented in parts, as a result of the age and the bangle exhibits an encrusted surface with a verdigris patina.
A similar example, possibly from the same hand, can be found in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum , with a date given in the caption as '18th Century?'.
Estimated Period: 18th Century (Or Before)
Ex Private Collection, UK
Length: 13.5cm
Reference
'Bracelet', The Metropolitan Museum
(Click on images to enlarge)