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Couture 1936-49 Schiaparelli-Dali-Style Set FauxSapphire&Pearl Earrings & Brooch

About the Item

This surrealistic handcrafted faux-sapphire-topped-pearl cluster brooch and clip-earrings set dates to around WWII, when fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli (1890-1973) embraced the art-movement Surrealism and relocated from Paris to New York while her couture-house production continued. Featuring the other bright color associated with Schiaparelli beyond "shocking pink", this sparkly and lustrous starburst trio conjures the bespoke silk and metallic embroidery resembling exploding electric-blue fireworks that Parisian Maison Lesage added to Schiaparelli evening garments for her iconic themed collection for Fall/Winter 1938/1939 titled "Zodiac". Among Schiaparelli's paruriers who were commissioned to design costume jewelry for the Zodiac collection, Lina Baretti most likely created this set as we found a similar brooch that was published in the book (p.131) by Patrick Mauries, Lina Baretti Parures. While that piece with additional blue, green and red glass beads was commissioned by Chanel c.1950 to be executed by Maison Gripoix, Baretti frequently reworked her distinct designs for different couturiers since at least 1930. For example, see our other listing for a Chanel-Baretti brooch-and-earrings set c.1930, whose style we found repeated years later for auctioned Schiaparelli-commissioned earrings using different fabric and shapes. Considering the minimal decorative repetitive materials of a prong-set tiny crystal wired through a faux-pearl bead for this costume jewelry, the set otherwise could have originated after Schiaparelli commissioned Salvador Dali in the 1940s to use similar but more precious materials. Most famously for a Schiaparelli brooch, Dali tightly arranged prong-set tiny rubies around clustered cultured white pearls to redefine his iconic late-1930s imagery, which represented movie-star Mae West's toothy open lips. For the design of our brooch-and-earring set in tight clusters of 35 or 15, each pearl is topped by a prong-set round faceted blue crystal, which is a color that is rare in nature and one that dominated the Zodiac collection. Beyond the aforementioned Schiaparelli characteristics, the construction, shape and chased-texture of metal hardware on the reverse is in the style of jewelry that was signed with her Italian last name after her licensing agreements with U.S.-based manufacturers in the 1940s. So if this set was a licensed design instead of handcrafted originals, one or more of the pieces would have been signed. The set is in very good condition. On the back of the brooch, whose additional textured-plate hardware completely conceals the wire construction, there is minimal metal discoloration that resembles aged white gold. While the diameter of each earring is 1 1/4 inches with a depth of 1 inch, the dimensions of the brooch are noted in the Measurement Units section of this listing. Last year, the Parisian major retrospective of the Italian designer's work and collaborations concluded after six months at the Musee des Arts Decrotifs, which was titled "Shocking! The Surreal World of Elsa Schiaparelli" and included haute-couture jewelry from the time that this set originated.

Metal:

Mixed Metal

Stone:

Crystal,Pearl,Sapphire

Stone Cut:

Round Cut

Weight:

31 g

Dimensions:

Depth: 1.25 in (31.75 mm)Diameter: 2 in (50.8 mm)

Sold As:

Set of 3