Top American Modernist Jewellery Designers

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Our illustrated guide below features some of the most prominent jewellers, (as well as some of the lesser known names) in American mid century modernist jewellery design

ED WEINER  (1918- 1991)

Ed Weiner was an American modernist jeweller who began his career in the 1940’s . He made hand hammered silver jewellery alongside other artists such as Art Smith and Sam Kramer in bohemian Greenwich Village  As his career progressed Weiner found his own style - this was fuelled by his interest in using new techniques and materials in casting, joining and setting. In the 1950’s he produced jewellery with organic forms and dynamic shapes.

                                

From the end of the 1960’s to the 1980’s he was established on Madison Avenue, New York where he produced more gold jewellery. His work had a post modern ethos where he revived medieval /byzantine gold settings with semi precious stones.

                                       

CHARLES LOLOMA (1921 - 1991)

Charles Loloma was an American Jeweller of Native American Hopi descent. He studied ceramics at Alfred University, graduating in 1949, before realising his passion for jewellery design. He began producing jewellery using the traditional  Navajo technique of" tufa casting" - creating textured effects on metal  before working in Hopi designs. In 1956 he was commissioned by the wife of architect Frank Lloyd Wright to produce two bracelets. These designs featuring turquoise and coral were early indications of the cuff bracelets for which he would become very well known.

                 

Above : Charles Loloma turquoise, lapis, and gold cuff bracelet, and Loloma mixed stone ring.

He experimented with combinations of different materials including coral, turquoise, lapis lazuli, ivory and exotic woods. Many of his bracelet and pendant designs were made with vertical slabs of stone stacked against each other. Charles Loloma's work was the subject of various American and International Exhibitions and featured in many collections. He was known for changing the look of Hopi jewellery.

RONALD HAYES PEARSON (1883 - 1958)

Ronald Hayes Pearson was one of the most highly regarded art jewellers and metalsmiths of mid century America. Born in New York in 1924 he studied at the University of Wisconsin, and then spent time in the US Marines .Following his service in the marines he became interested in metal working and in 1947 he continued his studies at the Alfred University School for American Craftsmen. 

                                                       

Above :Ronald Hayes Pearson 14 carat gold and turquoise brooch, and 14 carat gold and amethyst brooch

He opened his first workshop in Alfred in 1948, before moving on to New York in 1950, beginning a career that spanned five decades. His forged metal jewellery had simple forms and sleek elegant designs . He also designed flatware for major silver companies. Having lived  in Rochester New York for many years he then moved to Deer Island Maine, where he maintained his studio. He was a founding member of the Society of North American Goldsmiths, and also taught at jewellery making at leading American craft schools . He had a long an distinguished career until his death in 1996.  

                       

Above :Ronald Hayes Pearson cats eye moonstone silver collar necklace and  and silver modernist brooch            

FRANCES HOLMES BOOTHBY ( -  - 2000)

Frances Holmes Boothby was a modernist jeweller who became known for her whimsical nature inspired brooches. She was part of a small group of jewellers who helped to make American modernist jewellery popular during the mid 20th century. Her work was included in two exhibitions of contemporary jewellery at the Walker Centre in Minneapolis in 1948 and 1955. In 1955 she worked as a jewellery making instructor in New York and also set up her own studio. 

                                     

  Above: Frances Holmes Boothby large silver owl brooch and  silver modernist pendant.

 Most of her work was in sterling silver but she occasionally used other materials including exotic woods , gold, brass, and plastic. Sometimes these materials were combined with semi precious stones. Her work is often associated with the 1950’s and 60’s, however she continued working well into the 1980’s, selling her jewellery out of a shop in Westin, Vermont. Many of Boothby’s designs featured natural forms such as owls, birds and pigs. She is particularly know for spindly legged bird  brooches. All of her pieces were signed with her makers mark “fhb” in lower case and STERLING in upper case for her silver jewellery.

                            

Above: L to R . Frances Holmes Boothby abstract silver brooch and  silver bird brooch   

JOHN PAUL MILLER (1883 - 1958)

John Paul Miller was an American jewellery designer, goldsmith and artist. He studied at the Cleveland School of art in 1936 where he learnt the techniques required for working with silver. He began making , necklaces, brooches, and rings inspired by his interest in the natural world and classical music.

