Art Nouveau Jewelry: The Twenty Years Everything Curved
For twenty years jewelry stopped being about the value of its materials and started being about what it looked like. Horn, glass and enamel were used in preference to diamonds. It did not last, it was never commercially large, and almost everything you see described as Art Nouveau was made after 1970.
Art Nouveau overlaps almost exactly with Edwardian jewelry and could not be more different from it. Where the Edwardian workshops made white symmetrical lace out of platinum and diamonds, Art Nouveau made asymmetric coloured objects out of horn, glass, enamel and base metal, and considered the choice a matter of principle.
René Lalique is the reason the movement is remembered. He argued, and demonstrated, that the value of a jewel lay in its design and craftsmanship rather than in the market price of what it was made from, and he used materials no serious jeweler of the previous generation would have touched.
What it looks like
The whiplash line. A long asymmetric curve that gathers and releases tension, running through every good piece of the period. If a piece is symmetrical it is probably not Art Nouveau, whatever its subject matter.
Nature, but not decorative nature. Dragonflies, wasps, beetles, bats, orchids, irises, poppies, thistles, seed pods. The Victorians used flowers as sentiment; Art Nouveau used the natural world for its forms, including the ones that are unsettling. Insects in particular, which had been novelty subjects in the 1880s, become serious.
Women. Faces and figures with loose flowing hair merging into plant forms, used as a structural element rather than a portrait.
Plique-à-jour enamel. Enamel held in a metal framework with no backing, so light passes through it like a miniature stained glass window. It is technically very difficult, fragile, and the single most characteristic technique of the period. Damage is common and repair is close to impossible.
Unexpected materials. Carved horn, moulded glass, opal, moonstone, freshwater pearls, mother of pearl, ivory. Diamonds appear as accents rather than as the subject.
Why so little of it survives
Three reasons, all structural.
The market was small. Art Nouveau jewelry was expensive, avant-garde and sold to a narrow circle of collectors. Commercially it never approached the scale of Edwardian or Victorian production.
The materials are fragile. Plique-à-jour cracks. Horn warps, dries and splits. Glass chips. Enamel over gold flakes if the piece is knocked or flexed.
And the style died quickly. It was already looking dated by 1910, and by 1920 Art Deco had made it look sentimental. A great deal was scrapped for the metal within two decades of being made.
Reproductions, and how to think about them
Art Nouveau has been reproduced continuously since about 1970, in enormous quantity, mostly in silver or gilt base metal with imitation enamel. Almost everything offered casually as Art Nouveau is one of these.
The tells:
- Weight and material. Period work is horn, glass, gold, silver or enamel over precious metal. A heavy cast silver dragonfly with coloured resin panels is a reproduction.
- Enamel. Genuine plique-à-jour transmits light when held up: it is a window. Reproductions use coloured resin or opaque enamel that does not.
- The line. Reproductions copy the subject matter and miss the whiplash. Their curves are even and decorative rather than tense and asymmetric.
- The back. Period pieces are finished, often signed, and constructed rather than cast. Reproductions show casting texture and unfinished reverses.
- The marks. French period work usually carries French marks: an eagle's head for 750 gold, a boar's head or Minerva for silver. A modern 925 stamp with no other mark is a reproduction until proven otherwise.
Names that change the price
Lalique above all, then Georges Fouquet, Lucien Gaillard, Henri Vever, Philippe Wolfers in Belgium, and Louis Comfort Tiffany in America. Signed work by any of these sits in a market of its own and should be authenticated formally rather than by eye, because the signatures are extensively faked.
There is also a large and often excellent body of unsigned commercial Art Nouveau, particularly from Pforzheim in Germany and from Birmingham, made in gold and silver for ordinary retail. It is genuine period work, it is affordable, and it is where most people who collect the style actually buy.
Caring for it
Plique-à-jour should never be cleaned in an ultrasonic tank and should not be flexed. Horn dries out and cracks in centrally heated air; it should be kept away from direct heat and light. Enamel over gold survives most things except a sharp knock and sudden temperature change.
If a piece has chipped enamel, leave it. Enamel restoration requires firing, firing risks the rest of the piece, and a competent restorer will usually advise against it.
Frequently asked questions
What years is Art Nouveau jewelry?
Roughly 1890 to 1910, peaking around the 1900 Paris Exposition Universelle and largely finished by the First World War.
What is plique-a-jour enamel?
Enamel held in a metal framework with no backing behind it, so light passes through the coloured panels like a stained glass window. It is the defining technique of Art Nouveau jewelry, technically demanding and very fragile.
How can I tell if Art Nouveau jewelry is genuine?
Check the material and the finish rather than the subject. Period pieces use horn, glass, enamel over precious metal, opal, moonstone and freshwater pearls, are constructed rather than cast, and are finished on the reverse. Cast silver or gilt base metal with resin panels is a modern reproduction.
Is Art Nouveau the same as Art Deco?
No, and they are opposites. Art Nouveau, from 1890 to 1910, is asymmetric, curved, organic and coloured. Art Deco, from 1920 to 1935, is geometric, symmetrical, hard-edged and built on contrast.
Why is Art Nouveau jewelry so rare?
The market for it was small and specialised, the materials are fragile, and the style fell out of fashion so fast that much of it was scrapped within twenty years of being made.