Quite a special and precious little bird this is! I have found a number of other examples of vintage pieces made by Gerson, a jewelry designer from Bahia, Brazil, including a few birds of this scale that similarly incorporate stones--but none quite as finely detailed as this one. In addition, most others that I have found are stamped on the bottom, rather than signed like this one. As such I think this may be a relative early piece; I have found one other reference to a signed toucan dating to the first quarter of the 20th century.
There is no mark to indicate the fineness of the silver, so I am not certain; it was somewhat tarnished when I found it, but polished up beautifully with no effort at all. I believe the stone is rose quartz. I found this piece at the jam packed estate sale of lifetime collectors and world travelers in Newton, MA (the parents of well-known fiction writer Elizabeth McCracken.)
It measures 4" long x 3/4" wide x 1 1/4" tall. There are a couple of tiny scratches in the quartz and perhaps some very aging to the silver of the beak, very minor; overall excellent condition.
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