Art Deco Components and Transitional Art Deco Components--What's THAT?

According to Wikipedia, Art Deco is a 'stilted, stylized design', characterized by strong lines and geometric patterns. Named after the International Exposition of Modern and Industrial Arts, held in Paris in 1925, the style carried over from the Art Nouveau design period. It also had strong hinges on Native American (Indian) jewelry design as well as the Egyptian Revival craze which occurred after the opening of King Tut's tomb in 1922.

In Art Deco jewelry, colors tend to be very strong: white, black, red, orange, green, blue in their purest senses, often combined with metal. Colors are achieved by enamel, and the look can be extremely geometric---or it can be softened by previous Nouveau influences or later retro ones.

As with Victorian Revival jewelry, Art Deco jewelry had a revival in the 1950's as well. That's why in the collecting trade, you will sometimes hear the term "50's Deco."

The above photo of the beetle stamping has strong Egyptian influence (from the Egyptian Revival/King Tut tomb period) but it also has a softening, which suggests the original design for the stamping may have come from the late 20's-early 30's, but the die as we know it today in the US stampings trade probably became strong in the 1950's.

You can find this stamping at B'sue Boutiques here:

http://www.bsueboutiques.com/item/Art-Deco-Curious-Beetle-3936

Since the latest incarnation of the The Great Gatbsy hit the silver screen a week or so ago, there is more and more interest in Gatsby style jewelry. We as artists like to know WHAT really the Art Deco style WAS.....and how we might find components to use to incorporate into our designs.

Most of the stampings we carry at B'sue Boutiques are what I call 50's Deco....and I do that quite freely! This again is because most of the tooling was re-developed from earlier, antique dies from the first Deco period that began in the 20's. They are also transitional pieces with softened elements that will work well with Gatsby-style bling and Gatsby-era design lines.

The book, THE GREAT GATSBY, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, was written in 1925, so the jewelry of that period is really what most might call 'flapper' jewelry---with influence both in Art Deco as well as Art Nouveau.

Here are some samples of transitional Deco components that would work for this style of jewelry:

This rather huge dragonfly---about four inches across--is definitely transitional deco and can be bent to make a bracelet. You would drill or hole punch the tips of the wings and just add a bit of chain and a clasp for a very nifty bangle. A chain could be attached through its tail to make a slave, or hand flower bracelet.

http://www.bsueboutiques.com/item/Huge-Four-Inch-Dragonfly-5493

This piece actually leans toward Arts and Crafts Period Style....which actually transitioned, in some ways, into Art Deco!

http://www.bsueboutiques.com/item/Stamping-Mothra-Brass-Ox-56-x-73mm-2278

This bee connector has an angular Deco influence:

http://www.bsueboutiques.com/item/Bee-Connector-Stamping-9726

Even our Steampunk wheel cogs have a pronounced Deco design:

http://www.bsueboutiques.com/item/Steampunk-25mm-Silverware-Silverplate-Cog-Wheel-11083

To see some wonderful Art Deco period pieces, you can check out Pinterest. Here is a link from a search I did that yielded some amazing photos:

http://pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=art+deco+jewelry

In the movie, I saw a lot of color.....but a real tendency toward cream pearl and crystal rhinestone....so you may be able to incorporate repurposed focals to great effect.

And just as a thought....why not maybe mix the Deco feeling, or style....with something found and altered?

Here are some fab silverplated spoon pendants made by Mitzi Curi: