Description & Technical information
The gold longchain with
figure-of-eight foliate scroll links enamelled in two-tone green and blue or
green and ochre yellow, each link spaced by a circular facetted coloured gem,
inluding sapphires, coloured sapphires and old-cut yellow, brown and pink diamonds,
centred by an enamelled fruit basket motif, suspending the openwork foliate
scroll panel pendant, of spearhead outline and similarly enamelled, set to the
middle with four emeralds, further set with coloured diamonds and gems in
various shades of yellow and orangey-brown, blue sapphire and coloured pearl
accents.
Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848-1933) was the son of Charles Tiffany, founder
of Tiffany and Co. His training in design began at an early age and at
seventeen, he left home to travel Europe, North Africa and the Near East. His
experiences had a particular impact on his life work as it was during this time
that he became consumed with colour, light and varying hues that were rarely
seen in the mainstream American artists palette.
A Renaissance man, Louis Comfort, operated under Tiffany Furnaces,
separate from the auspices of Tiffany and Co. and his father. It was here that
he produced his richly coloured lamps and vibrantly toned favrile glass,
tapestries, enamels, metalwork, furniture and hundreds of other items that
would grace the homes of some of the most important Americans of the time
including Mark Twain, Cornelius Vanderbilt II and The White House itself.
At the Louisiana Purchase Exposition of 1904 Louis Comfort
showcased twenty-seven pieces of jewellery, much in the hand wrought, or Arts
and Crafts style. Louis Comfort was not preoccupied with the traditional choice
of important diamonds and pearls, the wide-spread utilization of platinum or
even with a gemstone’s quality. His primary consideration was with how a
gemstone, given its color and ability to diffuse and transform light, could
convey the design and feeling he was trying to achieve. The selection of
jewellery exhibited encompassed this fascination with colour and light and as a
result, Louis Comfort left the worlds fair that year with international acclaim.
Julia Muson, a key designer for Louis Comfort, was also driven to
stimulate the ordinary palette and test the limit of conventional style. They
shared the same sentiment, and together produced jewellery that explored
naturalism and exoticism. When Munson left the firm in 1914, Louis Comfort
hired Margreta “Meta” Katherine Overbeck as her
replacement. Meta Overbeck had a preference for facetted gemstones and
developed designs to incorporate these larger, brilliant-cut gems. Her jewels
differed from those designed by her predecessor, and while the overall
aesthetic had shifted, Louis Comfort presumably approved her designs. This
colourful enamel and multi-gem necklace, is likely a design by Meta Overbeck,
under the direction of Louis Comfort Tiffany, circa 1920.
This necklace was formerly from the collection of artist Irene de Bohus.
De Bohus was an American painter who worked with famed Mexican muralist, Diego
Rivera, and was rumored to have had an affair with Rivera during the brief time
he was divorced from Frida Kahlo. De Bohus is known for her mid-twentieth
century paintings that often depicted landscapes and nude subject matter. Three
of her works are part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s collection.
As a fellow creative, de Bohus undoubtedly appreciated the
naturalism and exoticism of Louis Comfort and Meta Overbeck’s designs. She owned the necklace for thirty years and wore it in a 1942
film in which she appeared. The necklace remained in her family until it was
sold to one of de Bohus’ students and close friends, Martha Joy
Gottfried. An impressive artist in her own right, Gottfried is regarded as one
of Mexico’s first landscape artists. The necklace has remained with Gottfried’s
family since her passing in 2014.
Length open 37½''
Pendant length 2¼''
Weight: 57.5g
Date: 1910
Period: Early 20th century
Origin: American
Medium: Antique gold, enamel, coloured diamond and vari-coloured gem
Signature: Signed Tiffany & Co.
Categories: Jewellery
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