Film and Sheikh Jewelry

Julia Vorst writes:

Women’s dresses were long straight and slim-fitting in the 1920s, forming the perfect foil for very long necklaces. Earrings were often abandoned by the most fashionable, who favored emancipated bobbed hairstyles. Long strings of beads, ending in a tassel effect or a knot, were worn by rich and poor and have survived in some number, as they were made of every material, from lapis lazuli and diamonds to glass and forms of early plastic. The sautoir symbolized the 1920s and was sometimes made of a twisted rope of pearls, silk threads, ivory or paste. Sometimes silk-covered beads gave a more opulent effect, or wood, glass and ceramic might be mixed. At the top end of the market were complex designs, often with flat links set with diamonds centered with a pendant in a harmonized design. Relatively few diamond examples have survived, as many were shortened in the late 1930s and 50s as fashions changed

The popularity of everything Egyptian in the 1920s, following the discovery of the tomb of Tutenkamen, inspired quantities of green and black glass jewelry in imitation of jade, as well as imitation ivory and lapis lazuli. The film “The Sheikh” made Rudolph Valentino famous, inspiring harem pants, jeweled turbans and exotic jewelry, usually manufactured from cheap materials. Some sautoirs are surprisingly long and were presumably intended to be wound around the neck at least once. Glass versions are often found and can cost as little as $15 (£10). It is often the cheaper glass versions that have survived, as those of Murano (Venetian) glass were often re-strung into short necklaces in the 1950s.The illustrated sautoir of ceramic beads has a pendant head of Valentino. The strings of beads imitate lapis lazuli, ivory and gold. It has a dual appeal in being film related and an evocative period piece, though the basic materials are cheap. This type of jewelry varies considerably in price between fashionable and provincial sellers or those specializing in film related pieces. The average price for such a piece would be between $45 -$60 (£30 - £40).

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