The magic of Bohemian garnet - article for ART AND ANTIQUES magazine
Author: Martin Cinolter for Art and Antiques Magazine
Few nations in the world can boast a gemstone so closely linked to their identity as garnet is to the Czech people. Ironically, much of this can be credited to the Austrian Emperor and great admirer of Prague, Rudolf II. Under his reign, Prague became not only a cultural and artistic hub but also a centre for gem cutting and prospecting. The Emperor invested considerable resources in the search for precious stones. Prospectors were required to offer the largest and most beautiful gems to the sovereign first.
The first to name garnet "granatus bohemus - Bohemian garnet" was Rudolf II's physician, Anselm Boetius de Boot, in the Czech mineralogy guide Gemmarum et lapidum historia. Boetius also detailed all the known Czech garnet deposits for the first time.
Gem cutters and glyptic artists from the Miseroni family (Milan) and Castrucci family (Florence) migrated to Rudolf's court in Prague from northern Italy. They crafted a wide range of jewellery and decorative objects using various gemstones, including Czech garnets. This marked a turning point in garnet mining, which had previously been limited to surface collection from fields between Třebenice and Litoměřice, with the stones then exported to Germany, especially Baden and Nuremberg, for processing.
Early mentions
To find the earliest mentions of garnets, we must delve deeper into history. Pyrope garnets were already being collected incidentally by the Celts in the latter half of the 5th century. They were later processed and traded by the Germanic tribes. One of the earliest preserved artefacts featuring garnets is the funeral gear of Frankish King Childeric I, who ruled in what is now France between 436 and 482. Even Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte chose a garnet-adorned jewel - a garnet bee - as his personal emblem. Further traces of garnets can be found in the burial sites of the Huns, who decorated sword scabbards, straps, and clasps with them.
Garnet in the Middle Ages
Czech goldsmith workshops began using garnets during the 13th century under the reign of Charles IV and his son Wenceslas IV. This period saw many references to gemstones in medieval literature, such as the Romance of Alexander the Great and the Latin-Czech dictionary, where Master Klaret includes garnet among notable gemstones. Garnets were often used by the Church to adorn liturgical and other sacred items alongside other gemstones. Evidence of this is Přemysl Otakar I's coronation cross, adorned with Czech garnets and currently housed in the treasury of Regensburg Cathedral. Throughout the High and Late Middle Ages, garnets remained favoured by prominent jewellers and gem cutters as an embellishment for jewellery, frames (Cheb), coins (Loket), medallions, buttons, rings, clasps, and especially liturgical objects.
Glass imitations of garnets also began to appear, moulded or pressed in pliers and subsequently polished. I have occasionally encountered cases where a strand of garnet beads was mistaken for glass. The initial surface collection of garnets gradually gave way to deeper mining.
The first deep garnet mines were established before the reign of the enlightened Emperor Rudolf II. Deep mining techniques were first described by Georgius Agricola (1494-1555), a natural scientist and mining expert originally from Jáchymov.
The Beginning of the Czech National Revival
At the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries, there was only one grinding workshop in Prague that had a monopoly on polishing jewellery. The Withaler Father and Sons ground garnets, for example, from the Lobkowicz estates near Bílina. Other grinding workshops were located around Turnov and Rovensko pod Troskami. As I have already mentioned, garnets were mainly collected in Bohemia as raw material and exported abroad, with the trade mostly in the hands of foreigners. All of this changed with decrees issued by Maria Theresa and her son Joseph II in the second half of the 18th century. These contributed to the revival of garnet grinding and the great popularity of garnet jewellery, which became particularly popular during the following periods of Classicism and Biedermeier, especially when the Russian Empress appeared at the Congress of Vienna in 1815 adorned with garnet jewellery.
At the beginning of the 19th century, Czech society was literally enchanted by garnet jewellery and thus initiated an extensive collection for the National Museum. At that time, some of the most famous and beautiful pieces of jewellery were created, which are still highly valued among collectors and antique dealers today. A frequently mentioned example is the garnet set of Baroness Ulrika von Levetzov, allegedly a gift from J.W. Goethe himself. In reality, however, she received it from her mother. One of the most beautiful pieces of jewellery, stored in the Dresden Green Vault, is the Order of the Holy Rood, which contains a 47-carat garnet.
