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Note: These items were
photographed from private collections, and are for reference only.
Jewelry that is available for sale can be
accessed at the links at the bottom of the page.
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HASKELL Hess
chartreuse, burnt sienna and tan glass beads and gold tone leaves expansion
bracelet, 3-1/4" front, and matching clip. #H26051 |
HASKELL Larry Austin
original watercolor advertising illustration for Haskell bracelet and clip,
numbered "815" on back in pencil, 8" by 10".
View #H26053 |
HASKELL early
unsigned Frank Hess design from the 1940's. This 4" dress clip is made up of
chartreuse, coral and tan
glass beads. View
#H23939
And this
HASKELL is a
brooch, not a clip.
View #H21112 |
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HASKELL early Hess wooden beads and glass seed beads coil bracelet.
#H22088 |
View
showing the woven covered coil construction of the bracelet. Closer views of beads.
View
View |
HASKELL Hess early unsigned
dress clip with wood florets and green glass beads, 3".
View #H26700 |
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HASKELL wooden
beaded 3" long pin. Clips and pins in this series came in various colors and designs,
circa 1935-40. (Seen in Christie Romero's "Warman's Jewelry, 3rd Ed,
page 195.)
View
#H19700 |
HASKELL early unsigned
multi-colored glass opaque beads and painted metal leaves bracelet, 6-1/2".
View
View #H24186 |
HASKELL
early unsigned wooden beads "pinecones" pin, circa 1935-40, 3-1/2".
(Seen in Christie Romero's "Warman's Jewelry, 3rd Ed, page 195.)
View
View #H19832 |
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HASKELL original gouache art
work, probably by Larry Austin. Advertising a Miriam Haskell stick coral
coil bracelet and clip, numbered #1067 on the back, 8" by 10".
#H31940
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HASKELL early unsigned red woven fabric jewelry: bracelet
and two sets of dress clips.
View
View #H19820 |
CLIPS
Back |
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This fabulous set comprised of a bracelet and two dress clips made of red
bead clusters attached to silk cord, and two beaded clips. Similar pieces can be seen in Cera on
pages 32 and 70, and in Haskell ads from the time. |
Two Chinese red dress clips with carved glass beads, brass
flowers and ornate, dangling brass spheres.
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"Political events also influenced designers. Out of sympathy for
the Chinese and Greek people who were fighting Japan and Italy…they
turned to those antique cultures for inspiration." Cera, The
Jewels of Miriam Haskell, p 29.
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HASKELL early unsigned expansion bracelet and pair of matching dress
clips. #H22609 |
HASKELL
Larry Austin original watercolor advertising illustration for Haskell white
beads bracelet and clip, "right" penciled on back, 8" x 10".
#H27269 |
HASKELL early unsigned
orange-red and black pin with glass beads center, circa 1940, 3-1/3".
View #H27221 |
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"Typical of the pieces designed by Frank Hess and produced during
the war are the dangling clips with a minimum amount of metal stampings
and non-traditional ornaments on a base of transparent plastic, which has
become yellow with age." Cera, The Jewels of Miriam Haskell, p 31.
All three of these are what Cathy Gordon calls
"lampshade clips", and they demonstrate the use of alternative
materials when white metal was in short supply during the years of World
War II.
It certainly appears, after looking at so many of these
clip backs, that there is a trend. We already knew that the plastic
backs were used during the war years, but we've noticed several different clips
being used also. Some are really chintzy and others are more like
what we consider the "standard" clip which is of a much better
construction. Could the "chintzy" clips have come later as more metal
was needed for the war effort? The "lampshades" all have
the chintzy clip and are made out of plastic as well. In fact the
top pieces (the brass flowers with beads) are a very thin lightweight
metal.
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HASKELL
early unsigned coil bracelet circa 1940. Blue glass beads and
artificial pearls backed by layered gold tone textured leaves. (Purchased
directly from Haskell Jewels' collection of early pieces.) View
View #H19193 |
HASKELL
early unsigned coil bracelet circa 1940. Pastel green opaque glass beads,
artificial pearls and three-dimensional gold tone flowers and
leaves. (Purchased directly from Haskell Jewels' collection of early
pieces.) View
#H19581 |
HASKELL
early unsigned coil bracelet circa 1940. Pastel pink and purple glass
flowers, artificial pearlized leaves and rhinestones. (Purchased
directly from Haskell Jewels' collection of early pieces.) View
#H19583 |
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HASKELL lush
unsigned necklace with white glass beads
and green glass leaves has the same construction as the yellow set beside
it. Necklace
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HASKELL classic
style is shown in this brilliant yellow clip and
bracelet—differing sizes of beads and delicate paté de verre glass leaves.
