- 316
Salvador Dalí
Estimate
100,000 - 150,000 USD
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Description
- Salvador Dalí
- Swirling Sea Necklace
- Inscribed Dalí
- 18k gold with sapphire and emerald beads, pearls and diamonds
- Length: 15 3/8 in.
- 39 cm
18k gold
61 Sapphire beads weighing 48.27 carats
61 emerald beads weighing 89.97 carats
125 Oriental pearls
1 large South Sea Pearl
67 diamonds weighing 4.74 carats
accompanied by:
Design for Swirling Sea Necklace
signed and dated Dalí 1954 (lower centre)
ink and watercolour on paper
Executed in 1954.
61 Sapphire beads weighing 48.27 carats
61 emerald beads weighing 89.97 carats
125 Oriental pearls
1 large South Sea Pearl
67 diamonds weighing 4.74 carats
accompanied by:
Design for Swirling Sea Necklace
signed and dated Dalí 1954 (lower centre)
ink and watercolour on paper
Executed in 1954.
Provenance
Alemany & Co., New York
São Schlumberger (acquired from the above in 1963)
A gift from the above
São Schlumberger (acquired from the above in 1963)
A gift from the above
Condition
18k Gold
61 Sapphire beads (weighting 48.27 carats)
61 Emerald beads (weighing 89.97 carats)
125 Pearls
1 Large South Sea Pearl
67 Diamonds (weighing 4.74 carats)
In good condition. Light scratching to the gold commensurate with wear. The emerald beads are a medium to medium-light bluish green, moderately to heavily included, as is typical for this material. Several stones exhibit surface-reaching fractures and chips which do not affect the integrity of the stones. The barrel-shaped sapphire beads are a medium grayish blue, lightly to moderately included. The off-round to baroque seed pearls present a silvery to creamy white body color, with some displaying soft rose and green overtones, fair luster with several exhibiting blemishing to the skins, primarily in the form of wrinkling and peeling. The diamonds are approximately G-H color, VS-SI clarity. The large baroque pearl has a silvery body color with moderate rose and soft green overtones, fair luster with a wrinkled skin. Some of the strands are loose, but secure. With two extra gold and diamond links that could be added by a jeweler to extend the length of the necklace. Five strands have become detached, but their absence is not apparent when worn. Signed near female end of the clasp. With signed and fitted box, signed Alemany & Co., Jewels by Salvador Dalí.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion. Illustrations in the catalogue may not be actual size. Prospective purchasers are reminded that, unless the catalogue description specifically states that a stone is natural, we have assumed that some form of treatment may have been used and that such treatment may not be permanent. Our presale estimates reflect this assumption.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion. Illustrations in the catalogue may not be actual size. Prospective purchasers are reminded that, unless the catalogue description specifically states that a stone is natural, we have assumed that some form of treatment may have been used and that such treatment may not be permanent. Our presale estimates reflect this assumption.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.
Catalogue Note
A self-styled “Renaissance Man,” Salvador Dalí’s talents stretched far beyond his extraordinary gifts as a painter and draughtsman; his expansive artistic repertoire also included film, sculpture, poetry, photography and theatre, often in collaboration with other artists. Dalí’s exquisite jewels, however, capture the attention and imagination like nothing else. A triumph of technical virtuosity and spectacular visual pyrotechnics, they embody his "love of everything that is gilded and excessive.”
Like Dalí, Madame São Schlumberger had a distinct taste for the lavish and avant-garde. So it was no surprise that shortly after her marriage to Pierre Schlumberger, a scion of the multinational energy conglomerate, she commissioned Dalí to paint her portrait, sitting for him numerous times between 1963 and 1965 (see fig. 1). He personally picked out the gown in which she was depicted for her portrait, pairing it with one of his bespoke creations: the present work, Swirling Sea Necklace. Indeed, although the artist's finished portrait depicts Madame Schlumberger adorned by a more classical piece, the present work is clearly visible in one of the only known photographs taken at the time of the sittings which took place at Pierre and São’s Sutton Place apartment (see fig. 2). Swirling Sea Necklace must have been the subject of many fascinating conversations which took place between artist and sitter.
Executed after Dalí's meticulous designs by his long-term collaborator, New York jeweler Carlos Alemany, Swirling Sea Necklace is made up of flowing tassels set with pearls and emerald and sapphire beads to evoke the ebbs and flows of the tide washing up on a sandy shore—depicted here in stylized gold (see fig. 3). The diamonds add a luster to the gold, acting like precious shells dotting the beach. All of these elements culminate in that most precious and luminous product of the sea, a baroque cultured pearl, set on the crest of a wave and nestled in the nape of the wearer's neck.
Like Dalí, Madame São Schlumberger had a distinct taste for the lavish and avant-garde. So it was no surprise that shortly after her marriage to Pierre Schlumberger, a scion of the multinational energy conglomerate, she commissioned Dalí to paint her portrait, sitting for him numerous times between 1963 and 1965 (see fig. 1). He personally picked out the gown in which she was depicted for her portrait, pairing it with one of his bespoke creations: the present work, Swirling Sea Necklace. Indeed, although the artist's finished portrait depicts Madame Schlumberger adorned by a more classical piece, the present work is clearly visible in one of the only known photographs taken at the time of the sittings which took place at Pierre and São’s Sutton Place apartment (see fig. 2). Swirling Sea Necklace must have been the subject of many fascinating conversations which took place between artist and sitter.
Executed after Dalí's meticulous designs by his long-term collaborator, New York jeweler Carlos Alemany, Swirling Sea Necklace is made up of flowing tassels set with pearls and emerald and sapphire beads to evoke the ebbs and flows of the tide washing up on a sandy shore—depicted here in stylized gold (see fig. 3). The diamonds add a luster to the gold, acting like precious shells dotting the beach. All of these elements culminate in that most precious and luminous product of the sea, a baroque cultured pearl, set on the crest of a wave and nestled in the nape of the wearer's neck.