Floral brooch

A pretty bunch of flowers for spring and it would be wonderful to know at least in which country such brooches were made. It is an intricate bit of work.

Floral brooch
Case number - AIBDC : 005927
A brooch with a floral design with a scalloped edge and decorated with the image of a vase of flowers. The moulded Lucite has been carved on the reverse side and colour applied giving the impression of three dimensional flowers contained within the body of the brooch. A metal brooch pin has been stuck to the back
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DesignerUnknown - Wanted
ManufacturerUnknown - Wanted
CountryUnknown - Wanted
Date1940-1949 (circa)
Dimensionsdepth 6 mm, diameter 47 mm
Materialsplastic, Lucite - trade name, acrylic, PMMA, polymethyl methacrylate
Methodscarved, moulded, fabricated with adhesive, painted
Colourscolourless, multi-coloured
href=" http://www.10most.org.uk/artefact/floral-brooch"

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Susan Lambert
Susan Lambert
15/04/14

Floral brooch: AIBDC : 005927 A lovely spring posy for Easter. What can you tell us about it?

Ian Holdsworth
Ian Holdsworth
15/04/14

For an interesting introduction to carved lucite jewellery see - http://www.morninggloryantiques.com/JewelChatCarving.html

Susan Lambert
Susan Lambert
17/04/14

Thank you for that Ian - Do you think they were made exclusively in the USA?

Ian Holdsworth
Ian Holdsworth
17/04/14

I have seen a lot of this type of jewellery but have never seen a piece that was marked with a makers name or country of origin. Vintage jewellery dealers generally describe it as American, and, perhaps, the clue is in the name, as Lucite is an American trade name. I have never seen it described, using the UK trade names, as carved Acrylic or Perspex. Much of it was made in a hobby context. You could, in America in the 1950s, purchase kits to enable you to do it at home. Lauton Edwards in his book ‘Making Things of Plastic’ devotes a chapter to it. Lauton was a Shop (Craft) teacher at Park Junior High School in Knoxville Tennessee. His book contains illustrations of such jewellery made by his pupils. The carving was done using small rotary drills. Their modern equivalent would be a Dremel. It is a very difficult thing to do and to get a good result. Reference – Edwards, L. 1954. Making Things of Plastic. Chas. A. Bennett Co. Illinois. Sometimes the carving was taken to a high art, as illustrated below. Photo from Morning Glory Antiques and Jewelry.

Susan Lambert
Susan Lambert
22/04/14

That is exquisite Ian. I think may be we need to settle for Probably made in the USA. Thank you for all this information.

Ian Holdsworth
Ian Holdsworth
23/04/14

Probably the nearest you will get to finding a maker. A brooch engraved (bottom left) with maker’s mark ‘R’. Photo from www.bagthejewels.co.uk

Susan Lambert
Susan Lambert
23/04/14

Thank you for that. We now know what to look out for. Odd that more people didn't want to record themselves as the artist.

Phil Blume
Phil Blume
25/04/14

Find it here on the 10 most Wanted website: http://10most.org.uk/artefact/floral-brooch

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Case notes

Susan Lambert's picture

Floral Brooch: Case AIBDC : 005927

Submitted by Susan Lambert on Sun, 13/04/2014 - 11:35.

Who designed and made this brooch and where? May be you know in which country this intricate kind of work was done?

Probably made in the USA

17/04/2014

Chief Agent Holdsworth writes: I have seen a lot of this type of jewellery but have never seen a piece that was marked with a makers name or country of origin. Vintage jewellery dealers generally describe it as American, and, perhaps, the clue is in the name, as Lucite is an American trade name. I have never seen it described, using the UK trade names, as carved Acrylic or Perspex. Much of it was made in a hobby context. You could, in America in the 1950s, purchase kits to enable you to do it at home. Lauton Edwards in his book ‘Making Things of Plastic’ devotes a chapter to it. Lauton was a Shop (Craft) teacher at Park Junior High School in Knoxville Tennessee. His book contains illustrations of such jewellery made by his pupils. The carving was done using small rotary drills.

We think it's American. Can anyone provide information to the contrary?