ROLLING STONES

 

Circa 1920s deco dress clip. Photo in Gustav Manz archive, Winterthur Library, Joseph Downs Collection

"Kissing your hand may make you feel 
very very good, but a diamond and 
safire (sic) bracelet lasts forever." 

—Anita Loos

A diamond clip with Greek Key motif identical to the one shown above appears in a circa 1932 sales catalog for liquidation of jewels formerly owned by the elder son of Thomas Kirkpatrick, founder of the old New York firm T. Kirkpatrick & Co. Two hundred and ten round and 18 baguette stones radiate from a pair of stylized banded fleur de lys where the two halves meet (raising the total by an additional 2 baguettes and 12 rounds). The maker, Gustav Manz, was a long-time supplier to Kirkpatrick, and other Gilded-to-Deco era retailers.

Greek key ring mounting designed by Gustav Manz 

circa 1905-1920

Manz's father-in-law and business partner Charles (Carl) Bachem was a manufacturing jeweler who'd emigrated from Pforzheim to open a diamond ring factory in Newark in 1892. For "convenience of the trade," Bachem distributed his cluster heads through Maiden Lane diamond setters John C. Nordt and Gottfried Heppdin. (To this day, descendants of Nordt fabricate ring blanks for the trade.) 

"Superior to Anything Ever Shown" 
(Jewelers' Circular, February 1897)

Shortly after moving the factory to Maiden Lane in 1899, Bachem retired for health reasons, turning the reins over to his son-in-law and his own wife, Sophie, who soon after reincorporated as Manz & Co. The pair were soon joined by Walter P. McTeigue (another manufacturing jeweler who'd recently split from his partner), producing "fine diamond and carved jewelry" that was carried by premier merchants in Philadelphia, Palm Beach, Chicago, and Washington, D.C., as well as elite retailers along Ladies' Mile. Six years later, Manz split off from McTeigue to set up on his own account. 

1920s diamond ring, marked Gillot & Co, engraved with stylized fleur de lys along shank and laurel leaves on prongs. Paul Gillot—a former design associate with Marcus &amp—frequently purchased mountings from Manz's studio

 (Photo courtesy Erie Basin)

By 1925, the same year Harper's Bazaar serialized Anita Loos' Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Manz had moved his business to its final location in Manhattan's new jewelry district above 42nd Street, a convenience for his best clients—Tiffany, Black Starr & Frost, Marcus, Kirkpatrick, and Pickslay & Co—who'd followed their affluent customers from lower to upper Fifth Avenue in much the same spirit as Loos' practical-minded heroine Lorelei Lee.

"Any girl who was a lady would not even think 

of having such a good time that she did 

not remember to hang on to her jewelry." 

—Anita Loos

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                                             GUSTAV MANZ LLC

HERE BE DRAGONS...

This early Art Deco bracelet attributed to Gustav Manz was stored 
in a box marked Thomas Kirkpatrick & Co 

Many Arts & Crafts jewelers featured a few griffins and wyverns in their design repertoires. Manz's bench produced a veritable bestiary of Gothic  and Asian dragon rings, fobs, and brooches for his favorite vendors—Tiffany & Co, A.A. Vantine, F. Walter Lawrence, Shreve Crump & Low, and Thomas Kirkpatrick & Co (see previous post). More views of a magnificent figural diamond bracelet retailed by Kirpatrick, above, can be seen at 1stdibs.com. 

Gothic revival ring design by Gustav Manz, circa 1900-1910 

 (c) Gustav Manz LLC

Manz offered a line of hand-carved griffin ornaments like the one in the drawing from his sales brochure below, and "The Dragon" line is the first mentioned in the brochure's list of motifs. 

Detail from Manz brochure, circa 1910

(c) Gustav Manz LLC

A horn hair comb with a dragon topper from the same period, shown below, is in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. The piece is unmarked, and while the MFA speculates it may have been made by Krementz & Co., a Newark manufacturer, it also resembles Gothic creatures featured in Manz's design book. 

Surf's up! This c. 1910 hair comb featuring a wave-riding wyvern 
must have slayed a few sailors at the Newport races 
Image Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Historians believe the phrase "Here Be Dragons" originated as a map warning to ships' captains. For examples of the monsters most worrisome to sailors, check out the slide show Ken Jennings produced for Slate.com last year.

Ken Jennings is the author of Maphead: Charting the Wide, 
Weird World of Geography Wonks

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Copyright © Laura Mathews, 2014 
All Rights Reserved 

 GUSTAV MANZ LLC

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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

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GUSTAV MANZ LLC