Alexander Calder - Jewels New York Monday, December 7, 2020 | Phillips

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      • Circa 1946

      • Unsigned
        Brass, approximately 6.75 x 4.00 inches

        This work is registered in the archives of the Calder Foundation, New York, under application number A18148.

        Provenance: Gifted by the artist to Florence Knoll-Bassett, circa 1946

        Exhibited: New York, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Alexander Calder: A Retrospective Exhibition, November 6, 1964 – January 31, 1965, no. 94B; traveled to Art Gallery of Toronto, Mobiles and Stabiles by Calder, The Man Who Made Sculpture Move, May 1965, no. 94B [not illustrated]; traveled to Paris, Musée National d'Art Moderne, Calder, July 8 – October 15, 1965, no. 137.

    • Catalogue Essay

      The Personal Jewelry Collection of Florence Knoll Bassett

      Throughout our lives, possessions increasingly reflect who we are, or at least how we want to see ourselves. In the case of Florence Knoll Bassett, architect, interior designer, furniture designer and textile innovator, her jewelry collection is the mosaic of her life. Personally curated selections, tokens of affection from her husbands and children, and gifts from friends, all tell a story of a woman who loved quality, color and a modern aesthetic.

      Working on the Knoll jewelry estate has been an education in respect for one’s treasures. When the lid to her bequeathed jewels was initially opened, a tidy row of A4 envelopes housing each jewel were revealed. Individually catalogued with a number, title of work, the maker and a color sketch to the right, these envelopes reinforced that the functional, orderly, sleek principles of design that Florence instilled at Knoll Associates carried through to her personal life. This was not a velvet drawered jewelry box, rather a utilitarian filing system which rejected frivolous ornamentation.

      Knoll was a stickler for quality. She curated her jewelry collection by selecting signed pieces from brands that promised premier gemstones and craftmanship. For example, her “Sapphire, Emerald, Diamond and Gold Brooch” by Van Cleef & Arpels is set with a stunning blue sapphire of Burmese origin. As seen in this jewel, her personal stationery, and throughout countless Knoll furniture designs, blue was undoubtedly her favorite color. Likewise, she once admired the colorful, Moghul inspired “Diamond, Emerald, Ruby and Gold Clip Brooch” from a Cartier store window, and it was later gifted to Knoll by her second husband, Harry Hood Bassett. Additionally, her diamond necklace by Cartier, which can be further embellished by suspending a sensational 8.86 carat marquise-cut diamond is a classic yet contemporary jewel that transcends design fads- much like Knoll’s own creations.

      Perhaps most emblematic of her style are Knoll’s jewels by American sculptor, painter, and jeweler, Alexander Calder. Calder met Knoll in the 1940s. His dear friend, Herbert Matter, was hired by Knoll in 1946 as the primary design consultant for Knoll Inc., and Matter remained there working closely with Florence for the next twenty years. Thus, Calder and Florence developed a close friendship that resulted in gifts in the form of three important pieces of Calder jewelry. The most intimate offering was certainly “A Brass Belt Buckle” in the shape of a shoe. This was a visual pun referencing Knoll’s nickname “Shu,” as her maiden name was Schust. Surprisingly, most of Calder’s jewelry was indeed made for friends and typically gifted on momentous occasions. For intimate friends, Calder generously presented everything from their initials to an array of playful puns in the forms of brooches, rings, necklaces, combs and earrings. For example, Cordelia Pond was gifted a fish and Frances Hawkins was presented with a hawk. According to his friends, this was typical of Sandy’s personality. “Making jewelry provided an escape valve for the comic and whimsical impulses Calder’s major work couldn’t always contain” (Pearl, 2017, p. 577) recalls Jed Pearl. Notably, during his lifetime, Calder’s jewelry was acquired by only a few collectors who purchased his pieces as unique works of art. The majority of his jewels were personalized and offered as gifts.

      The admiration was mutual; Knoll “popularized the idea of putting art in offices, including work from Jackson Pollock, Alexander Calder, and other artists” (“Fast Company,” 2020, para. 10). According to Paul Makovsky of Metropolis, “Knoll was one of the few furniture companies in the United States to showcase contemporary art alongside Modern furniture in its showrooms, creating visual dialogues between unique works of art and mass- produced designs, an affirmation of the company’s commitment to Modernism.” These creative contemporaries devoted their lives to the modern aesthetic, each proselytizing the movement three-dimensionally, using smart lines and primary colors, albeit through different mediums. It is no surprise that they were friends.

      Phillips is thrilled to offer the personal collection of Florence Knoll Bassett’s important jewels that uniquely bridge the worlds of jewelry, art and design.

    • Artist Biography

      Alexander Calder

      American • 1898 - 1976

      Alexander Calder worked as an abstract sculptor and has been commonly referred to as the creator of the mobile. He employed industrious materials of wire and metal and transformed them into delicate geometric shapes that respond to the wind or float in air. Born into a family of sculptors, Calder created art from childhood and moved to Paris in 1926, where he became a pioneer of the international avant-garde. In addition to his mobiles, Calder produced an array of public constructions worldwide as well as drawings and paintings that feature the same brand of abstraction. Calder was born in Lawnton, Pennsylvania.

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A Brass Belt Buckle

Circa 1946
Unsigned
Brass, approximately 6.75 x 4.00 inches

This work is registered in the archives of the Calder Foundation, New York, under application number A18148.

Provenance: Gifted by the artist to Florence Knoll-Bassett, circa 1946

Exhibited: New York, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Alexander Calder: A Retrospective Exhibition, November 6, 1964 – January 31, 1965, no. 94B; traveled to Art Gallery of Toronto, Mobiles and Stabiles by Calder, The Man Who Made Sculpture Move, May 1965, no. 94B [not illustrated]; traveled to Paris, Musée National d'Art Moderne, Calder, July 8 – October 15, 1965, no. 137.

Full Cataloguing

Estimate
$20,000 - 40,000 

Sold for $21,420

Contact Specialist

Susan Abeles
Head of Department, Americas and Senior International Specialist
New York
+1 212 940 1383

Jewels

New York Auction 7 December 2020