Important ART SMITH Brass Earrings
View Similar Items
Important ART SMITH Brass Earrings
About the Item
- Creator:
- Dimensions:Width: 2.75 in (69.85 mm)
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:c. 1950's
- Condition:Excellent Vintage Condition.
- Seller Location:Palm Springs, CA
- Reference Number:Seller: 000E105RI1stDibs: JU12040128044
Art Smith
Fusing eclectic influences such as Surrealism and African art, Art Smith was a leading mid-century modernist jeweler and one of the few African American designers to break into the field. His oversize geometric pieces with their innovative use of wire, silver forms, brass, aluminum, stone and glass elements were boldly sculptural yet lightweight, becoming popular in the 1940s and ’50s as expressive statements of adornment.
Born in Cuba to Jamaican parents, Smith moved as a child to Brooklyn, New York, in 1920. After showing an early aptitude for art, he earned a scholarship to study at the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in Manhattan. He was especially inspired by the pioneering African American jeweler Winifred Mason, who hired Smith to work at her studio. There he witnessed how she engaged with West Indian folk art through bronze and copper.
After graduating, Smith opened his first shop in 1946 on Cornelia Street in Greenwich Village. Facing discrimination in the predominantly Italian area, he relocated to West Fourth Street where he would work until 1979. Smith developed relationships with stores like Bloomingdale’s as well as New York City’s vibrant Black cultural scene, from which his clients included Lena Horne and Duke Ellington. He also designed work for avant-garde Black dance companies such as those led by choreographers Talley Beatty and Pearl Primus and a brooch for Eleanor Roosevelt.
“The body is a component in design just as air and space are,” Smith once stated. Employing biomorphic shapes, he created works such as the Patina necklace that referenced Alexander Calder’s mobiles with its dangling silver cutouts as well as the Lava bracelet involving two layers of metal that undulate around the wrist.
Smith often used unconventional materials for fine jewelry that made it affordable to people beyond the elite, and he was a vocal advocate for Black and gay civil rights. In 2008, the Brooklyn Museum opened a retrospective of his work. His jewelry is included in the collections of major museums such as the National Museum of African American History and Culture, the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Find a collection of Art Smith jewelry on 1stDibs.
- Heidi Abrahamson Pearl Brass Kinetic Mobile EarringsBy Heidi AbrahamsonLocated in Palm Springs, CAPearl and brass kinetic mobile earrings created by Heidi Abrahamson of Phoenix, Arizona. Earrings have 14k gold filled ear hooks and measure 4" in length by 1.25" wide. Unsigned.Category
2010s Drop Earrings
MaterialsPearl, Brass
$495 Sale Price28% Off - Heidi Abrahamson Sterling Silver Brass Kinetic EarringsBy Heidi AbrahamsonLocated in Palm Springs, CABrushed sterling silver and brass jointed pierced earrings created by Heidi Abrahamson of Phoenix, Arizona. Earrings measure 4.25" by 2.25" and are si...Category
2010s American Modernist Chandelier Earrings
MaterialsSterling Silver, Brass
$795 Sale Price20% Off - Ed Wiener Gold American Abstract Modernist EarringsBy Ed WienerLocated in Palm Springs, CA18k gold abstract modernist earrings designed and created by Ed Wiener of New York City, New York. Earrings are of the screwback variety a...Category
Vintage 1950s American Modernist Drop Earrings
Materials18k Gold, Gold
- Ed Wiener Gold Pearl Kinetic American Modernist Chandelier EarringsBy Ed WienerLocated in Palm Springs, CA14k gold and pearl chandelier style earrings created by Ed Wiener of New York City, New York. Earrings measure 4.5" in length and are of the pierced variety. Earrings are unsigned ...Category
