An unusual material to use for a brooch, porcelain is crafted delicately here to make a spray of – what I think look like – lily of the valley, with its clusters of bell-shaped flowers. The centre of the flowers contain lustrous stamen, I suggest tiny seed pearls, and a bead (possibly pearls, or even glass in certain lights) connects each flower to its silver stem.
Porcelain lily of the valley brooch
Porcelain lily of the valley brooch
I suspect that the stems of the spray are slightly flexible, showing – whilst taking into account the slight difference in angle – the variation in how the brooch looks at two different appearances; the second photo looks to be a closer-knit spray, as if it had been squeezed a little.
Bronte Porcelain, located in Malvern, created the brooch, which was designed by Bob and Lucy Price, according to FHMJV. This information was released with the debut of the brooch in Northern Ireland in 2014. Sadly, the business closed in 2018.
The Queen first debuted this porcelain brooch in 2014 (Northern Ireland Office/ M Thurson/Harrisons)
Embed from Getty Images Embed from Getty Images
Lily of the valley symbolises the return of happiness, but is also associated with humility, and Eve as she left the Garden of Eden in shame.
Probably because of the piece’s larger size, this has only been seen on three occasions in total. However, that is pretty good going for a brooch that is only six years old! Many pieces The Queen has owned since the beginning of her reign have only been worn a handful of times…
We hope to see it a few more times to get some good close up images to share.
