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Artist BertoiaStyle Hammered SterlingSilver SquiggleSpiral UndulatingWire Brooch

About the Item

This modern mid-century abstract three-dimensional unsigned brooch is a single hand-hammered sterling-silver wire that was shaped by an artist into an undulating squiggle that ends in a spiral, which forms a c-clasp for self-closure while its other end is a sharpened pin. Its simple curvilinear design, partly flattened areas, elegance and decades-old patina resemble similarly-sized brooches by the pioneers of American studio jewelry Alexander Calder, Art Smith and Harry Bertoia, whose unique dramatic biomorphic works were likewise created with minimal materials and tools. While only early works with sterling silver by Smith have been recognized without his script signature, Calder and Bertoia did not sign most of their jewelry. Only limited-edition jewelry reproduced by the Harry Bertoia Foundation includes a branded signature. According to the Foundation, most of Bertoia's original jewelry since 1934--which he created with whatever metal materials he could afford--was made while he was a student at Cranbrook Academy of Art until 1943. Significant to our brooch, many of his early brooches have a sharpened pin and hand-tooled bent wire substituting for a hinge and clasp, such as the one of approximately 2-inch size in the Foundation archive dated 1939-1943 (D.JE.25), as well as the partly-hammered wire squiggle clasp on the sterling silver necklace dated 1940-1943 (D.JE.50) that includes a closeup photo showing great likeness to our brooch shape and tool marks. While at Cranbrook, he also used the distinctive squiggle shape to style a figurative snake as a more complex silver brooch. Prior to focusing on furniture and sculpture, Bertoia fabricated metal jewelry that included not only bent and hammered wire but also forged pieces with rivets and/or clamps that characteristically link multiple cut or cast parts often with kinetic properties. Of the hundreds of one-of-a-kind works of jewelry attributed to Bertoia (1915-1978), the majority were made while he was at Cranbrook, which extended to his post-graduate work there as a metal-smithing instructor.

Metal:

Sterling Silver

Weight:

3 g

Dimensions:

Height: 1.25 in (31.75 mm)Width: 0.07 in (1.78 mm)Depth: 0.25 in (6.35 mm)Length: 2 in (50.8 mm)

Style:

Modern

Place of Origin:

United States

Period:

Early 20th Century