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22 Karat Gold, Baltic Amber Carved in 18th Century-China Torc

$36,863.67List Price

About the Item

This elegant torc is crafted from a ribbon of 22 karat gold. Its natural form and pattern is complimented by a piece of baltic amber at its center, which was carved in China during the 18th century. Objet d’Emotion presents the 'Chinese Chapter' of Mimi Lipton's private jewellery collection on 1stDibs. Natural treasures set in 22 karat gold and mementos of bygone days. WHO IS MIMI LIPTON? In 1928, Mimi Lipton was born in Vienna and raised as a young girl in Belgium. The outbreak of the Second World War, forced her family to flee to Leeds in England. Moving to London in 1950, she found work at the Institute of Contemporary Art as an assistant to curator Jasia Reichardt. Involved in the groundbreaking exhibition of 1968 ‘Cybernetic Serendipity’, devoted to the relationship between art and new technology, she met her husband Hansjorg Mayer, renowned German publisher. Together they have travelled extensively across Africa and Asia, visiting Senegal, Loas, Vietnam, Cambodia, Singapore, Tibet, Bhutan and Thailand. Through her travels, she discovered primitive arts and began buying. What started off small, quickly turned into large orders of furniture from Thailand, Afghanistan and India. Lacquerware from Burma, Silver from India and Thailand. Her interest in Tibet, and Tibetan rugs, led to an exhibition of ‘The Tiger Rugs of Tibet’ at the Hayward Gallery, London. Giving recognition to these works, helped establish primitive art as an area of interest for art galleries to exhibit. Mimi’s interest in jewellery began in the late sixties during a visit to the Berber villages in Morocco. Objets trouvés from her travels are the starting point for her pieces: coral washed up on beaches in Thailand, rough Demantoids from Madagascar and Opals for Ethiopia. Working with several specialised jewellers from Iceland, Nepal, France and China, Mimi gives these artists creative freedom. Her only stipulations; using the soft glowing and more malleable 22ct gold and keeping the stones in their rough natural beauty. Mimi’s style and soul evidently runs throughout the collection of one-of-a-kind pieces. These sculptural yet wearable objects showcase her glorious originality, imagination and individuality, with craftsmanship reigning supreme. “If you have something from me it’s a one-off. If you have a diamond, unless you can afford a 20 carat diamond, you just have another diamond. I’m not saying that they aren’t wonderful, but if you buy something which is a one-off, it may not just be about the material value, you have something which is truly unique. My jewellery is about individuality and a preciousness of nature’s elements. I think my pieces will be admired in the future in a way that people don’t fully understand today.” Mimi Lipton OBJET D'EMOTION CELEBRATES MIMI LIPTON In celebration of Mimi’s extraordinary collection and her adventurous life, Objet d’Emotion has produced a short documentary “In conversation with Mimi”, filmed by Simon King. A digital catalogue unveiling Mimi’s jewels: with an introduction by esteemed jewellery historian and journalist Vanessa Cron, photographs by Martin Sturgess, and gouache paintings by Silvia Serravalle. Objet d’Emotion immerses you in Mimi’s fabulous world. Central Saint Martin’s MA Jewellery Design course leader, Simon Fraser, placed Mimi’s personal collection in the context of contemporary jewellery in his afterword. The rest of Mimi’s collection will be available via the ‘In Confidence’ section of the Objet d’Emotion website. A private area on the website, ‘In Confidence’ showcases a superlative selection of Fine jewellery. CATALOGUE FOREWORD – VANESSA CRON Not all those who wander are lost. Sometimes, unbeknownst to them, they are paving the way. Mimi Lipton's life took her to nearly all corners of the planet, at a time when travelling was a true adventure and diversity was not even part of the daily vocabulary. I could tell the incredible story of her life, and you would feel like reading an adventure novel, but, although very entertaining, that would only scratch the surface. The most important thing to know about Mimi Lipton is this: she is an architect. It might come as a surprise for most of the people who know her and will confuse all those who came to discover her jewellery collection, but that's who she is deep inside. An architect. Specialised in building invisible bridges. With art. Maybe she is an art-chitect in fact. The bridges she has created are the most essentials, those who connect humans, cultures, and Nature together. All encapsulated in powerful jewels. A jewellery artchitect. It took decades though before Mimi Lipton admitted to being a creative jewellery mastermind. It came after years and years of travels that definitely inspired her the most unusual