                                   

Above :John Paul Miller gold scorpion brooch or pendant and gold and agate ring

He went on to have an illustrious career spanning almost 60 years,  which included painting, teaching, and jewellery making. He is know for his intricate biomorphic jewellery depicting creatures of the earth and seas, created using complicated enamels, and textured forms. He rediscovered the technique of granulation in the 1950s and used it in the detailing of his jewellery. Granulation was the ancient method of fusing small gold beads to a surface without the use of solder.

                     

Above :John Paul Miller scorpion pendant and John Paul Miller 18 karat gold brooch or pendant

SAM KRAMER (1913 - 1964)

Sam Kramer was an American modernist jewellery artist who opened up a shop in Greenwich village in 1939. His eccentric nature fitted in well to the Bohemian artistic vibe of Greenwich Village. His shop displayed many surrealist Dali like references such as a hand shaped front door handle which customers were required to shake to enter to the shop.

Above :Sam Kramer sterling silver and turquoise modernist necklace

Kramer was well know for his work with stones and unusual objects, often using found objects . He was know to incorporate meteorites, fossils, rhino tusks, coral and even glass taxidermy eyes in his work . His jewellery was considered more as wearable art, with strong bold biomorphic silver forms featuring dramatic elements.

                     

Above :Sam Kramer sterling silver and glass eye brooch, and silver glass eye cuff bracelet 1955

MERRY RENK (1921 - 2012)

Merry Renk was a jeweller known for her work using enamels, small metal sculptures and interlocking forms . She was also an accomplished sculptor and painter.

In 1946 She attended the Institute of Design in Chicago and in 1947 she was one of a trio of students who founded a gallery named 750 studio. The gallery showcased contemporary painting, jewellery sculpture and  textiles.

 She experimented in fine art, but moved to San Francisco to become a full-time jewellery artist working exclusively with wire and metal. Her unique sculptural jewellery including necklaces , earrings, and bracelets, featured organic forms similar to roots, branches, vines and shells quickly became sought after items.

Renk continued her career as  professional goldsmith until 1982 creating both jewellery and small metal sculptures. She then decided to return to painting

Merry Renk was an honorary fellow at The American Craft Council and a  founding member of the San Francisco Metal Arts Guild. Her work can be seen in many collections including at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

MARY GAGE (1898 - 1992)

Mary Gage was a lesser known American Arts and Crafts movement jeweller whose career spanned from the 1920’s to the 1990’s. She was an eccentric character who travelled the world and spent two years in China. In the 1920’s she returned to America,  learned silversmithing ,and  set up her own business in New York.

                                    

  Above : Mary Gage Turquoise and Silver Arts and Crafts Brooch and silver lily pad brooch.

Her inspiration from her work mostly came from nature, from flowers and fauna . Lily pad motifs became one of her most recognizable designs. She worked in sterling silver often incorporating semi precious stones such as turquoise, rock crystal, moonstones, carnelian or lapis. Her designs were often heavily carved, chased and beaded. She was an eccentric character who worked as a  silversmith, antique dealer and poodle breeder at various points in her life.  

                                                    

Above : Mary Gage Turquoise and Silver Arts and Crafts bracelet and decorative silver and pink quartz demi parure

ART SMITH (1913 - 1964)

Arthur George Smith or Art Smith as he was know was an acclaimed American jewellery artist who career was at its height from 1946 to the 1970’s . His jewellery was inspired by nature, modernist sculpture and folk art, and his avant garde modernist creations were oversized and expressive.

                                    

Above : Art Smith 1949 half and half necklace , and Art Smith modernist silver earrings

He was a pioneer of mid century jewellery innovation producing bold, geometric pieces often made from wire and large pieces of silver. In lieu of fine jewellery materials like gold he worked with materials such as aluminium, brass, copper and silver, which were decorated with stones and glass. Today his work can been seen in collections at the Brooklyn Museum and the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.

                            

Above : Art Smith patinated brass necklace, and Art Smith  1960's amethyst , silver and 14 karat gold ring.

