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Arthur King

American, 1921-1991

Self-taught American jeweler Arthur King worked with baroque pearls, geodes, and raw semi-precious gemstones to create distinctive modernist jewelry during the mid-20th century.

Like many of the accessories that populate our jewelry boxes, the forms of King’s provocative vintage brooches, necklaces, rings and other jewels were inspired by the natural world, but the pieces’ metalwork is sculptural and shapely, resembling gnarled tree branches or the surface of an elm’s aging trunk.

King was born in New Jersey in 1921. He became interested in art at a young age and was fascinated with the lost-wax casting technique practiced by some sculptors. King taught himself the process using scrap metals, and his jewelry and objets d’art would come to share common ground with abstract art in the years to come. 

While stationed overseas in the Merchant Marines in World War II, King began to work with metal and dabble in jewelry making, integrating sharks’ teeth, white scrap metal and whatever else he could find into his modest “art jewelry,” a term that has been used to describe adornments created by Alexander Calder, pioneering African American studio jeweler Art Smith, Andrew Grima and others over the years. Upon returning from the war, King continued to develop his skills — eventually opening his first shop in New York City's Greenwich Village neighborhood.

King truly distinguished himself from other jewelers of the time — at his workbench, he shaped the brass and silver settings for his often unpolished, chunky stones that featured asymmetrical cuts and employed the age-old technique of lost-wax casting, which sees objects cast from wax models. His early pieces mainly featured silver settings, but his popularity soared once he began to craft jewelry in gold.

In 1961, King's work was exhibited at Goldsmiths’ Hall in London as part of the “International Exhibition of Modern Jewellery” and a year later, he opened his flagship store on Madison Avenue. His success allowed him to open more locations in London, Cape Cod, Havana, Miami and elsewhere.

King used a dizzying array of gems and other materials in his unconventional pieces. And as much as the jewelry of the 1960s featured eye-catching candy-colored stones, it was also an era of new textures and freeform gold settings, and King was at the forefront, creating audacious designs that contrasted sharply with the work of the world’s leading luxury houses.

King’s work has been celebrated at a range of institutions over the years including the Museum of Contemporary Crafts (now the Museum of Arts and Design), the Cultured Pearl Association of Japan, the Victoria and Albert Museum and more. His jewelry was exhibited at the Cincinnati Art Museum’s “Simply Brilliant: Artist-Jewelers of the 1960s and 1970s,” which opened in 2021.

On 1stDibs, find vintage Arthur King brooches, rings, necklaces and more.

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Artist: Arthur King
Painting Beam (B&W Photograph from 1950s of man suspended on wire)
Painting Beam (B&W Photograph from 1950s of man suspended on wire)

Painting Beam (B&W Photograph from 1950s of man suspended on wire)

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Painting Beam (B&W Photograph from 1950s of man suspended on wire) by Arthur King, 1957 Silver Gelatin print on Archival paper 14 x 11 in, 20 x 16in framed All prints are Limited Ed...

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Arthur King art for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Arthur King available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by Arthur King in silver gelatin print and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 1950s and is mostly associated with the modern style. Not every interior allows for large Arthur King, so small editions measuring 11 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Lilya Vorobey, Tug Rice, and Gil Scullion. Arthur King prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $715 and tops out at $850, while the average work can sell for $715.

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