and manifold painter's palette. From rugs to lacquer work, to furniture, to everything in between, she did train her eye extensively. She connected to many different cultures and aesthetics, not through photos, but by living them organically, meeting people from all around the world, connecting with them on higher levels. Unfolding spiritual bonds. It’s possible that her insatiable curiosity and kindness for the ‘others’ is rooted in her childhood as a little Jewish girl escaping Austria during the darkest of times. Maybe that’s what the horrors of the war have unconsciously created in her, a never-ending love for this earth and its inhabitants. Her jewels are inspired by her own collection of stones, pebbles or shells gathered all around the world. There's no hierarchy in the mineral world for her, they all have an interest, an organic appeal. Their beauty is a constant source of creativity. As with her human relationships, Mimi Lipton likes her jewels authentics: no transformations, false pretences or faked feelings. Materials are not modified, cut or polished, as their beauty comes from within. Maybe the use of materials in their rough form is an invitation to consider the absolute beauty of the perfect imperfection of Nature, thus our own. Or perhaps it is Mimi Lipton's very personal way to build these bridges which reconnects humans to Mother Earth, to its diversity, its raw energy. These materials are caressed by 22k gold, just like solidified gold water that would hold the stones in the softest embrace. Wearing a jewel by Mimi Lipton is exhilarating, just like diving in the ocean or plunge your hands deep in the sand. It doesn't need an explanation, it’s a feeling, devoid of superficial artifice. It's like entering an imaginary world where humans and gems are related, kindred elements. It’s a celebration, a bold and brave celebration of life. CATALOGUE AFTERWORD – SIMON FRASER Mimi Lipton has created an extraordinary jewellery collection that acts as a palimpsest, exploring the visible traces of earlier use of jade, amber or the subtle polishing and carving of gemstones. Sharing the fascination of global cultures celebrated by many modernist designers, these historic traces are presented by a process of form development, akin to collaging. Lipton’s commitment to the art world and the developing cultural values of the twentieth century is translated by her to conduct the tone and mood of her jeweller collaborators, working as if with a jewellery chamber orchestra towards a coherent whole. Lipton conjures jewels reminiscent of those belonging to extraordinary women who were key cultural figures of the 20th century. Edith Sitwell whose extraordinary Axe Head necklace was made for her by American, Millicent Rogers springs to mind. So too the powerful cabal of women, mostly from America who wore the large scale jewellery of Alexander Calder, Peggy Guggenheim and friends and also Parisian, Simone de Beauvoir. If the collection celebrates Lipton’s own sense of identities at play, her close friendships with the extraordinary artists form part of a counterpoint melody. Artists like Dieter Rot who realised his jewellery with the aid of Swiss goldsmith Hans Langenbacher, and John Latham, who during the period she worked with him, was powerfully exploring assemblage. Strong and bold rings, necklaces and cuffs are predominant formats and the jewellery sometimes flirts with more familiar visual vocabularies, with jades from China and later, plum blossom carved ambers. Necklaces frequently occupy the space around the neck and to the end of the sternum, the location for a Tibetan Silver Bib necklace or a good string of pearls perhaps. This disciplined location breathes a performability into the extravagant exploration and bold colours. Lipton is inspired by a directness in the use of a material. The gold in her jewellery is sometimes carved or cast, more often roughly shaped to a direct purpose to hold or to enable wear. Whilst not shaped to a specific design aesthetic, stone settings often echo Tibet and South Asia. This elemental approach, parallels the use of materials in the ethnographic artefacts she has collected. Where is this collection located in the sometimes rather rigidly observed jewellery industry, ‘studio jewellers’ world or fashion accessories of today? It is part of a strand that sits outside the different identities of carefully cut and measured product, reminiscent of a world that Sah Oved of Cameo Corner, London, evoked in the 1930s when she made her extraordinary commissions for Nancy Cunard. Except this time Lipton is creator and client.

Creator:
Mimi Lipton
Metal:
Gold,22k Gold
Stone:
Amber
Stone Cut:
Cabochon
Style:
Artist
Place of Origin:
United Kingdom
Period:
2000-2009
Date of Manufacture:
2005
Condition:
Seller Location:
London, GB
Reference Number:
1stDibs: LU2160211786682

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