Items Similar to Jean Després and Étienne Cournault French Modernist "Bijoux-Glace" Ring
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 6
Jean Després and Étienne Cournault French Modernist "Bijoux-Glace" Ring
About the Item
Composed of silver, lacquer and reverse painted and engraved crystal, this exceptional ring was a collaboration of two French modernist artists, Després and Cornault. The ring centers a glass crystal prism above a polychrome abstract-design painting in miniature by Cornault, mounted by Després within a silver and black lacquer surround, flanked by stepped and incised chevron form shoulders with subtle dark patination. Uniting an intriguing abstract painting with the geometry of interlocking planes and layered strata, this rare ring is powerful work of painterly and sculptural modernism.
Product Details:
Item #: R-21132
Artist: J Després and E Cornault
Country: France
Circa: 1930
Size: 6.75 (this ring can be sized; please contact the gallery for further information)
Materials: Glace peinte/Reverse-painted crystal; Black lacquer; Silver
Signed: "J. Desprès", "JD" maker's mark, French guarantee stamp for silver.
Provenance: Given by the artist to his niece, and by descent in her family.
Exhibition History: "Étienne Cournault (1891-1948)" at Musées de la Cour d’Or à Metz, 25 June to 24 October 1994. This ring was presented as number 94 in the exhibition catalogue.
Literature: This ring appears in "Jean Després; Jeweller, Maker and Designer of the Machine Age", Thames & Hudson, 2009, by Melissa Gabardi, on p. 197.
Macklowe Gallery Curator's Notes:
This important ring is one of a small group of “Bijoux-Glaces” or “Mirror Jewels”. These jewels represent the collaboration between two French Modernist artists, Étienne Cournault (1891-1948) and Jean Després (1889-1980). Cournault was from Lorraine, and had been educated at L’Ecole de Nancy in graphic and applied arts. He was active in Paris as a painter, draughtsman, and print maker in the 1920s. Moreover, he was the premier practitioner of the rarified technique of reverse painting on crystal, which he elevated from a traditional decorative art by creating intriguing miniature paintings of Surrealist and Cubist inspiration. Cournault met Després, an accomplished silversmith who moved in the circle of Modligiani, de Chirico, Braque and Signac, when Jacques Doucet commissioned the artists to complete an ornate metal table mounted by large reverse-painted glass sheets. Doucet, a prominent and influential couturier and vital patron of avant garde art, was a strict and demanding taskmaster who did not hesitate to request that artists remake their work before he would accept it into his collection. In the end, the monumental table was never delivered - Doucet died in 1929 before it was completed- but the two artists subsequently embarked on four year jewelry collaboration. They had in common their interest in mechanization, the dynamics of speed, and geometry. In their practice, they valued rigor in method, design and artistic conception. Both were fascinated by aviation. Després had served as an airplane mechanic and then as an engineering draftsman in World War I, while Cournault worked as an aviation illustrator. After the war, from the mid 1920s, Després had begun designing and making jewelry in his family studio in Avallon, Bourgogne, but his austere work was received as radical even in Paris. In 1929, his submission of thirty pieces were rejected by jury of the Salon d’Automne. However, Després’ strong, spare forms combined with Cournault’s fascinating surrealist miniatures under glass won the acclaim of critics. The jewels also attracted the patronage of sophisticated and independent women, who loved the freedom that motoring and aviation represented. The two men designed and made a pendant for Jospehine Baker. The work Després and Cournault created stands in deliberate contrast to the contemporaneous creations of the dominant jewelers of the period - Cartier, Boucheron, Van Cleef & Arpels - who were designing with the opulent historic jewels of Mughal and Deccan India as their inspiration. In parallel with the women working in independent studios, like Belperron and Boivin, the jewels produced in collaboration by Després and Cournault have a striking presence. In its industrial and architectural references, this ring, like those of Belperron and Boivin in this period, is also a “mini giant of volume”. At the same time, Cournault’s miniature painting, an artwork in its own right, presents poetic and mysterious shapes that may refer to some of his favorite subjects - a mask, an attenuated figure, or a fully abstract composition. Like Després, Cournault’s work is represented at The Metropolitan Museum of Art and The British Museum. Mirror jewels are held in the collection of the Musée des Arts Decoratifs, Paris. A catalogue raisonné of Cournault’s engravings was published in 1991.
- Creator:
- Ring Size:6.75 US, Resizable
- Metal:
- Stone:
- Stone Cut:
- Style:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1930
- Condition:
- Seller Location:New York, NY
- Reference Number:
Resizing is available.
About the Seller
4.8
Recognized Seller
These prestigious sellers are industry leaders and represent the highest echelon for item quality and design.
Established in 1971
1stDibs seller since 2010
109 sales on 1stDibs
Typical response time: 2 hours
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: New York, NY
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 3 days of delivery.
