Mastery of Design: A Coral and Diamond Brooch, 1925

Brooch
French, 1925
Platinum, Diamonds, Coral, Nephrite Jade, Onyx
The Victoria & Albert Museum

In response to the sharp lines and icy contrast of jewelry designs of the Art Deco period, new styles emerged that referred to the curvilinear forms and brighter colors of the early Victorian. While these designs still relied on geometrical elements, they began to focus once again on the curvilinear and organic.


Take, for instance, this beautiful brooch of coral and diamonds by an unknown French jeweler. Created in 1925, the piece features Art Deco mainstays: platinum, diamonds, and black onyx, but enlivens them with carved coral, nephrite jade, and enamel as a lush arrangement of realistic, diamond-set flowers. The design is a stylized version of popular floral basket themes which dominated jewelry of the Georgian and Victorian eras.

This brooch came from France to the V&A via the United States. It was a gift from the American Friends of the V&A through the generosity of Patricia V. Goldstein.