Brooch
early 20th century (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Mary Thew studied at Glasgow School of Art in the mid 1890s. Her career as a jeweller came later however, after marriage and a family, with a studio first in Glasgow then out in Kirkcudbright. She was a member of the Glasgow Society of Lady Artists' Club and her jewellery won one of their prizes in 1925. An interview with her in The Glasgow Herald (18 May 1939) describes her studio in the garden, with its bench surrounded by shelves of tools and materials at which she sat on an old windsor chair. The journalist remarks on her 'fine colour sense' which is also a feature of this particular brooch. Its rich but unusual combination of stones fits well with her remark that 'in the drawers a heterogeneous collection of gems from all over the world was mixed in an entrancing disorder'.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Silver, partly gilded, with abalone, turquoise, jade and citrine |
| Brief description | Brooch, silver partly gilded, set with abalone, turquoise, jade and citrine, designed and made by Mary Thew, Scotland, early 20th century |
| Physical description | Brooch, a vertical pin set with a large oval turquoise, mottled with brown, at its head. The turquoise is flanked by two oval citrines and rosettes of twisted silver while a third citrine is set amid silver circles beneath. Below is a rectangular panel of abalone which tapers slightly. At its base is a fourth citrine, two further rosettes and a teardrop-shaped piece of pale green jade. A few of the decorative spheres have been gilded but the settings and the back are of silver. |
| Dimensions |
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| Credit line | Given by Gulderen Tekvar |
| Summary | Mary Thew studied at Glasgow School of Art in the mid 1890s. Her career as a jeweller came later however, after marriage and a family, with a studio first in Glasgow then out in Kirkcudbright. She was a member of the Glasgow Society of Lady Artists' Club and her jewellery won one of their prizes in 1925. An interview with her in The Glasgow Herald (18 May 1939) describes her studio in the garden, with its bench surrounded by shelves of tools and materials at which she sat on an old windsor chair. The journalist remarks on her 'fine colour sense' which is also a feature of this particular brooch. Its rich but unusual combination of stones fits well with her remark that 'in the drawers a heterogeneous collection of gems from all over the world was mixed in an entrancing disorder'. |
| Bibliographic references |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | M.12-2012 |
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| Record created | March 30, 2012 |
| Record URL |
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