Arts and Crafts Jewelry in Boston Ar Ts Crafts Jewelr

ARTS ARTS AND CRAFTS JEWELRY CRAFTS JEWELRY IN BOSTON ARTS AND CRAFTS JEWELRY IN BOSTON FRANK GARDNER HALE AND HIS CIRCLE ARTS AND CRAFTS JEWELRY IN BOSTON FRANK GARDNER HALE AND HIS CIRCLE Nonie Gadsden Meghan Melvin Emily Stoehrer MFA Publications Museum of Fine Arts, Boston CONTENTS Director’s Foreword · 7 The Rise of Art Jewelry in Boston · 9 Nonie Gadsden The Making of an Artist Jeweler · 33 Meghan Melvin The Boston Look and Its Creators · 65 Emily Stoehrer Consuming Arts and Crafts · 93 Emily Stoehrer Legacy and Influence · 121 Nonie Gadsden Appendix 1 The Frank Gardner Hale Archive · 137 Appendix 2 Boston Jewelry Makers · 149 Notes · 159 List of Illustrations · 167 Acknowledgments · 179 Index · 183 THE RISE OF ART JEWELRY IN BOSTON Nonie Gadsden In 1901, a writer for the Boston Globe introduced the city’s readers to the latest fashion in jewelry design: “The vogue of the new ‘art’ jewelry is now established by the right of the exquisite color and designs of the pieces slowly put forth by the goldsmith. Colored golds, enamels, a fanciful, grace- ful design, and a few splendid gems are the characteristics that distinguish these new ornaments from the old style set pieces that women have long worn with complete satisfaction. We can expect to see a complete revolu- tion in the contents of every well supplied jewel box.”1 In fact, this “revolu- tion” in jewelry design was already under way in Boston. The concept of art jewelry had emerged in Europe in the 1890s in reac- tion to the elaborate, ostentatious, and frequently machine-manufactur ed Victorian and Edwardian styles. Often made in matching sets, that jewelry prioritized the intrinsic value of the gemstones, usually diamonds, over the design of their settings; one critic charged that jewelers’ work “had gradu- ally lapsed into mere gem- selling.”2 In contrast, art jewelry was conceived as - one- of a-kind works of wearable art that emphasized creative expression through unified design, color harmony, and skilled craftsmanship. Makers of art jewelry, whether independent craftsmen or part of a larger firm, considered themselves artists, not tradesmen.3 Art jewelry gained popularity in Boston among wealthy patrons who could afford to purchase their ornaments from London or Paris. By the end of the first decade of the new century, Boston itself had become a hot- bed of art jewelry production. In a 1916 article on “Handwrought Jewelry 9 30 The Rise of Art Jewelry in Boston The Rise of Art Jewelry in Boston 31 years, especially in gold and enamel work.”45 A necklace by Hale with a delicate, pearl- studded chain supporting a diamond- shaped pendant illustrates the type of work they praised: a large, square, ice-blue aquamarine framed in gold and black enamel is surrounded by Renaissance- style overlapping scrollwork highlighted by alternating small aquamarines and pearls (fig. 15). The scrolls at the corners of the pendant are filled with black glossy enamel, defining the overall shape and offering contrast to the lighter gold, blue, and white in the rest of the composition. A reviewer for the Boston Transcript agreed, asserting that the exhibition offered “a fair idea of the present status of the jewelers and enamellers identified with the arts and crafts movement in America” and noting the increase in use of gold and precious stones resulting in designs “conceived in harmony with the rarity and value of the materials, in the direction of a more refined and delicate composition.”46 This description cap- tures the emergence of a “Boston style” of Arts and Crafts jewelry that would become even more dominant in the years to come. Mature Boston Arts and Crafts jewelry is noted for its delicate designs, excellent craftsmanship, and harmoni- ous use of color and materials. Boston work uses gold more than silver and emphasizes bold color combinations with enamels and gemstones, both precious and semiprecious. Delicate scrollwork and vegetal elements compose the settings, and the overall composition of the pieces extends to the chains and the clasps. fig. 15 Boston Arts and Crafts jewelry combined English Arts and Crafts produc- Photographs in the Hale archive reveal that he made tion methods and motifs with some of the materials and flash associated several variations of this neck- with French Art Nouveau, albeit in a more conservative version. What was fig. 14 lace design. This example is said of jewels made by Frank Gardner Hale could also apply to those made Hale combines enamel colors missing the gold or gem- set by members of his Boston circle: “His work has the sure touch of mastery, and textures with gold foil to drops that originally hung emulate the iridescent feath- from the loops on three and in design and color is beautiful, with a sanity of treatment that makes it ers of the peacock’s tail. corners of the pendant. perfectly wearable.”47 38 the making of an artist jeweler