HILDA KRAUS  (1915 - 2003)

Born in New York in 1915 Hilda Kraus was a highly regarded jewellery designer and artist of the American Post War Era. She studied at the Salzburg International Academy of Art ,worked as an apprentice to a Danish silversmith for three years, and learned traditional enamelling methods in European centres in France, Italy and Germany. She became one of the leading figures in post war metal work and enamelling, producing beautiful jewellery and decorative enamelled metal work boxes.

                                         

 Above : Hilda Kraus silver and enamel necklace

She was the recipient of many awards during her career particularly for her work in cloisonné enamel. At one point she had shops in Maine and Connecticut before moving to Westport in the 1950's where she had a studio within her own home. 

                        

 Above : Hilda Kraus silver and enamel owl  brooch and  modernist rutilated quartz brooch 

BOB WINSTON (1915  - 2003)

Bob Winston was a prominent San Francisco jewellery designer and sculptor. In the 1940's he became know for his use of dental tools to revive the Ancient Egyptian lost wax casting technique. Using this technique he was able to make imaginative modernist jewellery designs  with complex textures and organic shapes. The forms he created were unable to be produced using the traditional methods of hammering, sawing or soldering and he was celebrated for his innovative use of materials.

                             

 Above : Bob Winston 1950's ebony, ivory, brass leather pendant , and yellow gold and sapphire lost wax cast ring

An eccentric character he was known to promote his business by  spontaneous jewellery making in front of a crowd of onlookers. He would wear a sign around his neck attached to the skull of a walrus which displayed the name of his jewellery store.

FRANK REBAJES  (1905 - 1990)

Frank Rebajes (formerly Francisco Torres) arrived in New York in 1922 on a steam ship from his home in the Dominican Republic. He began transforming scrap metal and cans into animal form sculptures using everyday tools borrowed from friends. After displaying his works at the Washington Park Outdoor Festival , they were seen by Juliana Force (museum director at the Whitney Museum of American Art), who purchased all of his work. He used the money to set up his own very small shop in Greenwich Village. There he started work on the copper jewellery for which he would become well known. 

                                      

Above : Frank Rebajes silver and twig brooch and Frank Rebajes copper face mask  brooch

His copper jewellery collections were inspired by the natural world, modern art and cultural references . He believed that the public should have affordable well designed jewellery with his early designs selling for less than 10 dollars. His popularity grew and in the latter part of the 1930’s his work was the subject of exhibitions at the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art and the 1939 World Fair in New York. His success allowed him to move to bigger stores eventually having a large space on Fifth Avenue with a modernist avant garde interior. At this point he employed 100 people. Most of his jewellery production was in copper , however gold, silver, enamel, semi precious stones and even found objects such as twigs featured in some of his work. Important pieces of jewellery were hand made, while the majority of the output was die stamped or cast and then assembled by hand.

ELSA FREUND  (1912 - 2001)                                                                                                                                             

Elsa Freund was a jeweller, textile artist and water colour artist . Born in Missouri in 1912 she was not recognised for her studio art jewellery until the late 1980’s. In 1930 she studied painting, illustration, design and drawing at the Kansas City Art Institute. She first began making jewellery in the 1940’s using clay and glass which were then fired together in an enamelling kiln to create  stones. She then combined the stones using cold forged silver wire to create simple modernist jewellery. She signed all her jewellery as “Elsa.”

                                   

Above : Elsa Freund, silver, earthenware and glass ring, and silver, ceramic and glass necklace .

In the late 1940’s she began to actively sell her jewellery designs  in shops in Arkansas and Florida where she and her husband were dividing their time. In 1957 her work was accepted by the American House in New York.  In the 1990’s jeweller Robert Ebendorf  helped to organise some solo exhibitions of  Elsa’s work . Today Freud’s jewellery designs can be seen in around 30 art institutions and museums around the world.

RUTH BERRIDGE  (1921 - 2004)   

Ruth Berridge was born in New York in 1921.  She studied at the School of Design in Rhode Island and then furthered her training with Danish jeweller Adda Husted Andersen in her New York studio.  Ruth went on to become a modernist jeweller known for her work in silver, although some pieces were produced in gold. Her love of animals provided inspiration with animal themes often featuring in her work . She produced jewellery for several decades , most notably in the 1950's and 60's. Her jewellery output including necklaces, earrings, rings, bracelets , hair combs, and men's cuffs. 

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