Pansy Brooch
This magnificent brooch is an outstanding example of Lalique's floral jewelry creations, which due to their sheer size and delicacy, were probably never intended to be worn. Here, three overlapping pansies on either side of a central, simulated step-cut sapphire combine molded glass blossoms with openwork enameled petals growing out of stems also covered with translucent blue enamel. Henry Walters bought this piece from Lalique in 1904 at the World's Fair in St. Louis, Missouri.
This realistic brooch with its symmetrical design and use of glass and "plique-à-jour" (openwork) enamel for the petals anticipates Lalique's future work. Within several years, the artist abandoned both jewelry and the Art Nouveau style to devote himself to the production of glass molded in the Art Deco style.
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object.
World's Fair, St. Louis, Missouri, 1904 [no. 32]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1904, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Exhibitions
2014-2016 | From Rye to Raphael: The Walters Story. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. |
2012-2014 | Inventing the Modern World: Decorative Arts at World's Fairs, 1851-1939. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City; Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh; New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans; Mint Museum of Art Uptown, Charlotte. |
2010 | Bedazzled: 5,000 Years of Jewelry. El Paso Museum of Art, El Paso. |
2006-2009 | Bedazzled: 5,000 Years of Jewelry from the Walters Art Museum. Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Nashville; The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota; The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. |
2002-2004 | A Magnificent Age: Masterpieces from the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore; The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City; Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte. |
2002 | Serapis: The Creation of a God. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. |
1998-1999 | Jewels of Lalique. Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, New York; Ripley Center, Smithsonian Institution, Washington; Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas. |
1996-1997 | Russian Enamels. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. |
1986 | Glass from the World's Fairs. Corning Museum of Glass, Corning. |
1979-1980 | Jewelry - Ancient to Modern. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. |
Geographies
France, Paris (Place of Origin)
Measurements
H: 3 3/16 × W: 5 1/4 × D: 7/8 in. (8.1 × 13.34 × 2.2 cm)
Credit Line
Acquired by Henry Walters, 1904
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
57.943