The rise of garnets in the Czech lands was linked to the ideas of the National Revival and Czech garnet became a patriotic symbol. The Czech patriot and historian Bohuslav Balbín already criticised in the 17th century the "wild plundering" of the Czech garnet fields by foreign merchants and the lack of entrepreneurship among the Czechs. Perhaps that is why the Czech national revivalists quickly adopted the gem as their own, along with the entire nation. The bourgeoisie, intelligentsia, and aristocracy bought garnet jewellery from jewellers and goldsmiths, who began to face strong competition from industrial factories. Cheaper jewellery was sold in markets. In addition to Prague, the production was concentrated in northern Bohemia, from Bílina to the Děčín region. Turnov, with its strong tradition, dominated northern Bohemia and the Krkonošsko region, where the famous jewellery school was founded, which in the second half of the 19th century became the guru of the garnet jewellery market. Garnet jewellery confidently made its way to the second half of the 19th century, even at the first World Exposition in London, and was significantly influenced by industrial design. It copied the neo-styles of the late 19th century. The popularity of garnets also led to a boom for manufacturers of imitation garnet jewellery, such as the company Augusta Menzel from Jablonec nad Nisou. Costume jewellery was bought by the lower social classes. Even today, we can encounter it in antique shops in both better and worse quality. In this case, garnets were replaced by glass imitations.
Golden Era
Increased mining led to the depletion of resources, and the mined garnets shrank to a size of 1 to 5 mm, with jewellery often supplemented by imported almandines. By the end of the 19th century, the garnet craze had literally flooded Europe. After Prague, Vienna became another major centre. For example, workshops like those of Jindřich Grohmann or Brix & Anders. Garnets were also exported to America. Brooches became fashionable, and garnet crosses in Prague. Patterns of garnet jewellery also significantly influenced artistic schools. The neo-Renaissance style, which brought in ancient decoration, had a significant impact. The main designer was Josef Schulz, who taught at the Prague School for Goldsmiths and the jewellery school in Turnov.
By the early 1880s, production and distribution had largely become industrialized. Family businesses like the Rummels, Kerlicks, Kerschs, Jan Reimann, Václav Němec, Jan Ecker, and Alfred Pollack opened branches not only in Karlovy Vary and Mariánské Lázně but also in Germany, Russia, and tried to compete with the Vienna workshops by opening branches in Vienna. By the end of the century, animal motifs began to be created, with one of the most beautiful and still most prized pieces being the garnet butterfly or garnet beetles, whose prices in renowned antique shops far exceed those of other brooches. The Ethnographic Exhibition in 1895 enriched the designs with motifs of flowers, apples, and tulips, as well as various folk ornaments. At the beginning of the 20th century, the influence of Cubism, Functionalism, and Art Deco became pronounced. Garnet design also caught the attention of the leading Czech Cubist figure Josef Gočár. The designs of the Turnov school or Rudolf Stockar from that era are still produced and modified to this day.
After the Second World War, nationalized businesses continued the tradition and exported garnets to the Soviet Union, Germany, Japan, and the United States. With few exceptions, production stabilized in traditional forms mainly from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Communist Czechoslovakia used them to present Czech garnets at World Expositions in Brussels (1958) and Montreal (1972). After the political changes at the end of the 20th century, Prague and Karlovy Vary were flooded with tourist shops selling so-called Czech garnets, particularly by traders from former Soviet republics. They try to mimic traditional Czech creations, but they have nothing to do with Czech garnets. I encountered much better imitations a few years ago in the United States. The garnets are set into base metals imitating tombac, and are very well crafted, with an attractive design from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
My Name is Czech Garnet
I am writing about the history of garnet jewellery and forgot to introduce it. The Czech garnet is a gemstone belonging to a group of about 16 garnets, most of them very rare. It represents a colour spectrum ranging from dark red, almost brown, to yellow, orange-red, to green and the most valuable form – the so-called demantoid. The most common varieties are the aluminium and calcium garnets. Garnet, or pyrope, belongs to the aluminium group, along with Almandine and Spessartine. Czech garnet is coloured by iron and chromium and typically has a fiery red and deep colour, sometimes called the colour of pigeon blood. For its uniqueness, it earned the separate name Pyrope. The hardness of pyrope is between 7 and 7.5 on the Mohs scale, with cubic system crystals that are dodecahedral and trapezohedral. Its chemical formula is MgAl2(SiO4)3. At the beginning of the 20th century, garnets began to be imported to Europe from deposits in South America, Tanzania, and Arizona. Almandine, which often accompanies pyropes, is raspberry red, slightly brownish, or even violet. When garnets are set into jewellery so that we can look at them against the light, it is immediately clear what a melange of different sources they are from. This is especially true because of the absence of pyropes larger than 2 mm. The quality of Czech garnets varies depending on the location. The best-quality garnets come from the Czech Central Highlands. Lesser quality ones come from the Krkonošsko region and around Kolín nad Labem.
