
Jennifer Tonkin
Co-Head of Department UK
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£8,000 - £12,000
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Co-Head of Department UK

Co-Head of Department UK
Jean Eugène Gilbert Després (1889-1980) was the ultimate studio artist-jeweller and one of the most innovative during the 1920s and 1930s. In addition to an apprenticeship in Paris, Després took drawing lessons in the evenings and socialised with many key figures of the Cubist and Futurist movements. Much of his work consists of bold geometric forms, profoundly influenced by his time as a draughtsman for an aircraft factory during the war, where he gained significant experience in industrial design and working with metal. In the March 1934 edition of 'L'Art et les Artistes', Magdeleine Armand-Dayot wrote of Després, "He produces little, because he wants to do it all himself, with nothing mass-produced". Després worked predominantly in silver for its whiteness, then very much in vogue, with flourishes of semi-precious stones such as onyx, coral and turquoise. His 'engine jewellery' of the 1930s bore the hallmarks of his time as an aeronautical draughtsman and pieces were given names such as, 'Connecting Rod' and 'Crankshaft'. The mechanical design of this bracelet is comparable with two gold and silver brooches, circa 1930, see Gabardi, M., 'Art Deco Jewellery, 1920 - 1949', pub. Antique Collectors Club, Suffolk, 1989, ill.p.38. For further information, see ed. Mouillefarine, L. and Possémé, É., 'Art Deco Jewelry', pub. Thames & Hudson, London, 2009, pp.116-127.