Lot 28
  • 28

PENTAGONAL BROOCH, GIOVANNI CORVAJA, 2013

Estimate
25,000 - 35,000 GBP
bidding is closed

Description

designed as a three-dimensional pentagonal frame intertwined with fine wire threaded with beads, signed G Corvaja 2013, fitted case stamped Giovanni Corvaja.

Catalogue Note

Giovanni Corvaja is an Italian artist who explores the limits and expands the horizons of working with gold. Corvaja found his passion for metalwork at the age of 13, and commenced his studies in gold work at the Pietro Selvatico School in his native Padua, in an explorative and artistic environment fostered by the prominent avant garde goldsmith and jeweller Francesco Pavan.

Since completing his studies at the Royal College of Art in London, Corvaja has dedicated himself to a literal 'quest for the Golden Fleece', devoting over ten years of research to refining gold wire to an unprecedented level of fineness, far surpassing the minimum diameter of 0.15mm that can be created by the human hand. With this technical achievement, Corvaja has been able to create textile items entirely in 22 carat gold, including finely woven cloth and even items of clothing, such as a skull cap based on one worn by Peter the Great, in 2013.

The present brooch fuses Corvaja's mastery of wire drawing with the architectural geometric motifs that also feature frequently in his jewellery. Open to the air and changing its appearance with the slightest shift in angle, the combination of the pentagonal frame of this brooch with the finely beaded wire perfectly reflects Corvaja's on-going ability to create singular jewels that are at once solidly metallic and yet also soft, delicate and light.

Corvaja's extraordinary and innovative pieces are exhibited and collected worldwide, and can be found in the collections of the National Museums of Scotland, Edinburgh, and the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, among many others, and a related brooch can be found on permanent display in the Victoria and Albert Museum, museum no. M-5 2004.