Vintage 1940's 'Basket of Flowers' Reverse Carved Lucite Brooch (SOLD)

This Flower Basket Vintage Brooch is from the 1940's.  Made of Lucite, it has been skillfully reverse carved (intaglio style) to show a wicker basker spilling over with flowers.  There are two salmon pink roses and five smaller flowers - two a kind of ice blue to white colour, two in a yellow /orange shade and one in a deeper salmon pink.  The wicket basket is in a natural straw colour and the four leaves have faded out to an Autumn gold - but you can see the veins on them which is quite something! This brooch is a particularly chunky one being half an inch thick! This is a good size all over,  being approximately 2 inches by 1.75 inches.  The shape is a diamond rectangle but it is enhanced by a further cut on two of the corners.  The whole thing gets a kind of 'rainbow rim' reflection effect where some of the colours are reflected in the edges of the brooch.  It has a chrome pin back with a roll over type fastener, a little like those found on old tie pins. This lovely item of vintage costume jewelry is 'see through' so takes on a different look depending on the colour of your outfit, on a black dress it is dramatic, on a white frock it is fresh and pretty!  It is in superb condition.
 

Lucite is Dupont's Trade name for their acrylic plastic which they patented in 1936.  ICI used the name Perspex for their similar material.  In the Jewellery trade the name ' Lucite' is favoured for all acrylic pieces as it was the most widely coined term for American Jewelry. Lucite brooches from the 1930s, 1940's and 1950's are becoming firm favourites with collectors.  Just recently a collection of these early plastic pins appeared on the BBC Antiques Roadshow.   It is easy to see why they appeal - each one has been hand produced so there are natural variations in the style and design, the material is light making the brooches very easy to wear.  The 'see-through' nature of the Lucite makes the brooch take on a different appearance when pinned onto various coloured clothes.