In the period of the Victorian English Gothic Revival—during which time the above brooch was made—architects, masons, ceramicists, and (yes) jewelers incorporated the aesthetic vocabulary of the Middle Ages into the design of their crafts. The Gothic, in my opinion, was the high-point of the architectural profession. Except, perhaps, for The Gothic Revival—which may have taken a great idea and made it even better.
The brooch above, made in the 1880’s, incorporates interwoven borders of red and white enameling around a center of turquoise enamel. It is one of several vintage and antique brooches I’ve recently collected in England.