Georges BRAQUE (1882-1963)

Alcyone  Gold and Diamond Necklace, 1963/1980s

18ct white and yellow gold necklace with a bird holding a long twig in its beak, highlighted with small diamonds

Marks: applied plaque on the reverse, 5/8, Bijoux de G. Braque, and stamped with French 18ct gold hallmarks

Dimensions: D. necklace 13 cm; Bird 5 x 6 cm

Literature: R. de Cuttoli and H. de Löwenfeld, Metamorphoses de Braque. Gouaches, bijoux, sculptures, lives d'art, lithographies, Paris 1989, p. 109 (original gouache); Martine Newby Haspeslagh, Art to Wear. Jewellery by Post-War Painters and Sculptors, Didier Ltd, London 2012, p. 16, no. 13

The original necklace made in 1963 was acquired by the French State for the Musée des Art Decoratifs, Paris. Like Braque's other jewels it had been made by Baron Héger de Löwenfeld, and there are phautographs of the two men discussing the piece before it was sep with diamonds. Löwenfeld, however, never produced this necklace in an edition, leaving the rights to do so on his death to his assistant Armand Israel, which he did in an edition of 8 examples.