There is no question that we are both fascinated and repelled by snakes. Putting aside Freud and phallic symbols, and Genesis with the demon serpent, we get to Charles Darwin. Snakes are potentially dangerous, and our brain instantly responds to anything that resembles a snake because any earlier ancestors who weren’t so alert, might not have lived to pass on their genes. We are by far not the onl…
There was a time when just about every woman longed to have a piece of jewelry, no matter how modest. It was something personal, and precious to the owner. It might have been handed down in a family, or a gift from a loved one. The fact of its being in an earlier style made it even more special – it had a history. Now, we tend to look upon jewelry differently. Granny’s necklace may have been styli…
The hot new trend being reported by fashion magazines is for women to get rid of the sweats and hoodies, and look smart and elegant in crisply tailored, simple dresses and suits, skirts and slacks with jackets, and, yes, a skirt or slacks with a nice blouse or sweater. I can’t help but think that this “old” style of dress has been made popular again by the award-winning TV series Mad Men. The wome…
We have recently acquired this amazing bracelet and we couldn’t wait to share it with you. In fact we will be bringing it with us to the International Fine Art " src="/storage/uploads/2026/09/art-smith-lava-bracelet-circa-1946-brooklyn-museum-gift-of-charles-l.-russell-80fb46ea.jpg" border="0" alt="" width="122" height="200" /> What struck me immediately about this bracelet is how modern the desig…
While the term “cocktail” was first used in 1803, and the first Bartender’s Guide was published in 1862, the first recorded actual “Cocktail Party” was given by a Mrs. Julius Walsh of St Louis, Missouri in 1917. The idea obviously caught on, as Cocktail Parties (called Drinks Parties in England) became an increasingly fashionable way to consume spirits in public, and the Cocktail Party soon became…
Salvador Dali’s Telephone Earrings Salvador Dali was one of the most successful artists in translating images from his paintings into jewelry. It was during the 1940’s and 1950’s that he actually created a body of jewelry based on his singular surrealist images. Some of the designs for these jewels were taken directly from his paintings. He wanted to transform the two dimensional into the third di…
Many wealthy and style-conscious American women continued to travel to Paris for their clothes and jewels, and important American jewelry houses opened offices or showrooms in Paris, both to keep their traveling clients faithful, and to keep up with the latest styles. In the matter of jewelry design, the French have always been regarded as leaders. The adjective 'French' has, for centuries, been s…
After the end of WW2, jewelry design underwent a revolution. Gone were the abstract curves and polished surfaces, texture of every kind was now in fashion, and naturalism a major theme. This new jewelry was refreshing and exciting.
It is a great art to die well and to be learnt by men in health…Place your coffin in your own eye: dig your own grave. -Jeremy Taylor, 1665 Death. It is an unavoidable aspect of all human life, but in our culture it is a taboo subject - discussed only when necessary, and even then, usually in a whisper. Centuries ago, however, the reality of death was embraced - not surprising - considering that t…
One of the most fascinating aspects of Art Deco jewelry is the diversity of stylistic elements it encompasses. While one important aspect of Art Deco jewelry is rigorously geometric, and limited in color largely to white and black, with occasional touches of color, there is another major aspect of Art Deco jewelry that is full of curves, set with colorful stones, often carved, and embellished with…
The early 20th century was perhaps unique in art history with regard to the number of radical stylistic changes that took place in a very short space of time. By 1925, we had gone from the organic, vegetal excesses of Art Nouveau to the geometric forms, sharp angles, bold colors and smooth, polished surfaces that characterize Art Deco -- from maidens with flowing hair and dragonflies to machine pa…
Jewelry of the 1930's was different from the earlier Art Deco, although there were still some geometric elements present. Yellow gold was now in favor, and the hard geometry of Art Deco became softer and more sensual. Gold was now highly polished, and often curved and fluted. Single geometric elements, such as cubes or balls were preferred to the mix of geometric elements found in much Art Deco. C…
