View full screen - View 1 of Lot 75. Wood necklace, circa 1950 .

Property of a Gentleman

Vivianna Torun Bülow- Hübe

Wood necklace, circa 1950

No reserve

Lot Closed

May 30, 02:14 PM GMT

Estimate

7,000 - 10,000 GBP

Lot Details

Description

The detachable pendant of Calderesque abstract design, enhanced with polished wood to a rounded collar, inner circumference approximately 420mm, signed Torun, maker's mark, French assay marks.

A similar example exists at the Nationalmuseum, Sweden.



Vivianna Torun Bülow-Hübe (1927 – 2004) was one of the most prominent female silversmiths of the 20th century and was the first female silversmith in Sweden to own her own workshop. She designed what she called anti-status jewellery incorporating polished wood, pebbles, granite, rocks and less valuable semi-precious stones such as moonstone into her work. She intended her jewellery not to show off a husband's wealth instead accentuate the wearer, believing that jewellery ‘must not overwhelm, but enhance you. This is why it must be timeless. It shouldn't matter if you are 17 or 87 years old’. Torun often used her own body as a guide on sizing.


She often visited Paris before settling there in 1956. She met Picasso while walking a riverside beach in Paris collecting pebbles for some of her designs and in 1958 she exhibited pieces similar to this necklace at the Picasso Museum in Antibes. This piece is accompanied by a box signed Galerie du Siecle which was in St Germain-des-Pres in Paris where her works were permanently displayed between 1954 and 1968.


In 1967 she produced a watch with Georg Jensen which had no dials or straps, becoming one of her most famous designs. From then on Georg Jensen handled the production of her designs. On November 5, 1992, Torun was awarded the Prince Eugen medal by King Carl XVI Gustav of Sweden. The medal is bestowed for outstanding artistic achievement. She had a number of well known clients such as Brigette Bardot and Billie Holiday. 

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