How do you identify Art Nouveau jewellery?

Art Nouveau was a popular artistic movement between 1890 and the outbreak of the First World War.  Often referred to as the Belle Epoque, these years were a period of prosperity and innovation in France, and Art Nouveau was a deliberate antidote to the mass produced and low-quality output of the Industrial Revolution. It was influenced by the British Arts and Crafts movement who advocated a return to the skill of the artisan.

Art Nouveau refers to the French period, but this movement could be seen throughout Europe, under different names, but all following a similar ethos.

^{Henri Dubret - an Art Nouveau gem-set foliage panel ring}

^{Sold for £4,200}

Art Nouveau influenced architecture, art, fashion, and jewellery. Design of the period was distinctive and highly ornamental with sweeping lines and organic forms, frequently focusing on the natural world with emphasis on vine tendrils, insect wings, and dragon flies with their iridescent and heavily veined wings.

The stylised female form was another theme of art nouveau design. Long flowing hair creating sweeping lines that become entwined with flowers such as irises, lilies, and orchids, the most intensely feminine of blooms.

The dragons, mermaids and snakes of mythology were also depicted, and the result was a fantastical effect that used a ‘liberal combination of materials’ which shifted attention away from the prestige of the materials to the design and the skill of the craftsman. Silver and gold were used with opals, glass, horn, and the natural shapes of baroque pearls. Art Nouveau jewellery is highly decorative with its bows, swags and ribbons, and diamonds are used to highlight, perhaps representing a single dewdrop, rather than form the main event of the piece. Techniques of enamelling such as plique-à-jour, cloisonne, guilloche and champleve were used to create the colours that enhanced the forms of this mystical world.

^{An Art Nouveau gem-set floral lavaliere necklace}

^{Sold for £2,000}

Brooches, chokers, festoon (draped) necklaces, pendants, sautoir necklaces, rings and earrings were all popular and the shapes and materials used were, for the time, considered highly avant-garde. Chaumet, Cartier and Van Cleeve & Arpels were leading proponents of Art Nouveau jewellery and high society, the wealthy and the famous would have flocked to buy their pieces.

The aesthetic fell out of fashion with the impending outbreak of war in Europe, when the images were regarded as rather flighty and frivolous, giving way to the structured and symmetrical Art Deco period. It enjoyed a revival in the 60s and 70s as fashion embraced the softer, natural lines of the hippy aesthetic and, over a hundred years later, Art Nouveau jewellery remains wearable today and is highly collectible. Because it was produced over a relatively short period of time the jewellery’s rarity makes it highly sought after and thus more valuable.

^{Frédéric Vernon - Art Nouveau 'Madonna' pendant}

^{Sold for £1,700}

Here at Dawsons, with extensive industry and current market experience, our team of experts provide a seamless service covering valuation, logistics, marketing, and sale of Art Nouveau jewellery. Recent successes include an Henri Dubret ring which reached £4200 (2024) and a gem-set floral lavaliere necklace which fetched £2000 (2024).

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Nicky Houston

Our Head of Department - Jewellery, Silver & Watches... Nicky is a highly respected Auctioneer & Valuer, who had dreams of becoming an artist. Whilst she may not have made it as a successful artist herself, Nicky has helped many a customer to successfully sell and buy beautiful pieces of jewellery and works of art over her many years working within the auction industry.

 

Jewellery Silver & Objects of Virtue Watches

Are you thinking of selling any Art Nouveau jewellery?

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Get in touch with an expert Valuer for confidential sales advice, we would be delighted to help you:

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