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.

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Copyright © Laura Mathews, 2014 
All Rights Reserved 

 GUSTAV MANZ LLC

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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)

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Copyright © 2014 All Rights Reserved 

GUSTAV MANZ LLC