19th Anniversary

2019 Antiques & Fine Art 159 Maker & Muse: Women and Early Twentieth Century Art Jewelry was organized by the Richard H. Driehaus Museum and is toured by International Arts & Artists, Washington, D.C., through August 2020. Drawn from the collection of Richard H. Driehaus, as well as from other prominent public and private collections, these masterful and beautiful works offer a mesmerizing glimpse into the social, political, and economic realms in which they were created. Special thanks to the Richard H. Driehaus Museum and International Arts & Artists. Maker & Muse will be on view at the Flagler Museum from January 29 through May 26, 2019. For more information, visit www.flaglermuseum.us. Tracy Kamerer is chief curator at the Flagler Museum, Palm Beach, Florida. Mrs. W.H. (Elinor) Klapp (American, 1845–1915), Brooch, ca. 1895–1914. Carved moonstone, silver or platinum. Collection of the Bronson Family. Photograph by Firestone and Parson. The Arts and Crafts movement in the United States took hold in many places, with Chicago and to some extent other parts of the Midwest, distinguishing itself as one of the most important and prolific centers. Perhaps most significantly, Chicago had a great number of women producing jewelry in the Arts and Crafts style. Elinor Evans Klapp, the wife of a successful dry goods merchant, took up jewelry design in her early forties. She soon made up for lost time by launching herself as one of the largest exhibitors in Chicago’s Arts and Crafts shows, and by sending forty pieces to the Paris Exhibition of 1900. She personally designed her jewelry, but had it fabricated by others. By the time she moved to New York in 1903, her hobby had expanded into a successful business.  — New York City — Louis Comfort Tiffany, Necklace, ca. 1918. 18 karat gold, platinum, tourmaline, diamond, natural pearl. Collection of Elizabeth Driehaus. Photograph by John A. Faier, 2014, © The Richard H. Driehaus Museum. Louis Comfort Tiffany is best known for the beautiful glass vases, lamps, and leaded windows made by his firms. Tiffany, however, is also celebrated for his creation of some of the most stunning art jewelry of the early twentieth century. He began his jewelry workshop in 1902, the same year his father, Charles Lewis Tiffany, founder of Tiffany & Co., died. A progressive thinker and entrepreneur, in addition to employing women in his Women’s Glass Cutting Department, Tiffany hired two women to run his jewelry workshop — first Julia Munson, and later, Meta Overbeck. The extent of their contributions to the actual design of the jewelry is unclear, although records indicate that they designed at least some of the pieces, and all works came under their supervision for fabrication. — Chicago —