Van Cleef and Arpels

Rummaging around a junk draw in the curiosity shop I came across this little piece of jewelry.

This is the Walska Brooch and Pendant that was created by the New York branch of Van Cleef and Arpels in 1971. The wings can come off and become earrings, the tail can be worn separately as a brooch, and the jewel in the bird's mouth can become a pendant.

This beautiful piece can be found at an interesting Smithsonian online exhibit based on a real exhibit at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in New York. Founded in Paris in 1896 during the latter part of Art Nouveau period, Van Cleef and Arpels opened a shop in New York in 1931 and became one of the dominant jewelry design houses of the 20th century.

The website opens on a quickly moving slide show based on dramatic nouns like Innovation, Transformation, etc. Click on any one of them to visit a page about that topic with many spectacular examples of fine jewelry. The black band at the top of the home page gives you access to the just mentioned pages as well as a page of you tube video interviews and the exhibition documentation. The site is a little quirky. Some of the slides move by rather quickly, but clicking on any slide sends you to another still picture with detailed descriptions. Other examples are hidden. There are navigation instructions at the bottom of major pages. Several of the pieces like the one below come from the collection of Elizabeth Taylor.  The site is definitely worth a look.