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Starting in the 1960s, fashion designers like Pierre Cardin introduced metal into fashion. Sometimes Cardin’s jewelry-like elements were directly connected to the garment—a little black dress with a necklace-like collar that falls down the front exposing skin between each link of the pendant is part of the MFA collection—and other times the jewelry was separate. The decade brought the introduction of high-end ready-to-wear fashions, called prêt-à-porter, which offered the versatility of mixing and matching garments and accessories. Shiny chrome is highly reflective and part of the Space Age Modernism introduced by French designers. In contrast to some of the more outlandish designs Cardin and his contemporaries created, jewelry like this necklace was highly wearable and perfectly paired with the era's streamlined mini-dresses.
Necklace
Designed by: Pierre Cardin (French, 1922 – 2020)
French (Paris)
1971
Medium/Technique
Chrome, acrylic
Dimensions
Height x width x depth: 36 x 12.3 x 3 cm (14 3/16 x 4 13/16 x 1 3/16 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Karen and Michael Rotenberg
Accession Number2010.304
CollectionsEurope, Jewelry, Contemporary Art
ClassificationsJewelry / Adornment – Necklaces and neck bands
Starting in the 1960s, fashion designers like Pierre Cardin introduced metal into fashion. Sometimes Cardin’s jewelry-like elements were directly connected to the garment—a little black dress with a necklace-like collar that falls down the front exposing skin between each link of the pendant is part of the MFA collection—and other times the jewelry was separate. The decade brought the introduction of high-end ready-to-wear fashions, called prêt-à-porter, which offered the versatility of mixing and matching garments and accessories. Shiny chrome is highly reflective and part of the Space Age Modernism introduced by French designers. In contrast to some of the more outlandish designs Cardin and his contemporaries created, jewelry like this necklace was highly wearable and perfectly paired with the era's streamlined mini-dresses.
DescriptionNecklace consisting of a flat metal neckband from which hangs five flat metal pieces graduated in size and connected by links. The smallest top panel and the largest bottom panel are decorated with a bezel set clear acrylic half sphere.
Provenance1971, purchased by Karen Rotenberg, Boston, in Paris; gift of Rotenberg and her husband Michael to the MFA (Accession date: April 14, 2010)
CopyrightReproduced with permission.