Beautiful antique Art Nouveau Edwardian solid sterling silver Reynolds hairbrush. Hallmarked J & RG. J & R Griffin (Joseph & Richard Griffin) Jewellers & silversmiths, the sterling hallmark of a Lion passant indicative of England, sterling hallmark of shield to indicate Chester and the D inside a cartouche dates it to 1904. The weight is 99.5 grams. The item is in great pre-loved antique condition commensurate with age. Comes with custom made velvet and silk lined antique Jeweller's box which has kept it in excellent shiny condition.

The image of the cherubs is based on the 1787 original painting: Angel's Heads by Sir Joshua Reynolds (16 July 1723 – 23 February 1792). Reynolds was an influential eighteenth-century English painter, specialising in portraits. He promoted the "Grand Style" in painting which depended on idealization of the imperfect. He was a founder and first president of the Royal Academy, and was knighted by George III in 1769. Sir Joshua Reynolds when called to paint the portrait of a little girl conceived the pretty fancy of the picture of Angels' Heads. The child's fair face suggested that of an angel. It was a face which was so charming from every point of view that he painted it in five positions. Grouping the heads in a circle, he added wings after the manner of the cherubs of the old Italian masters and surrounded them with clouds. The original was little Miss Frances Isabella Ker Gordon, only child of Lord William Gordon and his wife Frances. In each position of the five heads the expression varies, and looking from one to another, we may trace through the series the child's changing moods. Miss Frances died unmarried in 1831, and ten years later her mother presented the picture to the English National Gallery.

J & R Griffin (Joseph & Richard Griffin) Manufacturing jewellers & silversmiths, Hylton Street, Birmingham;

Please see my other listing for Sterling silver Reynolds manicure item.