Posted 1 year ago
rhineisfine
(17 items)
When I came across this brooch, at first I doubted it was by Gustave Sherman! This style isn't in either of the published books about Sherman jewellery, and I'd never seen one like it before. But it does have several Sherman signatures: bright Swarovski rhinestones, clean rhodium plating, and most of all, the oval cartouche. I'm guessing this is a very early brooch in uncharacteristic Art Deco style. It features clear rhinestones only, and no aurora borealis finish (which also fits the earlier time frame). From tip to tip, it's 2.75" or 7 cm in length. I absolutely love the style and the brilliance of its stones, which I've had great difficulty capturing on camera.
P.S. Edited the post to swap out the main photo with a newer (hopefully better) one of the brooch's front.
Awesome Sherman brooch, what a fabulous & unique deco design
Very unusual, at first had to see if it was any kind of rep, but no could not find anything. It has one of the earliest signatures of Sherman in the oval cartouche, so very early 1950's, likely. The stones and rhodium plating look quite fresh and an undocumented design which makes this one all the more collectible. You got yourself a beautiful gem. Nothing better than an unknown design in such good shape, congrats, rhineisfine !~
Goodness, this is really BEAUTIFUL!!!
@Newfld, thank you for the kind comment and the love!
@PhilDMorris, thank you for your take on this, and for your congratulations. I have to admit, I wondered if it might be some sort of rep/fake too, but could find no sign of that on close examination. My guess (and that's all it is) is that it's an earlier design that was simply not popular enough to keep in rotation, but was abandoned as Art Deco waned in fashionability. I'd have bought the brooch unsigned, since I love Art Deco; but that Sherman cartouche is truly the cherry on top. Thanks again!
@jscott0363, thank you for the sweet comment and for the love!
Thank you all very much for the love:
sherrilou
vetraio50
GianaMZ
Newfld
fortapache
BHIFOS
plein-air-painter
dav2no1
PhilDMorris
bethany3cat
jscott0363
kyratango
Looking at this twice seems to let all the envy in as it seems more important on closer inspection. Sherman had so many pieces that you would swear you never saw before and not many are seen again after you have that one or never again come afterward. If there were another book on Sherman in the future this piece would surely be worthy enough to have a place in it !~
Thank you all for the love, much appreciated:
Leelani
inky
Searching1
@PhilDMorris, thank you very much for your kind comments. That is high praise indeed, to say that it is worthy of inclusion in a Sherman book. I regard your opinion very highly. As you may know, my pockets are relatively shallow so as a rule I don't expect to buy anything that might be considered a masterpiece. This time I just got lucky!
Beautiful brooch, good analysis. Among the limited number of Sherman pieces I have seen, Art Deco style does seem to indicate an early piece. Will add that duplicity of design seems to echo what Coro — which was creating their masterpieces a sort of jagged near south of the Sherman factory, on the same side of the continent — was doing with its duettes in the fifties.
@Daisy1000, thank you very much for the love and for your thoughtful input. It's helpful to hear that this may indeed be an earlier piece. Not sure what this kind of symmetrical asymmetry is called (!), but I really like it. Will check out Coro for examples of their duettes, thank you for the suggestion!
What a fabulous find! I have seen this brooch by Sherman only once before. Rare piece and so lovely.
@Dawnlady1, thank you for your kind comment! You’re the first person I know of who has seen this brooch before. By any chance, were there matching earrings or even a necklace to the one you saw? I’d love to see this style expressed in those pieces!
@kwqd, @raven3766, thank you both very much for the love.
Thank you for loving my brooch, @Andreamw.
Also a great piece to show the direction of Paving which Sherman was to excell in, I don't remember ever seeing this exact design on a pair of earrings, but if he did do a pair they would be exceeding in their beauty !~
PhilDMorris, thank you (belatedly) for your very thoughtful comment. As you say, Sherman's paving here is superb, as it always is where this great artist is concerned. It's indeed my hope that someday I may find a matching pair of earrings for this lovely brooch, although so far no luck! If I ever do manage it, I will share photographs here for sure.
And thank you to the following folks for kindly loving my brooch: yeadonite, Faith.k, Andreamw, raven3766, kwqd and Newfld! It is greatly appreciated.
Rhineisfine, I don’t recall seeing matching earrings, however there must be some somewhere. Your brooch is quite rare so whenever you see a pair be sure to nab them. Happy hunting.
Dawnlady1, I haven't seen truly matching earrings either! The closest thing I've found so far is here -- https://imgur.com/a/9GNJeKL -- and while they're similar in look and feel, they're not a true match. These earrings are made with true baguettes, whereas the "baguettes" in the brooch are actually wedge-shaped, more trapezoids than rectangular.