Back |
HASKELL
early unsigned coral colored opaque glass beads and metal floral findings.
Note the typical Haskell "flattened" beads with brass
floral end-caps.
The bracelet is strung on elastic. The dress clip is 4".
View
View #H19941 |
|
HASKELL early unsigned transparent green glass beads coil bracelet,
2-1/3" front, 1" wide. View
#H26800
HASKELL Hess early
unsigned green glass bead dress clip with clear rhinestone accents, 2-1/4".
View #H26743 |
HASKELL early unsigned
blue glass beads dress clip with clear rhinestone leaves, 3-1/2".
View #H26799 |
HASKELL early unsigned
aqua glass beads and rhinestone leaves coil bracelet, 1-3/4" front.
(Seen in Christie Romero's "Warman's Jewelry, 3rd Ed, page 190.)
View
Bracelet
View
View View
#H22610
HASKELL early unsigned aqua glass bead dress clip with rhinestone
leaves, 2-3/4". View
#H22888 |
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HASKELL
early unsigned orange glass bead coil bracelet (7/8" wide 3" front drop) and
2-1/2" dress clip with silver tone and clear rhinestones ribbon motif.
View
View
View #H20469 |
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HASKELL early
unsigned orange glass bead coil bracelet (7/8" wide 3-1/2" wide front) and
2-1/2" dress clip with silver pot metal and clear rhinestones leaf motif.
View
View
View #H24003 |
A combination of glass beads with pot metal and rhinestone
leaves give this clip a lush look, and it again shows the fine finishing
detail of a tiny bead at each tip. Next to the clip is the matching
bracelet.
Coral glass beads and gold tone florets create a wreath clip in a
pleasingly asymmetrical design, with the matching bracelet to its left.
These clips and bracelets all seem to vary slightly in size and design.
There is some thought that the dress clips and bracelets using cast
metal pave leaves are not Haskell, though the style of stringing different
sized beads and ending each length with a tiny seed bead certainly looks
typical. Cera states on page 59 of The Jewels of Miriam Haskell,
"Because the use of glue was never permitted in making Miriam Haskell
jewellery, rhinestones were used as little as possible."
Conversely, Bertl Groll, who was
assistant to Frank Hess, identified
these as Haskell pieces. Bertl was also assistant to several
of the later Haskell designers. The photo below shows Bertl
in the 1970's, during the time when Larry Vrba was the head designer,
sitting at her desk at Haskell. Notice the tray of Haskell artificial
pearls next to her left hand.
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| Two matching bracelets, one in red and the other in black.
Note the difference between the rhinestone flowers in these compared to
the green bracelet and clip on the right.
While the red and black bracelets may
not be Haskell pieces, the combination of
multiple-sized glass beads with pot
metal and rhinestone leaf and flower findings makes lovely jeweled
bouquets.
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HASKELL early
unsigned clip of aqua glass beads and lovely gold tone findings, 4".
View #H19736 |
HASKELL early unsigned aqua faceted crystal beaded 2-1/4" round dress clip
with 2" beads drop and 7" "button" fastening bracelet.
View
View
View
#H19738 |
HASKELL attributed early
unsigned 4" dress clip in gold tone petals and beads with aqua glass beads
in three different shapes.
View #H24809 |
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HASKELL early
unsigned cranberry glass beads and clear rhinestones coil bracelet and
3-1/3" dress clip. View #H24394 |
CLIP and
bracelet of yellow glass beads and clear rhinestones. |
HASKELL
aqua and red glass bead clips and clip
backs. A matching set of clips (fur and dress) with silver
metal, floral designs, irregular glass beads imitating turquoise and
cranberry and turquoise paté de verre beads. There is also a matching necklace for these
clips. |
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Several versions of pink and pomegranate glass beads—cascading,
as a sautoir and in a starburst effect.
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Czech, , French, Haskell or ???
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HASKELL unsigned cobalt blue glass bead clips with clear rhinestone accents.
View . Here is an
AD showing these Haskell clips as a part of a set made in traditional Haskell
faux pearls. However, some feel that these clips were not Haskell,
but French. View. #19940 |
Coral glass beads used in a clip with similar
design. Both the back and the front show typical Haskell construction, but
attribution of this piece is uncertain. |
A wonderful clip of gilded brass leaves and flowers combined with
dangling, carved wood flowers and wood beads circa 1938-1939. You can see
a similar clip using wood carved as walnuts on page 75 of Cera, The
Jewels of Miriam Haskell.
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Some authorities think this
style is French and not a Haskell although there is an old Haskell ad
that illustrates designs very similar to this. |
This is a
very simple design for a Haskell piece. |
In the tradition of the Art
Nouveau artists before her, Haskell used many unusual materials during the
war years when the normal jewelry making materials were in short supply.
