Alberto GIACOMETTI (1901 - 1966)

Sphinge, 1935 - 1939

Gilt-bronze brooch in the formed of a seated winged sphinx facing left, with her right paw raised.

Designed by Alberto Giacometti for the fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli in Paris. The actual brooch was cast up by a young François Hugo, who was then working as a button maker.

Marks: Unsigned, but registered with the Alberto & Annette Giacometti Foundation under no. 3660

Dimensions: H. 6.4 cm; W. 5.25 cm

Provenance: Edmond Bomsel, Paris; Galerie Jacques de Vos, Paris

Exhibited: International Exhibition of Modern Jewellery 1890-1961, Goldsmiths' Hall, London, 26 October - 2 December 1961; Bijoux d'Artistes de Calder à Koons. La Collection Idéale de Diane Venet, Musée des Arts Décoratifs Paris, 7 March - 9 September, 2018

Literature: Graham Hughes, International Exhibition of Modern Jewellery 1890-1961 (The Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths, London 1961), no. 334A; Martine Newby Haspeslagh, Jewelry by Contemporary Painters and Sculptors @50: 1967-2017 (Didier Ltd, London 2017), pp. 64-5, no. 64; Diane Venet, Bijoux d'Artistes de Calder à Koons. La Collection Idéale de Diane Venet (Flammarion, Paris 2018), pp. 84-5, no. 86