An early to mid-19^th century Belgian gem set silver gilt ecclesiastical Madonna’s crown, Antwerp circa 1840 by Jan Pieter Antoon Verschuylen (1801-65, active from circa 1820)

With chased work of acanthus leaves with facetted octagonals and lozenges, interspaced with curved panels with the same applied facets and beading against a textured ground. Leading to an orb set with courses of rose cut diamonds surmounted by a cross fleury encircled, the centre set with a cabochon garnet. The front set with a pear-shaped rose cut diamond within a surround of cut back rose cut diamonds. The circular base with alternating octagonal or lozenge facets with rosettes against a textured ground. Marked to the base with maker mark a letter V above which crossed cutlery in a square, Janus head mark 1831-68 for second standard (833 standard) and town mark.

Height – 15.9 cm / 6.25 inches

Weight – 402 grams / 12.92 ozt

Born in Antwerp on the 12th of February 1801 as the son of lace merchant Joseph Théodore and of Anna Cornelia de Locht. Served his apprenticeship with Charles Aulit (1774-1855) and Joseph Lecocqmartin (1772-1850). In 1835 he married Regine Monteyremar (1805-1847).

In 1860 he was the very first craftsman to receive a knighthood of the Order of Leopold. King Leopold I owned a holy-water font by Verschuylen featuring Christ and the Samaritan woman at the well. This monumental work, which was inspired by eighteenth-century pulpits and a late seventeenth-century engraving by Jan van Orley, was already mentioned in 1833 in the Gazette van Gend soon after its creation. Roman Catholic Churches in the Netherlands were also an important market for Verschuylen’s church silver. He often also collaborated with sculptors or used their models: Joseph Gillis in 1844, Lodewijk Corrijn in 1845, the de Cuyper brothers in 1845-1846, Willem Geefs in 1857 and Pierre Alfons Bogaerts in 1861-1862. Verschuylen also paved the way for the Antwerp Neo-Gothic School, in which his apprentice Lambert I Van Ryswyck and Albrecht Jacobs would go on to play a prominent role. He died on the 23rd of August 1865.