ALFRED MEYER Necklace in 18K (750) gold, articulated with ironwork links set with rose-cut diamonds, punctuated with enameled polychrome miniatures depicting figures in profile in Renaissance costume surrounded by rose-cut diamonds. Each miniature signed A.Meyer. Unsigned necklace. Work from the last quarter of the 19th century. Length: approx. 40cm. Diameter of one motif: approx. 2.8cm. Gross weight: 124.3g (3 additional links attached). A late 19th century French necklace, with Alfred Meyer enameled motifs Alfred Meyer joined the Manufacture de Sèvres in 1859 as a porcelain decorator, having previously worked as a lapidary and studied at the Beaux Arts. His work was characterized by translucent painted enamels on a pearl background. This mastery made him one of the two greatest enamellers of his time: Baugrand, Boucheron, Froment-Meurice, Vever and Falize commissioned works from him from the late 1860s, and later for the 1867 Exposition Universelle. Meyer and his acolyte Grandhomme took part in the revival of Limoges enamels, which had fallen into disuse, each pursuing his own style; Meyer's was to apply a thin layer of transparent brown enamel to the gold background, and to add the figure in profile like a cameo, to achieve a result that was both shimmering and high-contrast. The necklace we present today is reminiscent of Falize's 1887 necklace for the Prince de Béarn-Viana, also featuring polychrome miniatures by Meyer. The Falize-Meyer collaboration took effect in the 1870s/1880s and lasted some 16 years, the duo having produced several pieces of jewelry and objects during this period. Katherine Purcell, Falize, A dynasty of jewelers, 1999, p.175-177.