One favorite is the necklace made of pine cone petals! Pods, wood, plastic
and sea shells were all used in Haskell jewelry.
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This clip is nicknamed "bubbles" by its owner!
These bubble beads are translucent glass with gold tone leaves as a
setting. You can see similar leaves used on the wood/shell clip on the
bottom of page 78 of Cera. |
A very feminine dress clip made completely of metal,
attribution unknown. |
This pastel green glass bead fur clip is probably not a Haskell, but
it is wonderful nonetheless with its filigree beads and
"butterfly" motif. |
|
Haskell loved butterflies and they are
represented in numerous shapes and sizes, always with their wings
stretched open, another common Art Nouveau motif.
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One of the most unusual clips we have ever seen. It is
quite small, but the use of color, round glass beads, square wood beads
and pressed glass leaves is an artistic wonder. The beads are Czech
looking, but the poured glass leaves and overall design look like Haskell.
Clip
View
View clip back #H21874 |
The large green glass flower, sometimes called "the tulip",
was used in this clip and is also seen in other
colors in later Haskell brooches and necklaces. CLIP
Back
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Red and looking like pomegranate seeds, this clip is nested into cast
silver tone leaves, a lush combination. Bertl identifies this
as a Haskell. CLIP
Back |
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WOODEN
multi-colored beads 3-1/2" dress clip with green wooden leaves.
View #Y21708 |
Clips
Back
Bertl Groll, long time Haskell sample maker who was there during the
Hess era, said that she does not think this is a Haskell. |
Clip
Back
Bertl Groll, long time Haskell sample maker who was there during the
Hess era, said that she thought this was a Haskell. |
Primary colors, round, oval and square glass and wood
beads, and brass findings. What a range of designs was created! The first
two pictures look
Czech in origin, and the one on the far right is marked Czech, and also
came in solid colors.
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CLIP Back |
CLIP
Back |
White and crayon colors beaded clip ....and clip back
Bertyl Groll, long time Haskell sample maker who was there during the
Hess era, said that she does not think this is a Haskell. |
The two brooches on the left are said
by the owner to be Haskell prototype brooches.
They have similar
pierced celluloid backs from the war years. Notice also the similarity to
the crayon colored dress clip shown on the right, not only in color,
but also in the metal spacers that separate the beads.
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FINDINGS
| There are several styles of clip backs, and they seem to
have been used indiscriminately. The two aqua clips shown in the center
are matching, but they are strung on very different clip backs, with one
as a fur clip and the other as a dress clip.
The plastic backings were used during WWII, while solid metal and
perforated metal backings were used prior to the war.
The blue clip at the far right is one of the ones Bertl identifies as
Haskell.
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This clip is unusual and lovely, with all metal parts
and no glass beads. |
The traditional Haskell clip style on the
left. The back for the clip on the right was typically used during the
1930s. |
The clip mounted on the white beaded piece matches those used
on some of the
"lampshade" clips. |
The plastic dress clip backs are World War II era, and were used due to the
shortage of materials. The metal clips themselves, however, are not
indicators of era as they were used for many years.
|
All three are typical Haskell clip backs, though the clip
fronts are extremely different!
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Two fur clips and one dress clip. Only the
one on the right is a Haskell, according to Bertl. Again, it has a plastic backing, but the metal clip is different from
those pictured on this page.
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Copies and Inspiration
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HASKELL
topaz-colored glass beads and rhinestones with gold tone chains 16"
necklace with pinecone motif clasp.
View #H22664 |
View together
View |
AMOURELLE
pinecones motif topaz- and honey-colored glass beads and rhinestones 17"
necklace with 4" pendant.
View View #X23033 |
| Attributing unsigned
jewelry is always dicey, so where possible I have shown old Haskell
advertisements and/or other documentation to add credibility to the
identifications. While beads and findings may be used as clues, they are not
definitive. An example of why can be seen in the comparison of a
Haskell and an Amourelle necklace, shown above. If the Amourelle was
unsigned, it would be easy to identify it as Haskell. Each and every bead
and finding is identical to the signed Haskell necklace.
According to those who worked in the jewelry industry, the practice of designers using each other's pieces as inspiration
was common, as was the "borrowing" of ideas for the use
and combinations of beads,
findings and designs. The sets shown directly above, one by Haskell and one
marked Amourelle, demonstrate this. In this case, both of these were Frank
Hess designs... one done when he worked for Haskell, and one when he worked
for Amourelle.
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Note: These items were photographed from private collections, and are for
reference only. Jewelry that is available
for sale can be accessed at the links below.
|
JEWELRY FOR SALE accessible below.
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