the making of an artist jeweler 39 antly surprised to find that he had friends or acquaintances in common with them. On an excursion with the Ashbees to the Warwick pageant he ran into the extended family of Henry Hunt Clark, who later came to stay at the Guild himself. As a handsome young American, Hale no doubt added Though troubled by homesickness, the sociable Hale integrated quickly novelty to the Ashbees’ social circles, as they entertained prominent cli- into the Guild community. Ashbee and his young wife, Janet, often had Hale ents, including the important Hungarian patrons Elsa and Zombor de Szasz. and other craftspeople over to their home for meals or to spend the eve- fig. 19 Janet was particularly welcoming of Hale; of one of their frequent musical ning “smoking and looking over works printed at Guild,” surely of interest Charles Robert Ashbee’s evenings, he reported, “Mrs. Ashbee played on the spinet & sang old folk dramatic peacock brooch, to Hale as a graphic designer. Frequent outings to places of note such as songs. She looked very beautiful in a flowing green silk gown.” wrought in silver and gold and fig. 20 Oxford gave him opportunities to see both historic and contemporary art. embellished with blister pearls These drawings show Hale The lasting influence of Ashbee and the Guild on Hale was primarily He was particularly impressed by the monumental Day of Creation series of and diamonds, was widely working out designs of his philosophical, but some of Ashbee’s jewelry designs, such as a striking pea- stained- glass windows by the Pre-Raphaelite Edward Burne- Jones and the illustrated in contemporary own jeweled and enameled cock brooch designed for Janet, made an impression on the younger crafts- periodicals. Hale may have peacock pendant brooch Arts and Crafts luminary William Morris at Manchester College.19 man. Hale designed and fabricated several versions of a closely related seen the brooch in person (pl. 3). Ashbee’s design The Ashbees and the Guild were somewhat of an international artis- during his time at the Guild of had clearly made a lasting peacock pendant brooch over the course of his career (figs. 19, 20). In con- tic attraction. American visitors stopped in regularly, and Hale was pleas- Handicraft. impression. trast to Ashbee’s muted palette, Hale’s piece incorporates a highly color- plate 6 An opal pendant, framed plate 7 by scrolling gold elements The subtle differences accented with sapphires and between Hale’s carefully green garnets and Hale’s sig- composed drawing and the nature grape clusters, is one finished piece show how the of the foremost examples of design evolved as the pendant the colorful “Boston look.” was executed. plate 18 Cabochon- cut chrysoprase plate 19 plate 20 and pearls with gold floral Rogers combined polychrome This brooch by Elizabeth surrounds alternate in this gemstones in innovative Copeland, with a turquoise in necklace by Margaret Rogers. ways. The gems shine, as the a floral- garlanded gold frame The short- style necklace metalwork disappears into and a small opal drop, is strik- was a form that Rogers often the background, in a brooch ingly similar to the one worn repeated, using different col- featuring a central opal sur- by Paxton’s mother, Rose, in ors of gemstones and natural rounded by pearl, citrine, and her portrait. motifs in metal. pink sapphire. 96 Consuming Arts and Crafts While retail records and annual reports offer evidence of vibrant sales, there remain few written accounts of the style choices of Boston women, but depictions by contemporary Bos- ton painters offer a wealth of information on the city residents’ fashion preferences. When these paintings are considered alongside national fashion magazines like Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar, which chronicled high- style American fashion, and decorative arts publications like House Beau- tiful, which discussed work by artist- craftspeople, including jewelers, a picture begins to emerge of the clothing that accompanied this jewelry. William Paxton’s painting The New Neck- lace offers a glimpse inside the home of a Boston woman in 1910 (fig. 35). The intimate scene was likely staged in the artist’s studio, but the sump- tuous clothing, period furniture, and decorative arts illustrate the era’s interest in Asian art as well as taste for lavishly decorated interiors. A stand- ing figure dressed in a green day dress places a gold necklace in the palm of a seated woman. The recipient, who seems to have been interrupted while writing a letter, fig. 34 is depicted wearing a Chinese jacket over a pink taffeta petticoat. Similar By the 1920s Boston’s Society of Arts and Crafts was in the clothing styles appear in the fashion press of the time, and it’s quite likely vanguard of locally made that a tasteful, artistic consumer of Boston Arts and Crafts jewelry may have jewelry.

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