TOGETHER AGAIN

Mermaid ring, pink tourmaline, diamond, and baroque pearl 

in sea-poppy setting, circa 1900. 

Marked "F. Lawr." for F. Walter Lawrence

(Amanda Joy Rubin collection)

Some call it serendipity. We call it making a splash. After swimming apart for a century, a mermaid ring retailed by F. Walter Lawrence in the early 1900s and a matching drawing by the ring's probable maker, Gustav Manz, were reunited at the annual conference organized by the American Society for the Study of Jewelry and Related Arts (ASJRA). Neither the ring's owner—who'd acquired the piece from Tadema Gallery after spotting it in the London shop's window—nor the custodian of the gouache drawing (a Manz descendant), had an inkling the "other half" would show up at the event, held at a private midtown Manhattan club last October. 

Gouache drawing of a double-mermaid ring by goldsmith-sculptor Gustav Manz, who frequently collaborated with Lawrence 

(Mathews family collection)

Closer inspection revealed that the ring purchased at Tadema was the near identical twin of another FWL-marked mermaid ring in another private collection (it appears, set with a different stone, in a Magazine Antiques article about Lawrence published in April 2004). Manz is known to have adapted his designs with minor variations for different wholesale clients, making us hopeful that a similar mermaid pair will surface. 

Lawrence and Manz collaborated on other marine-inspired pieces including a baroque pearl "Mermaid" ring exhibited at the St. Louis World's Fair—described on the entry form as having been "first modeled in wax [and] cast in gold with hand chasing". The modeling on a sterling silver and chrysoprase purse frame that was recently exhibited at Forbes Galleries has also been attributed to the German-born sculptor/goldsmith who, judging from drawings and archival records, co-designed many of Lawrence's showpieces. 

Above: Works in progress photographed on top of Manz & Co business stationery bearing the firm's circa 1901 address "41-43 Maiden Lane, New York"; the lotus clasp held by one of the mermaids has not yet been set with a stone (photo Winterthur Museum)

An article Lawrence contributed to The Craftsman and a subsequent profile in The Keystone featured images of finely carved gem mountings depicting a cast of exotic, historical, and mythological figures from Manz's repertoire, including a trident-bearing mermaid and sea serpent ring set with natural pearl. 

From top: A swimming mermaid carries a trident to defend her pearl against a sea serpent rounding the opposite shoulder (FWL, The Craftsman, June 1903); a publicity still of four rings from Lawrence's studio includes views of a mermaid figure ("Amphitrite") and sea serpent ring, second from left in both rows; detail of goldwork on the mermaid-serpent ring (Sargent, The Keystone, July 1905)

The theme for this year's conference is the symbolic meaning of jewelry across the ages. October 12 is just a month away, but you may still be able to snag a seat. For details about speakers, click ASJRA 8th Annual Conference. As past participants will attest, the storytellers in the room are as arresting as the gems. 

An ASJRA member models the Lawrence-Manz mermaid ring 
during the group's Fall 2012 gathering
Photo © Gustav Manz LLC

Copyright © 2014 
All Rights Reserved 

 GUSTAV MANZ LLC

Sources cited:

• "Craftsmanship versus Intrinsic Value" by F. Walter Lawrence, The Craftsman, June 1903
• Louisiana Purchase Exposition , Department of Art records, 1896-1908
• Official Catalog of Exhibitors, Universal Exposition, St. Louis, USA, 1904
• "A Goldsmith-Sculptor: F. Walter Lawrence" by Irene Sargent, The Keystone, July 1905
• "The Jewelry and Silver of F. Walter Lawrence" by Janet Zapata, Magazine Antiques, April 2004
• "Where Credit is Due: The Life and Jewelry of Gustav Manz" by Courtney Bowers, Magazine Antiques, September-October 2010
• "International Art Jewelry, 1895-1925" catalog of Forbes Galleries exhibit by curator Elyse Zorn Karlin, October 2011
• Thanks to Winterthur library, Tadema Gallery, Cleota Reed, NYPL, and ASJRA members for their assistance with ongoing research

OLYMPIC DREAMS CARVED IN GOLD

In honor of the London games this summer, we pulled up a few Olympian gems produced by Gustav Manz in the early 1900s. Manz's training as a draughtsman and jeweler coincided with archaeological digs of the late 19th century, which revived classical motifs and styles.

THE DISC THROWER

A pair of classical figures flank a large sapphire on the ring above: the visible side depicts the Discobolus; the other side features Manz's take on the marble statue of the Borghese Gladiator by first-century B.C. sculptor Agasius of Ephesus 

THE HEAVY LIFTERS

Heavenly twins Castor and Pollux, naked with their reined steeds, steady an oval stone in this early Manz design 

Hand-wrought in rose gold, Manz's "Discobolus and Gladiator" ring (shown above) was one of a dozen pieces illustrating art critic Irene Sargent's review of work coming out of F. Walter Lawrence's salon (most of it executed by Manz) in the July 1905 issue. The detailing on the signet ring in the sketch below it not only shows off Manz's fondness for high-relief carving but his wit and skill in compressing the myth of the Dioscuri, Castor and Pollux, onto the narrow band of the ring. He managed to fit in a "boxing ring" (overlapping straps) beneath the feet of Pollux, famous for his fisticuffs though he was ultimately outmatched by a brass-headed giant named Amycus. When his twin Castor died in a fight their father arranged for the brothers to maintain their closeness by placing them among the stars as the Gemini Twins. 

THE ARCHER

 Designs in Manz's surviving ledgers invoke satyrs and bacchantes, fauns and naiads, and other Greco-Roman figures; an entry for a ring sold to retailer George Bell in 1919, who may have been introduced to Manz's work at the St. Louis Exposition in 1904,identifies the figure reaching for a grape cluster in this sketch as Diana, Greek goddess of hunting, the moon, and chastity

THE FREESTYLERS

More pieces showing off Manz's flair for modeling mythological figures, photographed on stationery from his studio at 41-43 Maiden Lane, circa 1901 (Winterthur Museum and Library) 

Coincidentally, the third modern Olympiad also took place in 
St. Louis during the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition and was more or less folded into the fair—creating the perfect backdrop for Manz's evocations of buff classical gods and goddesses in the fair's art pavilion. 

A photograph of unfinished jewelry found in Manz's business archive at Winterthur (above) offers further clues to what his work from that time looked like. Several items incorporate iridescent shards of ancient glass. Placed atop a sheet of Manz's business stationery are a buckle or dress clip styles as a lotus flower; two scenic brooches evoking Nile Valley flora and fauna—lion and snake (upper left), Sphinx and pyramids (upper right); a fancy pendant depicting a semi-nude woman dancing above diamond-set lotus blossoms. And, at center, an purse frame carved with mermaids rising from a lotus pond; the finished piece, marked for F. Walter Lawrence, was set with a cabochon chrysoprase and is now in private collection. 

To be sure a craftsman's homage to artistry, and to the heroes and deities, from a distant, non-industrialized past ... in perfect harmony with wealthy Americans' infatuation with Grand Tours and European high culture.  

notes

1. Discobolus ring first appeared in The Keystone; thanks to Cleota Reed at Syracuse University for locating this image

2. Photo of custom work from Manz's studio, c 1900-1905; courtesy Winterthur Museum
3. Atlas and Diana ring design drawings by Gustav Manz (c) Gustav Manz LLC
4. Poster courtesy of Smithsonian Image Collection
5. Special thanks to several descendants of George Bell for sharing biographical details

Olympic Revival: Poster for the games held in St. Louis during the summer of 1904, signed "St. John" 

Copyright © 2014 
All Rights Reserved 

 GUSTAV MANZ LLC