AN 18K GOLD BROOCH, BY JEAN COCTEAU

JEAN COCTEAU Poet, film maker, painter, stage designer, writer, printer, and jewelry designer, Jean Cocteau was a true Renaissance man of his time. He was a Surrealist by heart, but many incorrectly associate him with Dada. Cocteau was a rarity of sorts, continually disciplining himself to learn new accomplishments. Earlier in his career, Cocteau was recognized for his stage productions of reinterpreted Greek tragedies. His collaboration with the fashion designer Coco Chanel was only the beginning of his fascination with design which would later transcend to jewelry. The Surrealist fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli, who had also collaborated with Salvador Dali, took notice. In 1937, she had Cocteau create a piece of jewelry for her, an Egyptian inspired eye brooch complete with a tear of metals. Although not a trained jeweler, Cocteau relied upon his creative ability and the known jeweler Francois Hugo to fabricate his works. Cocteau then stumbled upon the employment of clay as a negative mold for metal jewelry. From this technique Cocteau created about thirty six pieces of jewelry, including his famous "Visage" brooches.

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AN 18K GOLD BROOCH, BY JEAN COCTEAU
Designed with an abstract face in polished gold, with French assay marks, in its original fitted wooden Jean Cocteau presentation box
Signed Jean Cocteau, nos. 1490, 2900 and 7/50