Serafina, 1848

A small Art Deco thing, and a serious one. The onyx is cooler in daylight than you expect, never showy, the calibré-cut channel setting unmistakable. The work is so even you would swear a machine did it, though none then could. It reached us out of a house near Perth, unworn for a lifetime and none the worse for it. Pieces like this do not come apart; they were built to be handed on.