Vintage 1950s American Modernist Chandelier Earrings
MaterialsPearl, 14k Gold, Gold
$4,595 Sale Price20% Off - Heidi Abrahamson Sterling Silver Brass Shell Pearl Post Modernist Super EarringsBy Heidi AbrahamsonLocated in Palm Springs, CAContemporary earrings of sterling silver and brass with large shell pearl accents created by Heidi Abrahamson of Phoenix, Arizona. Super deluxe in size and in the 1980's Post Modern...Category
2010s American Artisan Chandelier Earrings
MaterialsPearl, Brass, Sterling Silver
$1,276 Sale Price20% Off - Heidi Abrahamson Sterling Brass Squiggle Post Modernist EarringsBy Heidi AbrahamsonLocated in Palm Springs, CASterling silver and brass post modernist style pierced earring created by Heidi Abrahamson of Phoenix, Arizona. Earrings measure 4.5" in length, including finding. Signed Heidi, .9...Category
2010s American Modernist Dangle Earrings
MaterialsSterling Silver, Brass
$595 Sale Price20% Off
- An Important Pair Of Art Deco Pearl And Diamond EarringsLocated in London, GBAn important pair of Art Deco pearl and diamond fringe drop earrings, the two natural saltwater pearls measuring approximately 8 x 12mm and weighing a total of 10.04 carats, accompanied by Gem & Pearl Laboratory certificate, each suspended within a brilliant- and French-cut diamond-set openwork flexible surround, with a fringe of five tassel drops beneath, the diamonds estimated to weigh a total of 2.5 carats, all rub-over set in white, with peg and scroll fittings, circa 1920, measuring approximately 6.8 x 1.6cm, gross weight 15.12 grams. These earrings are in excellent condition. Unmarked tested as Platinum with 18ct white gold posts. These magnificent pair of pearl and diamond earrings from the Art Deco era are part of the collection of Bentley & Skinner, the London jewellers by appointment to both Her Majesty the Queen and His Royal Highness, the Prince of Wales. With a large pearl suspended inside a flexible and dazzling geometric diamond framework with tassel fringe, these beautiful earrings are a wonderful display of iconic 20s design...Category
Early 20th Century British Art Deco Drop Earrings
MaterialsDiamond, Natural Pearl, Platinum, 18k Gold
- Antique Art Deco 3 Carat Diamond and Platinum Drop EarringsLocated in Jesmond, Newcastle Upon TyneA stunning, fine and impressive pair of Art Deco 3 carat diamond and platinum drop earrings; part of our diverse diamond jewellery and estate jewelry collections. These stunning, fine and impressive 1920s diamond earrings...Category
20th Century Unknown Art Deco Drop Earrings
MaterialsDiamond, Platinum
- Art Deco Style Diamond Drop Earrings 12.93 CaratBy Harbor DiamondsLocated in New York, NYDiamond drop Art Deco motif earrings featuring 80 round brilliants 4.84 carats, 10 princess cut diamonds, 2.17 carats and 10 briolette diamonds, 5.92 carats, in 14k black rhodium. C...Category
2010s American Art Deco Drop Earrings
MaterialsDiamond, White Gold
- Important Emerald and Diamond EarringsLocated in New York, NYThese extraordinary "Day and Night" Colombian emerald earrings are adorned with fine diamonds. Detachable pendants to be worn two different ways. Approx 24.58 ct carat emeralds Depicted in full page spread in the "The History of Jewelry: Joseph Saidian...Category
1990s American Chandelier Earrings
MaterialsEmerald, Diamond
- Important Diamond Platinum Dangle EarringsBy Diamond SceneLocated in New York, NYJust under 30 carats of diamonds! A FABULOUS pair of important diamond earrings! 29.15 carats of F/G VS diamonds set in platinum. Approx...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Dangle Earrings
MaterialsDiamond, White Diamond
- 7.35 Carat Diamond Chandelier Earrings in Art-Deco StyleBy Gems ParadiseLocated in Jaipur, IN7.35 Carat Diamond Chandelier Earrings in Art-Deco Style This fabulous pair of timeless uncut Diamond earrings are inspired by the art-deco styl...Category
2010s Indian Art Deco Chandelier Earrings
MaterialsDiamond, 14k Gold, Silver