Ernst Paltscho established his jewelry firm in Vienna in 1899, quickly earning himself a reputation for imaginative creations within the Art Nouveau style. He was best known for his natural aesthetics and a mastery of the plique-à-jour technique, a translucent enamel reminiscent of stained glass, popular at the turn of the 20^th century. The demand for Paltscho’s jewels led to his appointment as jeweler to the Greek royal household and members of Austro-Hungarian aristocracy.

Edwin Paltscho joined his father’s workshop in 1918, carrying the family firm into the Art Deco era. The natural motifs of Art Nouveau remained, but with increasingly modern influences. Sculptural jewels of carved hardstone with various types of enamel became synonymous with Paltscho’s style. The present brooch evokes the Art Deco era’s fascination with Asian cultures, utilizing masterly-carved nephrite as a representation of bonsai leaves. A similar bonsai tree brooch by Paltscho is in the permanent collection of the British Museum as a part of the significant gift by Anne Hull Grundy in 1978 of over 900 pieces of jewelry, a bequest that prompted a wave of donor-gifted jewelry acquisitions to museum collections across Britain.