Dragonfly Diva – Black and Turquoise Art Nouveau Style Bead Embroidered Collar

This collar was created for the EtsyBeadWeavers (EBW) Team’s March  2011 challenge "Fashion Through the Ages".

Please visit our team blog, http://www.etsy-beadweavers.blogspot.com between the 9th and 15th of March and vote for your favorite entry.

This Art Neck Piece was inspired by Art Nouveau movement and especially my ever favourite artist – Charles Rennie McIntosh.

Jewellery of the Art Nouveau period revitalised the jeweller's art, with nature as the principal source of inspiration, complemented by new levels of virtuosity in enamelling and the introduction of new materials, such as opals and semi-precious stones. The widespread interest in Japanese art and the more specialised enthusiasm for Japanese metalworking skills fostered new themes and approaches to ornament.

For the previous two centuries, the emphasis in fine jewellery had been on gemstones, particularly on the diamond, and the jeweller or goldsmith had been principally concerned with providing settings for their advantage. With Art Nouveau, a different type of jewellery emerged, motivated by the artist-designer rather than the jeweller as setter of precious stones.

The jewellers of Paris and Brussels defined Art Nouveau in jewellery, and in these cities it achieved the most renown. Contemporary French critics were united in acknowledging that jewellery was undergoing a radical transformation, and that the French designer-jeweller-glassmaker René Lalique was at its heart. Lalique glorified nature in jewellery, extending the repertoire to include new aspects of nature—such as dragonflies or grasses—inspired by his encounter with Japanese art. (source: Wikipedia)

This collar is beaded with over 20 000 beads from finest delicas up to 30mm long bugle beads. In the center as the body of the dragonfly there are 5 genuine turquoise stones and additional ornament you can find in the same colour small square shaped mother of pearl beads. The inner lenght of the collar is 16  inches (approx. 41 cm) closing with a silver dragonfly toggle clasp – can be adjusted upon request. The middle of this neckpiece is 6 in (15 cm) long including the fringe.