Birds Five Sitting on Perch Brooch Pin by Giacomelli 1.75W

Five Small Birds on a Single Rod: The Giacomelli Bird Brooch

Five little birds sit shoulder to shoulder on one perch, cast in 24K gold plated pewter. The Giacomelli bird brooch comes from a bird study by Hector Giacomelli. The study is in the Ryerson Library collection at the Art Institute of Chicago.

No two birds sit quite alike. That is the charm of this bird perch pin. The flock looks mid-chatter.

Product Details

• Material: 24K gold plated pewter
• Dimensions: 1.75 in W x 1.25 in H
• Style: Gold bird brooch with five birds on a perch
• Product number: 4041
• Origin: Made in USA

A Cage Stick Full of Finches

Giacomelli painted this subject many times. He called it a cage stick, the bar a pet bird perches on. The Walters Art Museum owns a watercolor version with twenty-four finches in a row.

A second version is in the Baltimore Museum of Art. Collectors wanted these rows of birds, so he kept making them. A bird perch pin shrinks that row to five.

The Van Huysum of Tiny Birds

The critic Henri Beraldi gave Giacomelli a famous nickname. He called him the Van Huysum of tiny birds. Jan van Huysum was the Dutch master of flower paintings.

The compliment praised care: feathers drawn one by one, never fussy. French bird art jewelry like the Giacomelli bird brooch reduces that care to a pin.

Birds in Books

Giacomelli also illustrated books. Jules Michelet's The Bird came out in 1867. Andre Theuriet's Our Birds followed in 1886. That is why French bird art jewelry still has a book-illustration feel.

Wearing and Display

Pin the Giacomelli bird brooch to a collar, a scarf or a bag strap. Pewter is soft, so keep it from sharp edges. Wipe it dry with a soft cloth. A gold bird brooch looks best on dark wool.

More small birds and branches wait in our Museum Jewelry Pins and Brooches. A gold bird brooch also suits a hat band.

About Hector Giacomelli

Hector Giacomelli was born in Paris in 1822 and died in Menton in 1904. After a serious illness at about thirty, he began to draw plants, insects and birds around his house. He worked as a watercolorist, engraver and illustrator. Today his birds are still a favorite subject for French bird art jewelry.

For More Reading from the Web

• See Giacomelli's watercolor of twenty-four finches on one perch. It is the cousin of this bird perch pin. A Perch of Birds - The Walters Art Museum
• Read about his life and his bird books. The Giacomelli bird brooch is one more place his birds turned up. Hector Giacomelli - Wikipedia