Presented here, a rare Victorian silver & enamel/porcelain brooch depicting a BEAUTIFUL BLOND LADY wearing a VENETIAN CARNIVAL MASK (see pictures, please). The young blushed-cheeks lady is wearing a blue color elegant dress and veil over her golden ringlets.  
The porcelain-enamel is mounted by claws in a beautiful sutile silver frame, hallmarked 800 on its reverse, which is delicately decorated with a total of sixteen (16) natural marcasite stones, measuring 1mm diameter approx, each. The marcasites are grouped in four fours and decorate the top, the bottom and both sides of the brooch (please, refer to the picture).
The brooch has a C-catch fastener from Victorian period and also has a tiny piece at its reverse top side, allowing the brooch to become a pendant. 
Please, refer to the pictures, they speak by themselves.
 
  In the Georgian and Victorian eras, masquerade balls were all the rage for the upper classes. Masks were an exciting addition to parties, lending themselves to heavy flirtation and mischief. The masked lady so often depicted in Georgian and Victorian jewelry was a symbol of revelers, party-goers, and the romance, drama, and theatre of masquerade balls. With time, however, jewelers began to create pieces featuring the masked lady as a symbol of love; a number of masked lady jewels include romantic, intimate inscriptions. 
Although a variety of shapes, colors, and styles of masks were worn at masquerade balls, the type most often depicted in antique jewelry is the black velvet Colombina mask, meaning the style which covers the eyes and forehead but leaves the mouth exposed. This mask is said to have been invented for an actress playing Colombina (little dove) in the Commedia dell'Arte in the 15th century. The actress did not want her entire face to be hidden by a mask because she was extremely beautiful. Thus, the half-mask was born. Meanwhile, the color black in masks symbolizes sophistication, mystery, and seduction.
 
MEASURES:  40 X 30mm
Estimated AGE and region: central Europe, circa 1890, Victorian era.
GENERAL CONDITIONS: good+ general conditions, showing normal wear mainly consisting in several soft scratches to the porcelain, please refer to the pictures.