June 15, 1948

What we pulled together about the designer of the sterling cat figural piece below, describes it this way:

'A wonderful Vintage Sterling vermeil jelly
belly Brooch, In excellent condition with Very little wear to the
goldtone finish. This vermeil brooch has a Lucite fish bowl with a
engraved fish and 2 air bubbles these are done from the back. All the
chatons are present and full of sparkle, It also has invisibly set ruby.
The brooch measures 2-3/4" X 2-1/4". The roll over clasp is in perfect
working condition. The Lucite fish bowl is also in excellent condition.
This brooch is listed in Brunialti, American Costume Jewelry Art and
Industry Vol,2 page 222 and also has a patent that was granted June
15,1948 and the patent number is 149,925 and was granted to Antonio
Aquilino and worked for Anthony Creations.'


There is more information here, including the fact it sold (not sure how many copies there were) recently, for $875.00.

We learn about the jeweler that:

'Anthony Aquilino Emigrated to New York from Naples, Italy around 1920 and moved to Providence, Rhode Island around 1940. Most likely worked for other jewelers before he started designing around 1945-46 under 'ANTHONY ORIGINALS'. Unfortunately, he died in 1948 while a relatively young man, so he personally only had a few pieces under his name. His most famous, collectible pieces are the cat in front of a large Lucite fishbowl and his water pump.

'After his death in 1948, his daughter Antoinette and his son Anthony continued making jewelry under the 'Anthony Creations or 'Jewels by Antoinette' names.''