Emily Barber
Head of Department, UK
Lot 27
A diamond lichen brooch,
by Grima, circa 1975
24 September 2019, 12:00 BST
London, New Bond StreetSold for £4,062.50 inc. premium
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A diamond lichen brooch, by Grima, circa 1975
The cast piece of lichen with a brilliant-cut diamond dew drop, signed Grima, length 5.3cm
Footnotes
The gold replicas Grima made of lichen and leaves were all obtained by a complicated casting process that revealed the minutia of natural details. First the object was placed in a mould and plaster of Paris poured over it. Heating at a very high temperature destroyed the lichen or leaf leaving its negative imprint into which molten gold was spun. Once the plaster of Paris was washed away a gold replica remained.
In 1967 Andrew Grima made a similar lichen brooch and earring suite for H.R.H The Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon. The pieces were cast from lichen that Princess Margaret had picked up on a walk in Scotland and sent to Grima.