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PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION
A DIAMOND, ENAMEL AND GOLD 'ICARIOS' BROOCH, BY GEORGES BRAQUE, HEGER DE LÖWENFELD
Details
A DIAMOND, ENAMEL AND GOLD 'ICARIOS' BROOCH, BY GEORGES BRAQUE, HEGER DE LÖWENFELD
Centering upon a pavé-set plaque of bird motif, resting on a red enamel plaque, with textured gold accents, 1963, 1 13/16 ins., with French assay marks for 18k gold
Signed Bijoux de Braque - Icarios VII, no. LP 2494
Accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity from Heger de Löwenfeld with transparency on reverse
Centering upon a pavé-set plaque of bird motif, resting on a red enamel plaque, with textured gold accents, 1963, 1 13/16 ins., with French assay marks for 18k gold
Signed Bijoux de Braque - Icarios VII, no. LP 2494
Accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity from Heger de Löwenfeld with transparency on reverse
Literature
Cf. Heiniger, E.A. & J., The Great Book of Jewels, Switzerland, Edita S.A., Lausanne, 1974, p. 264
Cf. Edited by L.R. Eleuteri, Twentieth-Century Jewelry: Art Nouveau to Modern Design, Electa, Milan, 1994, p. 24
Cf. Edited by L.R. Eleuteri, Twentieth-Century Jewelry: Art Nouveau to Modern Design, Electa, Milan, 1994, p. 24
Further Details
During the 1960s, in partnership with jeweler Baron Héger de Löwenfeld, French artist and founder of Cubism, Georges Braque (1882-1963) produced a collection of jewelry based on designs from his Metamorphoses drawings. Best known for his painting and sculpture, Braque created only this one single collection using the medium of jewelry during his career, making the pieces highly coveted by jewelry and modern art collectors alike.
The imagery used in the jewelry collection, featuring mostly zoomorphic themes, was taken principally from Braque’s lithographs and graphic work, in which it is often reduced to its most succinct form. The titles of each piece, conceived by Löwenfeld, are of Greek mythological origin, and intended as a tribute to Braque’s love of this subject in which ‘Metamorphosis’ plays an important role. Of the many artist-as-jeweler attempts made by his contemporaries, Braque’s collection was one of the most successful. The pieces were exhibited to the public at the Marsan Pavilion in Paris in March of 1963 and the French state purchased eleven of the jewels.
The ‘Icarios’ brooch offered here features a diamond-set bird in flight against a deep red lacquer background. Toward the end of his life, Braque explored the motif of birds in flight throughout various mediums, and the subject translates beautifully to this interesting and jeweled work of art. The ‘Icarios’ design was conceived in 1962 and executed in a numbered edition of eight, plus four artist’s proofs.
The imagery used in the jewelry collection, featuring mostly zoomorphic themes, was taken principally from Braque’s lithographs and graphic work, in which it is often reduced to its most succinct form. The titles of each piece, conceived by Löwenfeld, are of Greek mythological origin, and intended as a tribute to Braque’s love of this subject in which ‘Metamorphosis’ plays an important role. Of the many artist-as-jeweler attempts made by his contemporaries, Braque’s collection was one of the most successful. The pieces were exhibited to the public at the Marsan Pavilion in Paris in March of 1963 and the French state purchased eleven of the jewels.
The ‘Icarios’ brooch offered here features a diamond-set bird in flight against a deep red lacquer background. Toward the end of his life, Braque explored the motif of birds in flight throughout various mediums, and the subject translates beautifully to this interesting and jeweled work of art. The ‘Icarios’ design was conceived in 1962 and executed in a numbered edition of eight, plus four artist’s proofs.