Saturday, September 5, 2015

Puzzling Evidence - Deco Chinese Charm Jewelry 1930s

A previous post discussed the similarities in pieces of 1930s costume jewelry that seem to have been made by a single workshop.  Two more pieces from this suite have turned up:

eBay vendor wondollar has on offer a beautiful brooch featuring gilded filigree and gemstone dangles:


Could some of these stones be Chinese amazonite?
A similar pagoda roof brooch can be seen in a prior post about Deco-era Chinese cloisonne beads:

Etsy vendor bomoseenbrat also has on offer an extravagant gilded filigree charm necklace:



The prior blog post shows other versions of this design.  bomoseenbrat's version seems more "top of the line," doesn't it?  

But who made these?  They are definitely of Chinese workmanship, so that seems to eliminate the Miriam Haskell atelier, unless they were commissioned by her.  I still wonder if they were Camel Bell items, or if they were the inspiration for similar Haskell designs assembled with U.S.-manufactured findings.