FEATURES ARCHIVE

Figural forms and vibrant color combinations define these exquisite pieces by David Webb...

Characterized by bold colors and large gemstones, David Webb was among the leaders of a new breed of jewelry designers who began to emerge in America following World War II alongside names including Olga Tritt, Jean Schlumberger and Fulco di Verdura. With his business partner Nina Silverstein, he established his firm in New York’s diamond district on West 47th street in the late 1940s. Within a decade he had moved uptown to West 57th Street, selling through both Bonwit Teller and Bergdorf Goodman.

For design inspiration, Webb looked to the Ancient World, incorporating the influences of Greece, Rome, Assyria and India into his pieces. His craftsmanship mirrored his understanding of Mediterranean and Meso-American cultures and his admiration for the work of 18th and 19th century masters including glassmaker and jeweler René Lalique and renowned Russian jeweler Karl Fabergé.

Originally offering abstracted designs in the polychromatic style of the 1950s,Webb introduced his now famous animal jewelry in the early 1960s. He created an array of animals, from bulls to frogs as well as a range of jungle creatures. As exemplified by this ‘Love Birds’ brooch and ruby, diamond and enamel ‘Magic Unicorn’ brooch, Webb’s animals bear little detailed resemblance to the real animals, as the designer has taken full advantage of imaginative color and texture combinations.

Webb achieved international acclaim in the 1960s, when his line of enamel animals, influenced by the earlier work of Cartier’s Jeanne Toussaint, caught the attention of the fashion world and heralded a return to the use of figural forms in strong, brilliant color in contemporary jewelry.