bidz.com Blog

This wickedly mischievous Peter Chang bracelet, made of “acrylic, PVC, and found objects”, is one of 720 pieces of jewelry being featured in the “Avant-Garde Jewelry from the Helen Williams Drutt Collection”.

“In 2002, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, acquired the Helen Williams Drutt Collection of contemporary jewelry. Comprised of 720 pieces of jewelry dating from 1963 to the present, the collection provides a global look at the field. Over 175 artists from 18 different countries are represented in the holdings.

Ornament as Art: Avant-Garde Jewelry from the Helen Williams Drutt Collection fully explores the impact of contemporary jewelry as a global art form. The goal of the exhibition is to broaden the understanding of contemporary jewelry through a multilayered, critical assessment of the history, issues, and most importantly, the jewelry itself. Placed in context with seminal movements in the non-craft art world, the exhibition encourages the appreciation of contemporary jewelry beyond its traditional boundaries without ignoring its roots.”
jewelry-weblog.com

“In an exhibition organized by the Museum of Arts & Design, New York, “Seaman Schepps (1881–1972): America’s Court Jeweler,” brings together some 150 pieces of jewelry, designs and related material that trace the development of this innovative jeweler. The exhibitions opens June 9 at the Gilbert Collection, Somerset House, and will run until August 27, clearly illustrating his daughter Patricia Valli’s comment, “Daddy’s jewelry was something outrageous.”
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Marlene Dietrich, Katharine Hepburn, Doris Duke, Wanda Toscanini Horowitz and the Duchess of Windsor, as well as members of the du Pont, Mellon and Roosevelt families, were among his clients. His eye-catching jewelry not only appealed to the modern independent Twentieth Century woman, who found his pieces visually striking and fun to wear, but also to Pop Art icon Andy Warhol, who was an avid collector.

What makes the jewelry of Schepps so distinctive and memorable is the way he incorporated an astonishing diversity of natural materials such as seashells, sandalwood, walnut, Asian carvings and rock crystals along with traditional gem stones.
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As with so many jewelers, nature played an important role in Schepps’ designs: flowers, animals, birds, butterflies, insects, grapes, fish, shellfish, seahorses, turtles and shells appear time and again in his own inimitable style. Schepps designed some jewels incorporating miniature sculptures; his innovative use of baroque pearls in jewelry rivaled the pieces made by Renaissance masters.”
antiquesandthearts.com

Pictured here is a swan brooch, circa 1940, baroque pearl, emerald and diamonds.