Design for a Brooch with a Female Figure, a White Dove, and Ocean Waves
Drawing with a design for a brooch, 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 brooch in the drawing consists of a round shell-like frame of cream color, containing the upper part of a female figure, standing with her back to the viewer, her hands pulling her long hair up, and her head turning towards the viewer. The frame is flanked above by a round white pearl surrounded by green scrolling leave motifs, and with two round rings to its sides, which hold a thin chain from which the brooch hangs. On the lower part of the shell frame, under the female body, are several white, scrolling ocean waves, and a white dove with the wings slightly open stands to their left. There is a second sketch, executed with pencil, underneath the first design, which consists of a similar design for a brooch, but replacing the waves and the dove by a simpler scrolling motif that flanks the frame under the female figure. 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.
Artwork Details
- Title: Design for a Brooch with a Female Figure, a White Dove, and Ocean Waves
- Artist: Anonymous, French, 19th century
- Date: ca. 1900
- Medium: Graphite, pen and black ink, watercolor, and gouache on buff paper
- Dimensions: Sheet: 9 3/4 × 6 3/8 in. (24.8 × 16.2 cm)
Album: 14 3/16 in. × 11 in. × 9/16 in. (36 × 28 × 1.5 cm) - Classifications: Albums, Drawings, Ornament & Architecture
- Credit Line: The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1953
- Object Number: 53.670.17
- Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints
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