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Lapis Art Deco brooch
In 1929, Jean Fouquet, Raymond Templier, and Gérard Sandoz, three of France’s leading jewelers, abruptly left the Société des Artistes Décorateurs, a professional organization made up of designers of furniture and interiors and decorative artists, to become part of a new avant-garde group known as Union des Artistes Modernes (UAM). Alongside other contemporary artists, the members sought to create art that was free of ornamentation and unlike anything that came before. Jean Fouquet was a third generation member of a jewelry family; his father was a renowned Art Nouveau artist. In contrast to the sweeping tendrils of Georges Fouquet’s pieces, his son’s jewelry embraced geometry, found inspiration in industry, and favored a Cubist aesthetic. This brooch was not made by Fouquet, but it strongly resembles a Fouquet brooch worn by Jean Lassalle in a photograph taken by d’Ora (Dora Kallmus) for L'Officiel de la Couture et de la Mode de Paris in March 1929. Jewelry by members of the UAM was copied by jewelers like Jakob Bengel in Idar-Oberstein, Germany and presumably others working in Europe and the United States.
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Art Deco brooch
Lapis Art Deco brooch
Possibly an imitation of: Jean Fouquet (French, 1899 – 1984)
French
1925–1930
Medium/Technique
Sterling silver, lapis lazuli, onyx
Dimensions
Height x width: 6.7 × 4.4 cm (2 5/8 × 1 3/4 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Carole Tanenbaum
Accession Number2018.4062
ClassificationsJewelry / Adornment – Brooches
In 1929, Jean Fouquet, Raymond Templier, and Gérard Sandoz, three of France’s leading jewelers, abruptly left the Société des Artistes Décorateurs, a professional organization made up of designers of furniture and interiors and decorative artists, to become part of a new avant-garde group known as Union des Artistes Modernes (UAM). Alongside other contemporary artists, the members sought to create art that was free of ornamentation and unlike anything that came before. Jean Fouquet was a third generation member of a jewelry family; his father was a renowned Art Nouveau artist. In contrast to the sweeping tendrils of Georges Fouquet’s pieces, his son’s jewelry embraced geometry, found inspiration in industry, and favored a Cubist aesthetic. This brooch was not made by Fouquet, but it strongly resembles a Fouquet brooch worn by Jean Lassalle in a photograph taken by d’Ora (Dora Kallmus) for L'Officiel de la Couture et de la Mode de Paris in March 1929. Jewelry by members of the UAM was copied by jewelers like Jakob Bengel in Idar-Oberstein, Germany and presumably others working in Europe and the United States.
DescriptionThis sterling silver brooch features cut-out geometric figures. A semicircle of lapis lazuli is bezel set on hammered sterling silver across from a flat onyx rectangle.
Marks
925
ProvenanceBetween about 1970s and 2018, acquired by Carole Tanenbaum, Toronto, Ontario [see note]; 2018, gift of Carole Tanenbaum to the MFA. (Accession Date: December 12, 2018)
NOTE: This is part of a large collection of costume jewelry given to the MFA in 2018, which had been built over about 40 years.
NOTE: This is part of a large collection of costume jewelry given to the MFA in 2018, which had been built over about 40 years.