A wonderful and fanciful "Bibelot" by the famous Mr. Headley, made c.1950's at La Belle Farm, Lexington KY. Apprx 30.5" in total length, the necklace is made up of thirteen oval amber beads, twenty four pearls and twelve oblong carved pieces of orange coral. Each end has a pin connected by an amber bead to a gold bobeche. Both the pin and bobeche are adorned with tiny seed pearls and two garnets. Includes hand made box.
George W. Headley III (1908-1985) studied art at the Art Student's League in New York and l'Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris and later apprenticed as a designer with the New York jeweler Paul Flato. Under Flato's leadership beginning in the 1930s, Headley worked with jewelry designers such as Millicent Rodgers and the Duke of Vedura. In the 1940s, Headley opened his own jewelry boutique in the Hotel Bel-Air called George Headley Jewels, Inc. and cultivated a clientele including such Hollywood celebrities as Fanny Brice, Mae West, and Joan Crawford. After nearly a decade of success on the West Coast, Headley returned to his family farm, La Belle, in Lexington and continued his career designing jewelry and fanciful jeweled constructions called bibelots. For inspiration, Headley looked at the work of such master goldsmiths and jewelers as Benvenuto Cellini (Italian, 1500-1571) and Peter Carl Fabergé (Russian, 1846-1920). In a majority of his designs, Headley incorporated exotic natural specimens, antique carvings, and unusual objects he collected. The designs were completed with embellishments of precious materials like gold, diamonds, and rubies. Headley commissioned distinguished jewelers and craftsmen from all over the world to make his jeweled objects. Please visit www.headley-whitney.org for more information about Mr. Headley and the Headley-Whitney Museum.
500/1,000 Sold $546.25
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