Mastery of Design: The William Pick Necklace, 1913

Necklace of gold and opals
1913
The Victoria & Albert Museum

This exquisite Arts and Crafts necklace was made by William Pick of the Dryad Metal Works in Leicester, England, in early 1913.

The necklace was commissioned by Basil Gimson (nephew of the Arts and Crafts architect and furniture designer Ernest Gimson) for his bride, Alice Muriel Goodman, who wore it on their wedding day, April 8, 1913.

Basil's mother wrote to her son about the necklace:

"This morning Sydney and I were at the Dryad talking to Mr Peach. He spoke of the gold necklace Mr Pick is making for Muriel. He said they had picked out some first rate opals for it. From his description it sounded like a very costly affair, so I said: 'Oh, but there is a limit of price. '  'Yes, I know, but I have told Pick we are going to do this thing just tip top, the very best possible. It shall defy competition! Gimsons have been the very best customers we have ever had, and we are going to turn out something worth having!'"

The piece is comprised of gold openwork with an elaborate central pendant of foliage design.  The pendant has been set with four opals and hung with a long pearl drop. 

Sunday Morning Special: All's Fair at the Fair, 1938

"All's Fair at the Fair" was released in 1938, and was a Color Classic produced by Max Fleischer and distributed by Paramount.

A review of the short written upon its release describes it thusly:

"A couple of sticks visit the Fair grounds, and find themselves participating in a series of adventures with the ultra-modern mechanism operated by robots. Finally, they reach the dance pavilion, and the wife and husband each are taken in hand by robots and whirled around the floor. Other mechanical gags give them a marvelous meal, beauty and barber treatments, and clinical attention to restore their youth. Very clever and novel. A Max Fleischer cartoon in Technicolor."

Fleischer intended then cartoon as a nod to the coming 1939 New York World's Fair.

History's Runway: The Opal Holt Evening Dress, 1934

Evening Gown
Madeleine Vionnet, 1934
The Victoria & Albert Museum

One look at this elegant evening dress immediately puts one in mind of the beauty of the 1930s.  This gown was designed by Madeleine Vionnet.  Vionnet was celebrated for the structure of her gowns which relied on her innovative use of fabric which she "cut on the bias" (against the straight grain of the material).

This approach is evident here with this glossy silk velvet gown in black.  It features a cross-over, blousey bodice and trim skirt that weighs a mere 380 grams.

This dress was made in the designers Paris Fashion House for one Mrs. Opal Holt in 1934.

Opal Holt was born in Canada in 1887 but lived in the United States until the end of the Second World War. Holt was famously aboard the first plane to land in Bali. Opal's third husband, Herbert Holt, was a Canadian who lived a large part of his life in England. The couple travelled to England and Europe every summer so that Opal could shop for clothes. She died in 1980.

The Home Beautiful: The Cuzner Silver Bowl, 1904-5

Silver Bowl set with Opals
Bernard Cuzner for Liberty's, 1904-5
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Birmingham-based designer Bernard Cuzner (1877-1956) designed this silver bowl between 1904and 1905.  Set with fiery South Australian opals, the bowl was one of his best-known designs for Liberty & Co., the London department store founded by Arthur Lasenby Liberty in 1875.  This design was so popular that copies with minor variations were repeatedly commissioned by private collectors who favored the store's Celebrated "Cymric" line of silverware and jewelry.

Cuzner, like the designer Archibald Knox, favored the craftsmanship of W.H. Haseler and worked with him to create this bowl based on his designs.

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Gifts of Grandeur: The May Morris Opal Stickpin, 1903

Stickpin
May Morris, 1903
The Victoria & Albert Museum

May Morris (1862-1938); the daughter of the artist, designer and socialist William Morris; was a talented embroideress and jeweler in her own right. She started designing jewelry around the turn of the 20th century--inspired by the Birmingham jewelers Arthur and Georgie Gaskin, who were old family friends.

As was the style of the time, May favored colorful stones, usually cabochon-cut or uncut entirely, and found much inspiration in European folk jewellery.

Here, from the V&A, we see an excellent example of her work.  This stickpin of gold is set with a white opal, water opals and pearls.  It was made by May Morris around 1903.

Other jewels by Miss Morris.

Object of the Day, Museum Edition: The Archibald Knox Cigarette Box, 1903-04

Cymric Cigarette Case
Designed by Archibald Knox for Liberty's, 1903-4
Silver set with Opals
The Victoria & Albert Museum

In the early Twentieth Century as smoking grew more fashionable for men, jewelers saw an opportunity to cash in on this new, unhealthy fad by creating luxurious cases for cigarettes in the same way they made snuffboxes two centuries earlier.

This box was of silver was designed by Archibald Knox for Liberty of London's "Cymric" line of silverware and jewellery.  As a designer, Knox's creations owe stylistically to the British Arts and Crafts movement and the work of C. R. Ashbee and his Guild of Handicraft in particular.

Charles Robert Ashbee was quick to notice the similarities of Liberty's designs to his work and he complained loudly that Liberty's unabashedly plagiarized his  works.  However, close inspection reveals that while there is a shallow similarity, Liberty's metalwork was, overall, more confident and bolder than the work of the Guild of Handicraft.

Let's take a look at this handsome case.  It is made of silver in a rectangular form with a cedarwood lining with two interior partitions. The front half of the hinged lid is embossed with an intricate pattern of interlacing designs which run down over the front of the body and onto the front half of each side.

The lid is elegantly set with a large opal in a heart shaped mount with smaller, cabochon opals in the front and on each side.

Knox's work was predominantly made in Birmingham, England for retail in London. This piece was made in Birmingham between 1903 and 1904.  Knox employed a metalworker called W.H. Hassler to produce his designs.