More From This SellerView All
- Jean Després French Modernist Hammered Gold and Coral PendantBy Jean DespresLocated in New York, NYThis hammered 18K gold and coral modernist pendant designed and handmade by Jean Després dates from 1930-40. It is designed as hammered rectangular plaque with an asymmetrically set coral cabochon layered over an offset partial rectangular frame, with variously sized bead accents. This appealing sculptural jewel represents Després' playful explorations of form and volume through textures, layers and voids. Product Details: Item #: N-21134 Artist: Després Country: France Circa: 1930-40 Dimensions: 2.00" length x 0.75" width Materials: Coral; 18K Gold Signed: J. Després, maker's mark, French assay marks Macklowe Gallery Curator's Notes: Despite the artist's near total preoccupation with machinery in modern life, Després' jewelry bears...Category
Mid-20th Century French Modernist Pendant Necklaces
MaterialsCoral, Gold, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
- Jean Després French Modernist Tri-color Gold BraceletBy Jean DespresLocated in New York, NYComposed of tri-color 18K gold, this modernist bracelet by French jewelry artist Després dates from 1935-1940. It is designed as a series of yellow gold arched, waisted plaques with ...Category
Mid-20th Century French Modernist Link Bracelets
MaterialsGold, 18k Gold, Rose Gold, White Gold, Yellow Gold
- French Ruby and Diamond RingLocated in New York, NYThis French ruby and diamond ring in platinum-topped 18K gold dates from circa 1910. The slender form centers a ruby surrounded by swirlin...Category
Early 20th Century French Art Nouveau Fashion Rings
MaterialsDiamond, Ruby, 18k Gold
- Sapphire and Diamond Twinstone Double Snake RingLocated in New York, NYThis late Victorian 18K gold double snake ring set with a diamond and a sapphire was created in England in 1892. It is designed as two snake heads, each with an old European-cut diam...Category
Antique Late 19th Century English Late Victorian Fashion Rings
MaterialsDiamond, Sapphire, Gold, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
- André Vassort Paris Coral and Diamond Bombé RingBy Andre VassortLocated in New York, NYDating from the 1960s, this textured 18K gold bombé ring is composed of cabochon coral and diamonds. The high domed top is set with three graduating lines of oval cabochon corals fla...Category
Mid-20th Century French Fashion Rings
MaterialsCoral, Diamond, Platinum, Gold, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
- English Diamond Double Snake RingLocated in New York, NYCreated in England around the turn of the 19th century, this 18K gold double snake ring is set with diamonds. Designed as two snakes with intertwined bodies and tapering tails, the double heads are set with tapering lines of old mine-cut diamonds. These sculpted, sparkling snakes stand...Category
Antique Late 19th Century English Fashion Rings
MaterialsDiamond, Gold, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
You May Also Like
- Jean Despres Paris Sterling Silver and 18 Karat Yellow Gold Modernist RingBy Jean DespresLocated in Greenwich, CTThis original Jean Despres Paris sterling silver and 18 karat yellow gold hand hammered modernist ring is wearable 'fine art'. With a rectangular d...Category
Vintage 1970s French Modernist Fashion Rings
Materials18k Gold, Yellow Gold, Sterling Silver
- Jean Despres Silver Men Ring "Bijoux Moteurs" - Art Deco 1930sBy Jean DespresLocated in Magenta, ITA men ring in silver by French silversmith Jean Després (1889 - 1980), belonging to the iconic "Bijoux Moteurs" (Motor Jewels) collection. The shape of the ring recalls the turbine o...Category
Vintage 1930s French Art Deco Cocktail Rings
MaterialsSilver
- Jean Després Lapis Lazuli and Gold Ring circa 1940By Jean DespresLocated in New York, NYA remarkablly cut and shaped lapis lazuli hard stone and 18 karat gold ring by Jean Després, c. 1940. Stamped with maker's mark & French assay marks. Ring size 6. This ring can be re...Category
Vintage 1940s French Modernist Cocktail Rings
MaterialsLapis Lazuli, Gold, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
- Modernist Gold Ring 18k FranceLocated in Litchfield, CTCirca 1980s, 18k, France. This all-gold modernist ring is beyond chic, big scale, bold fashion, Parisian style. Perfect for a cocktail party or effortlessly casual, this is the ring ...Category
Vintage 1980s French Modernist Fashion Rings
MaterialsGold, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
- Bochic “Ikon” Red Star Fish Bijoux Ring 70s styleLocated in New York, NYBochic star fish bijoux ring , from the “IKON” private collection. Red Resin set with white and smoky quartz crystals. The perfect pairing for your beach caftan...Category
21st Century and Contemporary North American Baroque Fashion Rings
MaterialsCrystal, Base Metal
- Ebony and Gold Modernist RingLocated in Litchfield, CTCirca 1970s, 18k, Italy. Ebony inside rich 18k yellow gold; this ring is all about clean, cool modernity. The style is smart and edgy, vintage chic at its seventies best. Well made, ...Category
Vintage 1970s Italian Modernist Fashion Rings
MaterialsGold, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold