A Vintage Art Nouveau Style Silver Dragonfly Brooch

Plique-à-jour, French for glimpse of daylight, had its heyday in the Art Nouveau period (1890-1910) when the focus for jewellery was on the natural world, so floral, bird and bug jewellery came to the fore. Plique-à-jour is a vitreous enamelling technique where enamel is applied directly into wire cells of an item's design, with no backing to the piece so light can shine through the transparent or translucent enamel producing an often realistic result. One of the most effective uses of this technique is with insect wings, since in the real world, an insect's wings are often translucent themselves.