Jewellery, Objects of Vertu, Silver and Watches

An impressive 18ct bicolour gold collar and pendant necklace by Barbara Cartlidge, 1970, the collar applied with repeating flared ogee designs, with stud fastening, supporting a similarly styled detachable frontispiece below, terminating in a bold crescent enclosing an amethyst crystal carved as a flowerhead, maker’s mark ‘EBC’, London hallmarks, collar inner diameter 11cm, central pendant (excluding collar) length 14.5cm. £12,000-£15,000

This lot is to be sold as part of a special collection, The Collection of Barbara Cartlidge.

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Collection

By family descent.

Born to Jewish parents in Berlin in 1922, Barbara (neé Feistmann) spent her early life under the threat of the Nazis in Germany. In 1938, after completing school at the age of 16, Barbara and her family fled the country, first seeking refuge in Copenhagen and three months later relocating to Hampstead, North London. Just before the end of the war, in 1944, Barbara met and married Derrick Cartlidge and they moved into a house in South Hill Park Gardens, Hampstead, her home for the rest of her life.

Barbara (or ‘Bobbie’ as she was known to her family) was passionately interested in the arts and design and attended the Central School of Arts and Crafts (later St. Martin’s) School of Art) from 1957-60 where she studied jewellery. Having completed her course, she set up a studio at home and was soon taking jewellery commissions. With great prescience, she registered her brand in 1959, enjoying almost immediate success with a breakthrough solo exhibition at Heal’s in London in 1960, which attracted the attention of the fashion magazines Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar.

In June 1971 Barbara and fellow jeweller Ralph Turner co-founded the Electrum Gallery at 21 South Molton Street, Mayfair, London, the first gallery dedicated to showcasing the work of contemporary, international jewellers and designers. It quickly became one of the most prestigious and influential contemporary galleries in the world for established and emerging jewellery talent, over the years representing many hundreds of jewellers. The Electrum Gallery established London as an international platform for artist jewellery, until finally closing in 2007.

In 1973, Barbara published her only book, Twentieth-Century Jewelry, and became a sought-after lecturer and teacher throughout the 1980s and ’90s. She was appointed Freeman of the Goldsmiths’ Company in 1978, and in 2016 Goldsmiths’ held a special exhibition of her work during the annual Goldsmiths’ Fair. Barbara’s pieces are held in public and private collections worldwide, including the Victoria & Albert Museum, London.

Literature:
Chadour-Sampson, B. Hosegood J. Barbara Cartlidge and Electrum Gallery, A Passion for Jewellery, pub. Arnoldsche Art Publishers, 2016

Very good condition. Hallmarked twice, to the inside collar, and reverse of pendant.
Gross weight 197gm.