Garnet jewellery is typically made from gold, silver, or a special alloy called Tombak. Tombak is usually a sign that the jewellery made from it has a remarkable history. It is a copper (84-90%) and zinc (16-10%) alloy, or brass with a higher copper content. Jewellery made in this way uses the so-called cargl technique. Garnets are set closely together and cover the entire surface of the piece. In the early Middle Ages, garnets were used to decorate various clasps or to replace the eyes of various creatures, animals, or people. The Greek name pyr (fire), ops (eye) comes from this. From the Baroque period, one can find particularly brooches in the shape of Baroque stars in antiques. From the Classicism period, there are various frames and pendants from the Biedermeier era. Garnets were also added to popular jewellery made of blown gold at that time. The most garnet jewellery and items can be found in antiques from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Rings, earrings, brooches, pendants, pendants, colliers, brooches, or boxes with mother-of-pearl and decorated with beetles and butterflies. Occasionally, you come across frames made from Czech garnets, or medals and coins decorated with Czech garnets. They are mainly combined with freshwater pearls, opals, and diamonds are not uncommon. I have also encountered old Baroque pocket watches, so-called spindles, where the watch mechanism was decorated with Czech garnets. Old silver wedding pendants made from silver coins from around the Loket Castle were almost always adorned with garnets. Many of these can still be seen displayed at Loket Castle. This summer, I came across a similar pendant from 1715 in an antiques shop in South Bohemia. Even Czech glass did not escape the fashion for garnets. Small vases were decorated with silver rings and Art Nouveau-style garnet flowers. Garnets were set in silver mainly at the beginning of the 20th century. The production of gold garnet jewellery was more limited and was intended for wealthier people.
The greatest popularity of garnets in jewellery shops is usually seen among American and Russian visitors to Prague. There is also considerable interest from Hispanic nations, Italians, and Germans. In South America, I often encountered old Czech jewellery with garnets in antique shops. At American antique fairs, one occasionally comes across truly beautiful pieces. It is noteworthy that Americans always emphasise that the jewellery is made from Czech garnets. Among our citizens, interest is mostly found in the older generation. Younger generations show, with a few exceptions, minimal interest.
When buying old jewellery, it is common to find repaired pieces. Sometimes, old pendants are turned into brooches. Old earrings, where one is irreparably lost, are made into rings, etc. With old Tombak jewellery, this is mainly noticeable by the tinning, as Tombak is virtually impossible to repair.
Finally, I would like to point out that I couldn't come to appreciate garnet jewellery for a long time, but over time, as I encounter it more and more in practice and become familiar with its fascinating history, even I have fallen under its spell and believe that in the near future, it will again become attractive to younger generations.
Martin Cinolter
Answers to editorial questions
What is often mistakenly called true Czech garnet? How can one recognise a genuine antique garnet piece?
Old garnet jewellery can be recognised by the way it is made, as the workmanship is usually very high quality. If it is made of Tombak, you can almost be certain that the piece is genuinely old.
What metals were garnets set in historically?
In the Middle Ages, they were set in all precious metals. Around the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries, they were usually set in gold. Since garnets were very popular among the general population and were affordable, jewellery began to be made from Tombak (a copper and zinc alloy), for those who could not afford gold or silver. By the early 20th century, silver became widely used.
How does the colour of Czech garnet differ from Almandine?
Czech garnet, or Pyrop, has a deep red to fiery red colour. Almandine is usually a purplish-brown or raspberry colour. Czech garnets are typically small stones, around 1-2 mm in size. Almandines are used as larger solitaire stones in jewellery.
What is the price range for antique garnet jewellery today (a brief range by type and period)?
It depends on the metal it is made from and its age. Rings can range from hundreds to thousands, approximately 500 - 7000 CZK.
Earrings range from 1000 CZK to 15,000 CZK, brooches from 700 CZK to 25,000 CZK, bracelets from 2,000 CZK to 40,000 CZK, colliers and necklaces from 2000 CZK to 80,000 CZK. These are just estimates; some exceptional pieces may significantly exceed these limits.
Do you think antique garnets are a good investment today, or will their price decline in line with the general disinterest in wearing them in mainstream society?
Prices have been stable in the long term, with a slight increase. The interest is also stable. I would definitely recommend investing, but only in old, exceptional, and never repaired pieces of jewellery.
What are the most common types of garnet jewellery? (Cameos, brooches, bracelets, chains, necklaces, etc.)
They encompass the full range of jewellery production. Garnets were used to adorn practically all forms of small applied art.
Do you think classic garnet jewellery could be attractive to the younger generation, or will it remain just a relic stored away in private jewellery boxes as a memento from a grandmother?
For the younger generation, at least in our country, garnet jewellery is seen as a symbol of old-fashionedness. However, I believe it is only a matter of time before it comes back into fashion. Just as white gold was popular in recent years and now yellow gold is coming back, I can already observe certain signs of increasing interest in practice.
