Machine Age Jacob Bengel Art Deco Brickwork Links Bracelet Galalith Brass 1930 ' S
Item History & Price
| Reference Number: Avaluer:25965780 | Chain Style: Link |
| Material: Galalith | Type: Bracelet |
| Brand: Jacob Bengel | Country/Region of Manufacture: Germany |
| Metal: Brass | Style: Art Deco |
This unique Machine Age Art Deco oversized bracelet made of brass and galalith is unsigned and most likely from Jakob Bengel's famous manufactory in Pforzheim. A masonry pattern brickwork links are cut from galalith and covered with brass, so that the fronts gleam festively. The superbly preserved piece was created around 1930.
Material: Galalith (type of early plastic made from casein), Brass Measurements: 7.8" (20 cm) length x 1.3" (3.4 cm) width x 0.4" (1.1 cm) height ...of each link Weight: 70 grams Condition: Very good vintage, occasional signs of wear on the underside
Founded in 1873 in Idar-Oberstein Germany, Jakob Bengel first produced pocket watch chains in brass, tombac and silver. In the 1920s early 1930s the company began a creative experiment designing costume jewelry with ‘artifical’ materials, those having no intrinsic value, experimenting with everything that lent itself to jewelry - chrome, glass, horn, enamel, textiles, brass and other alloys, galalith, bakelite and wood. ‘Material snobbism’ was rejected as the new materials were considered ideally suited to the severe lines of Bauhaus and Art Deco designs and were affordable for everyone. Bengel's simplicity and clarity of design using the machine aesthetic of the time is elegantly served in his ‘brickwork’ chains, strong colour, geometric pendant forms & link bracelets with glass crystal or rhinestones and silk or velvet cords has made him perhaps the most important German producer of costume jewelry in the 1920s and ‘30s.
Material: Galalith (type of early plastic made from casein), Brass Measurements: 7.8" (20 cm) length x 1.3" (3.4 cm) width x 0.4" (1.1 cm) height ...of each link Weight: 70 grams Condition: Very good vintage, occasional signs of wear on the underside
Founded in 1873 in Idar-Oberstein Germany, Jakob Bengel first produced pocket watch chains in brass, tombac and silver. In the 1920s early 1930s the company began a creative experiment designing costume jewelry with ‘artifical’ materials, those having no intrinsic value, experimenting with everything that lent itself to jewelry - chrome, glass, horn, enamel, textiles, brass and other alloys, galalith, bakelite and wood. ‘Material snobbism’ was rejected as the new materials were considered ideally suited to the severe lines of Bauhaus and Art Deco designs and were affordable for everyone. Bengel's simplicity and clarity of design using the machine aesthetic of the time is elegantly served in his ‘brickwork’ chains, strong colour, geometric pendant forms & link bracelets with glass crystal or rhinestones and silk or velvet cords has made him perhaps the most important German producer of costume jewelry in the 1920s and ‘30s.
