Designs for Four Tiepins and a Pendant with Figurative Motifs
Anonymous, French, 19th century French
Not on view
Drawing with designs for four tiepins and a pendant, designed around 1900, part of an album of drawings by various artists for individual pieces of jewelry, containing a variety of designs in the Art Nouveau style of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, as well as some pieces in historic period styles. The first design consists of a Y-shaped red stone, possibly coral, standing over a golden round base with small, square green stones; an angel sits between the two upper branches, holding onto one of the upper branches, which is decorated by a small, white rosette. Next to it is a sketch in graphite and some lines in pen, which shows the back side of this tiepin. The second design shows a female figure, from behind, emerging from a blue, semi-abstract cornucopia with red interior, and holding a large, white oval pearl between her hands above her head. The third design presents a variation of the second, showing another female figure emerging from a cornucopia, this time from the front, and holding a round, white pearl on one hand while stroking her hair with the other. The fourth design for a hairpin consists of a thin, brown, vertical pin, with blue and purple semi-abstract coral motifs, white, round pearls, and a brown seahorse scrolling around them. The design for a pendant consists of a frame made up of a thin, green, scrolling branch with stylized leaves and purple flowers, containing a human-like head with blonde hear, red antennae and four thin, blue wings emerging from behind her neck. These designs reveal the aesthetic of late Art Nouveau jewelry style, designed, among others, by Rene Lalique, which drew inspiration from antiquity and japonism, abandoning the exclusive use traditional precious stones in the manufacture of jewels, and using, instead, a combination of gold, gemstones, semi-precious stones, mother-of-pearl, ivory and horn, enamel, and glass, to create colorful, powerful, and sinuous designs, often presenting animal and other figurative motifs.
