TEDDY BEARS FOR GROWNUPS

Figural Bear Ring, 18K 

Attributed to Gustav Manz, circa 1910 

 Photo courtesy Macklowe Gallery

Bear motif from undated Gustav Manz trade card

Private collection (image Gustav Manz LLC)

Not long ago, we dropped by Macklowe Gallery to try on a pair of grizzly bears loping in tandem around an 18K ring shank. Attributed to Gustav Manz, the carved figures step lightly over fallen branches with heads up as if in anticipation of some tasty treat around the bend. In winter of 1912, Manz registered copyright on a few of the bronze objets he would take to The National Arts Club sculpture exhibition that spring. They included a Barye-esque vignette of a bear grappling with a buffalo; a pair of fighting panthers (later Manz's daughter would donate these to the Cleveland Museum of Natural History), and polar bears adrift on an iceberg—no doubt in homage to Peary's arctic expedition. 

Knock on wood. Circa 1920s bronze door ornament carved and signed by Gustav Manz (second photo, beneath bear foot). From the brochure Unusual Jewelry Silverware and Bronzes, F. Walter Lawrence Inc. (Janet Zapata collection)

In contrast to the sculpture Manz's motifs for jewelry weren't all nature tooth and claw (unless paired with a natural predator—as in his popular panther and snake ring design). The bruins in many of his renderings appear perfectly congenial, their facial expressions almost trancelike, as if lured by strains of the Hesitation Waltz emanating from the Prince George ballroom on East 28th Street, just up the street from Manz's work studio. Built in 1904, the hotel's lounge was popular with notables like Diamond Jim Brady and Lillian Russell, Stanford White's mistress Evelyn Nesbit, and Eugene O'Neill. 

Rudolf Eickemeyer studio photo of Gilded New York "It Girl" Evelyn Nesbit (Christie's). Below the black and white original, the colorized version for a 1902 postcard issued by the Alf Campbell Art Company captioned "Little Butterfly | Posed by Evelyn Nesbit

The Prince George Hotel Ball Room after its 2008 restoration
(Image Ephemeral New York)

Manz's Easy to imagine Manz's bear rings and scarf-pins (retailed at stores like Tiffany & Co, Marcus, T. Kirkpatrick & Co, and Black Starr & Gorham) catching the eye of un-hesitating gents on their way to do the Castle Walk and Grizzly Bear Rag* with their favorite Gibson Girl: "If they do that dance in heaven, shoot me, hon', tonight at seven."

*For a contemporary riff on Botsford's classic, check out this YouTube performance by guitar virtuoso
 Ton Van Bergeyk

Updated February 2021

_____________________________________________

We welcome comments, and invite you to follow us on Facebook, Instagram and gustavmanz.com

Copyright © 2011 All Rights Reserved 

GUSTAV MANZ LLC

DECO DRAGONS: Hot Item at Skinner's Fine Jewelry Sale

A rare figural platinum and diamond bracelet retailed by T. Kirkpatrick & Co., and stored in its original box was the capstone of Skinner's Fine Jewelry Sale this week. The unmarked piece (which Skinner's experts attributed to Gustav Manz) descended through a New York family in its original fitted case, stamped with the Kirkpatrick logo. 

Founder Thomas Kirkpatrick emigrated to the U.S. from Dumfries, Scotland in the 1850s. After a few years at Ball, Black & Co. (where he was known to sleep under the counter to protect the stock), Kirkpatrick opened his own store and art gallery and prospered during the Gilded Age. A crony of "Boss" Tweed (reporters dubbed the jeweler Tammany's "badge man") and Teddy Roosevelt (on whom Thomas bestowed a "lucky" penny blessed by Pope Leo and then set in gold), he passed on December 27, 1906. His elder son John Kirkpatrick took over the store at 334 Fifth, later moving it to No. 664. The firm also had an outpost at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. After the younger Kirkpatrick died in 1928, a third generation kept the business going until the 1980s.

Lot 764: Ruby-breathing dragons warm the wrist

Photo Skinner Inc.

Gouache rendering of a circa 1910 Griffin mounting from Gustav Manz's design book (family collection)

Photo (c) Gustav Manz LLC

Gothic dragons and other mythical creatures do abound in Manz's ledgers between 1910 and 1925, and T. Kirkpatrick & Co was a steady customer. Stockbook entries record sales of two "Griffin" ring mountings (sold May 12, 1910) and a gold ring trimmed with applied platinum acanthus leaves (sold Sept. 16, 1913); and a "Renaissance Ring" (sold Dec. 21, 1914). Later entries for the firm include a figural Mermaid and Faun Ring set with a star sapphire (sold Nov. 5, 1919). 

Even with one emerald eye missing, the lot fetched $171,825—six times the $20,000-$30,000 reserve—reflecting the dazzle of this early deco design and the skill of its maker.

