Design for a Haircomb with a Ladybug and a Bundle of Small, White Flowers
Anonymous, French, 19th century French
Not on view
Drawing with a design for a haircomb, 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 haircomb in this drawing consists of two thin teeth, curved on the upper part to join in the center of the design, where two scrolling, green stylized leaves scroll to frame a small, red-and-black ladybug, which stands on a thin stem holding a bundle of small, white stylized flowers. This design reveals 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.
