Brooch with Nude

Description This is one of the more wearable pieces by Lalique purchased by Henry Walters at the Saint Louis World's Fair in 1904. A gold, kneeling nude woman, with her body turned at the waist and her arms raised behind her head, is placed against a curvilinear, symmetrical gold framework set with small diamonds. Characteristic of Lalique's most flamboyant Art Nouveau style is the nude's enameled, cascading red hair. The use of an entire human figure as a decorative motif was considered a remarkable innovation in jewelry design.

Conservation

Date	Description	Narrative
12/07/1964	Treatment	cleaned
7/01/1979	Loan Consideration	other
6/10/1983	Loan Consideration	examined for loan
7/03/1984	Treatment	cleaned
11/17/1987	Examination	examined for condition

Exhibitions

• Art Nouveau from Maryland Collections. Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore. 1979.
• Jewelry - Ancient to Modern. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1979-1980.
• Objects of Adornment: Five Thousand Years of Jewelry from the Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, New York; Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk; Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh; San Antonio Museum of Art, San Antonio; Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa; Honolulu Academy of Arts, Honolulu; New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans; Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee; Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis; Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo; The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota. 1984-1987.
• Jewelry from the Walters Art Gallery and the Zucker Family Collection. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1987.

Provenance World's Fair, St. Louis, Missouri, 1904 [no. 22]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1904, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

Credit Acquired by Henry Walters, 1904