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Jean Després Silver and Coral Ring
$22,500
Designed and made by hand by Jean Després in the 1930s, this silver ring is set with a square coral within a gold surround flanked by silver rolls and tiers of descending ring turned cylinders. Beautifully engineered to balance lightly on the hand, this pure streamlined form represents Després' unique modernist vision for jewelry.
- Product Details
- Curator's Notes
Item #: R-21513
Artist: Jean Després
Country: France
Circa: 1930s
Size: 5 (this ring can be sized; please contact the gallery for further information)
Materials: Coral; Silver
Signed: J Despres, J Deespres maker's mark, French silver assay mark
Literature: A ring of this design, from the collection of Andy Warhol sold by Sotheby's in 1988, is pictured in Jean Després: Bijoutier et Orfèvre etre Art Deco et moderne, Melissa Gabardi, p. 106.
Després' experience as a mechanic of airplane engine parts in World War I informed his practice as a jewelry designer throughout his career. His work celebrated machine forms, while at the same time it was fully handmade by the artist himself, an inherent irony making his jewelry more complex. Andy Warhol, whose spent his career exploring the juxtapositions and ironies of commerce and the human experience in his art, was an avid collector of Després.