Thursday, March 27, 2014

Lalique Collar Necklace

Thursday, March 27, 2014
Loretta reports:

Today, jewelry.

As I reported in my post about the amazing Art Nouveau bedroom set at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, the Sidney and Francis Lewis Galleries had me in a state of swoon.  There’s more furniture, which I hope to present at a future date.  But first I thought you might like a look at one of the several stunning examples of René Lalique’s jewelry—something one doesn't find a lot of online.


I had seen photos of Edwardian era women wearing collar necklaces but this was my first chance to look closely.  This “Umbels Collar” is dated ca. 1901-2, and made of gold, enamel, glass, and diamonds.  As the articles here and here mention, Art Nouveau artists and craftsmen used stylized natural forms.  Here, we’re looking at the flowers of everyday herbs.  But we'll see bugs, birds, and reptiles as well.

Consuelo Vanderbilt was fortunate to have the long, swanlike neck to wear this style successfully.  I’m not sure it’s quite so becoming here

Another example of a Lalique collar, but without the chain, is here at Wikipedia.






5 comments:

Cynthia Lambert said...

Alexandra, Princess of Wales, started the collier de chien (dog collar)craze because she had a scar on her neck that she wanted to cover. It caught on, as she was a trendsetter, and it was a status symbol, as it took a lot of pearls/diamonds/whatever to create the piece, so only the wealthy could have them. It looked good on most women, but I agree that Consuelo Vanderbilt wore it most successfully because of the extraordinary length of her neck. One wonders where that swan neck (and those looks) came from. Her mother had no neck and looked like a bulldog.

Unknown said...
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Unknown said...

As a writer of historical Romances I enjoy your site. Today's piece has inspired the bead jewelry designer side of me. Keep up the great posts!

Anonymous said...

The dress in the link is exquisite, as were most of Redfern's creations.

Anonymous said...

Just discovered your blog. Throughly enjoy your work. I am jewelry designer for a costume collector and love to read about historical tidbits. Kathleenlynagh

 
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