From Library Journal
Explosion of color, drama of form, and juxtaposition of texture and contour best describe the jewelry of the Art Deco period, and Raulet has captured it all. Beginning with the "Birth of Art Deco," jewelry is put in context with early 20th-century art movements and its development traced along with its renowned creators. Abundant illustrations of fine examples of various popular motifs from the African, Egyptian, and Oriental to themes of fantasy and the world of the machine makes it easy to see the quality craftsmanship that prevailed. Included are eight chapters on topics ranging from influences on jewelry to haute joaillerie and costume jewelry. Brief biographies of eminent designers conclude the volume. Highly recommended. Stephen Allan Patrick, East Tennessee State Univ. Lib., Johnson City
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Book Description
After the extravagant forms of Art Nouveau, the Art Deco movement represented a return to simplicity and severity. As this book richly demonstrates, in that period jewelry found a virtually unlimited source of renewal. Designers drew inspiration from the entire vivid spectrum of the plastic arts: riotous colors in explosive combinations from the Ballets Russes and the Fauves, geometric shapes from Cubism and Suprematism, the contrast of black and white from Neo-Plasticism, and a fascination with the mechanical world from Futurism. Nor were its exponents confined to the modern European world: an Egyptian vogue was prompted by the 1922 discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun, while other themes were borrowed from the Far East, Persia, and Africa.
Art Deco Jewelry displays through sumptuous illustrations, coupled with a lucid and informative text, the creations of the haute joaillerie (jewelers such as Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels) and of the avant-garde designersJean Fouquet, Raymond Templier, Gérard Sandoz, Jean Durand, and Paul Brandtto whom we owe some of the most daring and brilliant jewels of the period. There is also an exquisite range of accessories: dainty vanity cases fashioned with the maximum of detail in the minimum of space, boxes and cigarette cases, and a spectacular array of clocks.
With the addition of succinct biographies of the most innovative and influential jewelers of the day, a select bibliography, and a glossary, this book serves as an essential reference for anyone interested in the period or in superb examples of the jeweler's art. 792 illustrations and photographs, 261 in color.