The Art of David Webb celebrates the designer’s dedication to artistry over more than seven decades.

When David Webb came to New York at the age of 17, he was captivated by the museums, architecture, and fashions of the day. By the time he opened shop in 1948, the city had become his muse. In his only published article, “Why Not Hang Gems?,” of 1963, he wrote that jewelry deserved to be regarded as art and collected by museums.

That conviction fuels The Art of David Webb. Here is jewelry shown as art in more than 120 images — all specially photographed for this book—that speak to the variety of artistic and cultural periods that inspired David Webb and the company he founded. Examples include David Webb's enameled and diamond Mondrian Bracelet, an homage to Piet Mondrian’s Broadway Boogie Woogie and Yves Saint Laurent’s 1960s sheath dress with its famed color blocking; a gemstone-rich dragon brooch taken from a Scythian animal pommel; and a scored rock crystal and diamond bracelet that updates art deco classics. Throughout, work by painters, sculptors, photographers, architects, and couturiers form a visual dialogue with the sumptuous David Webb jewelry. The imaginative pairings, in-depth descriptive captions, and elegantly designed publication are resounding proof that jewelry is both art and culture.

About the Authors:

Ruth Peltason is an author, editor, jewelry historian, and lecturer. Her books include Elizabeth Taylor: My Love Affair with Jewelry, which made the New York Times Bestseller List; Living Jewels; and David Webb: The Quintessential American Jeweler, named the best gift book of the year in 2013 by the Los Angeles Times. 

David Webb has long been the leading American jeweler of bold, modern works, best known for hand-hammered gold, colorful enamel, exquisite rock crystal pieces, and signature animal motifs. All of the jewelry is made by master craftsmen and women in the company’s workshop in New York.

____________

Пролистать книгу The Art of David Webb: Jewelry and Culture на сайте издательства.

With more than 350 illustrations, Jewelry from Nature is a fresh, sensitive look at natural materials magically transformed by masters of fine jewelry.

The vast range of materials is impressive: coral, amber, horn, ivory, shells, pearls, wood, tortoiseshell, and such exotica as feathers, shagreen and bog oak – with origins from all over Europe, Asia, North and South America, Africa and the Far East. Their beauty often belies their age – amber (65 million years old) and mammoth ivory (10,000 years old).

Here, lavishly displayed, are superb works made by the world’s finest jewelers of the past two hundred years. Every major jeweler has created pieces of exceptional beauty, importance and style: Van Cleef & Arpels, Bulgari, JAR, Cartier (their 
Art Deco coral bangles are icons of the period), Tiffany, Boivin, Verdura (whose seashell brooches studded with fine stones have long been collectors’ items), David Webb, Schlumberger, Lalique (whose name enbodies the best in Art Nouveau), Suzanne Belperron and Hermès.

Scores of modern designers are also featured (Andrew Grima, John Donald, Noma Copley) as well as artists today such as Patricia Von Musulin, Ted Muehling and Liv Blåvarp, whose exquisite objects show great respect for natural materials.

Including masses of information, each chapter explores the inspiration of a different material, with special profiles on designers, themes, or style icons such as Princess Grace of Monaco, Chanel and the Duchess of Windsor.