Alexander CALDER (1898-1976)

Gold Spiral Brooch, 1964

Unique large hand-hammered spiral gold brooch with a steel prong fastening.

Marks: unsigned, but recorded in the Calder Foundation Archives under no. A27100

Dimensions: H. 7.6 cm; W. 7.9 cm; D. 3.0 cm

Provenance: Gift of the artist to Mrs Ruth Goodall Washburn, New York, whose husband, Gordon Bailey Washburn at the time of the gift was director of Asia House in New York, having previously resigned two years earlier as director of the Department of Fine Art of the Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, over his adventurous advocacy of abstract art.

Literature: Martine Newby Haspeslagh, Jewelry by Contemporary Painters and Sculptors 250:1967-2017, Didier Ltd, London 2017, pp. 36-7, no. 28