_____________________________________________

We welcome comments, and invite you to follow us on Facebook, Instagram and gustavmanz.com

Copyright © 2014 All Rights Reserved 

GUSTAV MANZ LLC

EARLOOMS: Jewelry Talk by Art Nouveau Expert Ben Macklowe

Fun slide-show hosted by ASJH at Fashion Institute last night. Benjamin Macklowe, Vice President at Macklowe Gallery, explained the idiosyncrasies of Art Nouveau style. For example: nouveau designers (1890-1910) produced few earrings: The mermaid locks favored by the era's beauties often obscured their ears, so artists focused on visible ornaments—figural necklaces and horn combs decorated with coyly mating dragonflies and writhing snakes (hard to miss). And if one should stumble on a rare pair of antique earvices labeled nouveau? They may be pendants that got converted, says Ben. 

"Listen, listen, said the mermaid to the prince"

Illustration by H.J. Ford, early 20th C

An exception to the ear rule, these c.1905 Egyptian revival pendant earrings bear the retail mark of F. Walter Lawrence and were most likely designed and wrought by his favorite goldsmith Gustav Manz. They are on view with other examples of Manz's work at The Forbes Galleries' International Art Jewelry: 1895-1925 exhibition through March 17, 2012.

_________________________________________

Copyright © Laura Mathews, 2014 
All Rights Reserved 

 GUSTAV MANZ LLC

__________________________________________

CARTIER'S PAVE PARADE

A sleek herd of Cartier pachyderms from the 1990s belonging to a European family were one of the chief attractions in the Christie's Geneva Magnificent Jewels sales catalog this November. At the front of the necklace, diamond-studded elephants and offspring are linked in perpetual stride, while gold elephants shadow them. While the Cartier piece is undeniably snazzy, the motif also spoke to arts-and-crafts jeweler Gustav Manz, who observed and sketched wild elephants while prospecting for diamonds in South Africa, and opted to pay homage to their stately migrations in spare sterling silver (sometimes gilded) during the late 1920s.

                                          photo: Joe Gold

Cartier necklace in Christie's Geneva sale ("Property of a European Family"); Gustav Manz hinged sterling cuff bracelet (from a descendant's collection) 

An animalier sculptor in addition to being a master jeweler, Manz produced numerous animal-themed gem mountings for the trade—Cartier, Tiffany & Co, Theodore B. Starr, Marcus & Co among them. Some examples below along with a sketch from Manz's ledgers documents a platinum and diamond-studded elephant brooch, sold to Cartier in 1925.

Production notes and sketch from Gustav Manz's ledgers for a diamond pave elephant brooch sold to Cartier in 1925 (Gustav Manz archive, Winterthur Museum & Library). Above it, assorted Manz animal pins, including an elephant, designed for Black, Starr & Frost (image from Arts & Decoration, January 1926)

For other examples of Manz's jewelry follow us on Instagram 

Copyright © 2014 All Rights Reserved 

GUSTAV MANZ LLC

ELEPHANTS IN THE ROOM: A JEWELER GETS HIS DUE

A jewelry designer and maker who supplied such firms as Marcus & Co., Tiffany, Dreicer & Co., and Black Starr & Frost, Gustav Manz did not sign or mark most of his work. A few of his known pieces from the early decades of the 20th century are now on view at Forbes Galleries, for the first time with labels bearing his own name. Along with these rediscovered gems, show curator Elyse Karlin (co-author of Imperishable Beauty) has brought together 200 pieces fashioned by other artisans, celebrated and anonymous, each representing the aesthetic styles that emerged during the Arts and Crafts period.

Circa 1920s carved gold elephant clip designed and executed by Gustav Manz, on view at Forbes Galleries International Art Jewelry 1895-1925 show 
Mathews Family Collection

Photo: Joe Gold

Manz's expertise as a carver is evident in a sterling silver handbag frame featuring mermaids in a waterlily pond, produced for the Union Square jewelry salon of F. Walter Lawrence (a former associate at Marcus & Co) and documented in a studio photograph taken at Manz's workshop on Maiden Lane; in a gold brooch from a descendant's collection depicting a maple leaf spray with whirligigs; and in a gold elephant dress clip, shown above, set with cabochon jade, sapphire, and ruby stones—versions of which were created for Lawrence, Cartier, and others, according to letters in Manz's archive at Winterthur. Each of these precious objects reflects painstaking attention to detail by Manz and the workers in his employ, whose output enhanced the reputation of some of America's most esteemed gem merchants. 

We welcome all comments and invite you to follow us on Facebook, Instagram and gustavmanz.com

Copyright © 2011 All Rights Reserved 

GUSTAV MANZ LLC

JEWELRY SPOTTING: London Blogger Shines Light on Historical Makers

Alicia Reyes is a London-based banker, blogger, and private jewelry curator. Her site Collecting Fine Jewels offers an expansive lineup of 20th century masters, their work, and the museums and auction houses showcasing it. Her latest discovery: a figural gold ring depicting two strolling bears carved by New York jeweler Gustav Manz. 

Gustav Manz Bear Ring, circa 1910 
Macklowe Gallery

Check out Instagram for more examples of Manz's motifs!

COMMENTS