From a Private Collection
PENDANT, 'COMPRESSION', CÉSAR
Lot Closed
April 7, 01:58 PM GMT
Estimate
10,000 - 15,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
From a Private Collection
PENDANT, 'COMPRESSION', CÉSAR
The rectangular form composed of compressed items of jewellery, including four diamonds, a crown charm, a monogram of the letters 'AE', and a disc inscribed VIRGO, to a belcher link chain, length approximately 710mm, signed César, French assay marks and maker's marks.
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The work of the French sculptor César Baldaccini (1921-1998) put him at the forefront of the Nouveau Réalisme movement, engaging with reality by using everyday artefacts rather than traditional artistic materials. It was on a visit to a scrap metal yard in 1960 that he witnessed a hydraulic compressor in action, and in turn this led him to create his 'Compression' sculptures, crushing together variously coloured vehicles to produce totemic sculptures. He later turned to jewellery, using the same technique albeit on a much smaller scale, with women bringing him their jewels in order to have them transformed into wearable sculpture.