Design for a Platinum (?) Brooch with Colored Stones or Enamel (?) in a Scrapbook with Jewelry Designs in Watercolor and Gouache
Not on view
Drawing with a design for a platinum brooch with colored stones or enamel, part of a modern scrapbook with 38 sheets showing designs for jewelry with pearls, diamonds and other (semi-)precious stones all done in watercolor and heightened with gold, characteristic of the period between 1870 and 1930, which saw some of the most extravagant and innovative trends in jewelry design. By the second half of the nineteenth century, the naturalistic compositions of earlier decades had become more complex, and the colors in nature mimicked by the color of gemstones used for jewelry design. In the last years of the century, designs for jewelry had become even more elaborate and relied in the natural beauty of cabochon gems, curving, and figurative designs with symbolic meaning, typical of the Arts and Crafts movement. Towards the end of the nineteenth and through the first decades of the twentieth century, diamond jewelry was re-interpreted to create the new 'garland style', and the Art Nouveau movement created sinuous and organic pieces that moved away from conventional stones and put emphasis on the subtle effects of materials such as glass, horn and enamel. During the 1920s, the economic boom following the war saw an increased glamour in jewelry design, with sharp, geometric patterns that celebrated modernity and the machine age. Art Deco jewelry is characterized by dense concentrations of gemstones and the use of platinum in place of gold, with inspiration from all over the world, especially from the Near and Far East. Like most of the drawings in the album, this design is fully rendered with gouache, showing not only the styles for the jewelry designs, but also suggesting choices of precious metals, stones, and other materials to be used in the creation of the jewels. It is also possible that these designs are real-sized, allowing the customer to visualize the jewel fully from this presentation drawings before commissioning its manufacture.
This design for a brooch is made up of a frame of scrolls rendered with shades of light grey and light tan to suggest platinum, the material of choice for Art Deco jewelry, as the intended material for the finalized piece. The upper part of the frame is decorated by a stylized flower of green color, and two strings with three pearls of pink color on the sides. The bottom of the frame is flanked below by a stylized fleur de lis motif adorned with four small pearls arranged by decreasing size of green color. The colors might have been achieved through the use of stones of the same shades or, alternatively, by using enamel over the metal with the desired shapes. The frame surrounds a circular space that is left blank, possibly to be filled by a cameo. A drawing like this could be presented to several different customers for them to choose a personalized motif for the inside of the frame, while also allowing for a degree of standardization in the design, thus increasing the efficiency of the design process and the manufacturing of the jewel.
