Art as Jewelry as Art
Art as Jewelry as Art
Masenza Roma
Masenza-Roma Choker designed by Afro Basaldella
Lot Closed
October 6, 04:22 PM GMT
Estimate
10,000 - 20,000 USD
Lot Details
Description
Masenza-Roma
Masenza-Roma Choker Attributed to Afro Basaldella
circa 1955, inscribed on the reverse of the middle pendant MASENZA and ROMA, stamped 750 CE, Italian hallmark on choker
unique 18k gold and emerald sculptural pendant and neck wire retailed by Mario Masenza, Italy; pendant of an abstract figurative form with three articulated emerald drops, suspended on a handmade wire choker
Choker Diameter: 5.1 by 5.1 in.; 13 by 13 cm.
Pendant: 1⅝ in.; 4.13 cm.
Private Collection, United States
Rosemary Ramsey Stewart and Casa Italiana Zerilli- Marimò, Afro, De Luca Editori d’Arte, Rome, 2015, ‘Jewelry’ chapter, number 10, similar design for earrings
Martine Newby Haspeslagh, Jewels of the Italian Modern Masters, Didier Ltd., London, 2015, p. 9, no. 3
Paola Stroppiana, Scultura Aurea, Gioielli d’Artista per un nuovo Rinascimento, Gli Ori, Pistoia, 2019, pp. 42, 45
Of a similar Afro/Masenza necklace, the Cincinati Art Museum writes: ‘At the time this necklace was designed, Afro’s paintings were largely abstract and he was highly influenced by Swiss painter Paul Klee and by Armenian American Arshile Gorky. This necklace expresses Afro’s interest in the primitive figural form. Designed by Afro, but made by Masenza’s workshop, deep-set cabochon stones and the dull gold textural finish are contrasted with diamond chips that form the eyes of the creature-like pendants.’ — Cynthia Amnéus, Cameron Silver, and Adam MacPhàrlain, Simply Brilliant: Artist-Jewelers of the 1960s and 1970s, D. Giles, Lewes, UK, 2020, p. 81