Aventurine glass brooch

Gold brooch. The face is decorated with ribbons of gold and set with an oval of polished aventurine glass, bordered with beading and twisted gold wire. The reverse has a compartment for a souvenir.
Aventurine glass, a 17th century Venetian invention, was much used in the luxury trades in the 18th century. Pieces of aventurine glass were used by 18th century London jewellers and ‘toy makers’ for panels in elaborate casks. By the 19th century, aventurine was used in Italian souvenir jewellery as the border to plaques of glass mosaics.
However, this brooch is English and comes in its own original case. It was made by the donor’s father, Herman Wehrfritz, a jeweller of Clerkenwell and Holborn, and given to the donor’s mother between 1860 and 1870.