1940s

  • Frog

    This jaunty frog is by the American company Hollycraft.  It is made of metal and then enamelled.  Joseph Chorbagian came to America in 1917 at the age of 17 to seek his fortune.  Pooling his resources with his cousin Archie and friend Jack Hazard they established the Hollywood Jewelry Products company in 1938 in New…

  • Beetle

    This unusual beetle brooch is by one of the doyens of costume jewellery design – Hattie Carnegie.  I have a number of Hattie Carnegie brooches in my collection, their quirkiness and originality appeal to me.  This beetle is from the 1940s and I bought it from my friend Jacqueline Rehmann author of ‘Classic American Costume…

  • Dangle

    This wonderful brooch was made by the Miriam Haskell company, and designed by Frank Hess in the early 1940’s.  Although unsigned, it has many distinctive characteristics which identify it as Haskell.  Besides the striking, gold plated cascade of leaves and spheres, which makes a delightful sound when worn, one can look at the back of…

  • Fuji Man

    This brooch is known as Fuji man.  It can be found in a number of reference books, which allows it to be accurately dated to 1942.  Coro was one of the largest and most prolific costume jewellery manufacturing and wholesale companies in the United States. Fuji man was originally attributed to Adolph Katz, but he was…

  • Bow

    This pretty brooch is from the 1940s. It is made from a kit sold through a magazine in America.  I have been unable to track down which magazine. The back of this example is covered in leather and has been finished extremely neatly.  I have over the years seen other examples where the back has…

  • Smiling Calf

    I call this brooch smiling calf, and it is one of the more unusual brooches by the Elzac company in that it is made only of ceramic.  More often, Elzac brooches were made of heavily carved wood and sculpted ceramic, and embellished with almost every imaginable material including felt, beads, cellophane, rick rack, and even…

  • French Dress Clip

    This dress clip is by the Paris fashion house of Henry a la Pensee.  Henry a la Pensee began in 1800 as a high end boutique selling quality clothing accessories and gifts.  Over time they opened branches throughout France and in 1938 opened a shop in New York.  The fashion house closed in the 1960s. …

  • Dog with Bow

    This brooch is from Japan and a specific period.   Following the end of World War II Japan needed to rebuild its economy.  It was agreed by the allies they could export goods as long as 50% of the items leaving the country had ‘Occupied Japan’ or similar stamped on them. This brooch is one of…

  • Ornamental C

    This ornate C brooch is by the American company Réja.  It is almost certainly designed by Solomon Finkelstein who set up business in New York in 1932.  It wasn’t until 1939 that Solomon decided to manufacture jewellery for the retail trade and established Déja Costume Jewelry, Inc.  But in October 1940 he was taken to…

  • Mr & Mrs Squirrel

    These two brooches depict a pair of squirrels. A gentleman in a top hat, possibly holding a baton or scroll, why I’m not sure, and a lady wearing a hat and holding a bunch of flowers, which makes far more sense, were manufactured by Coro.  They are known as ‘jelly belly pins’ because their middles…