A Platinum, Diamond, and Onyx Clip-Brooch, Dusausoy, France

Sotheby's, New York

Wolf Family Collection number 9192 (acquired from the above April 15-16, 1992, lot 153)

Dusausoy, whose chief designers were Jean and Justin Dusausoy and Madeleine Chazel, was a small firm who made high quality jewels in Art Deco style. Located on Boulevard des Capucines, they were one of the exhibitors at the famous Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs in Paris in 1925 alongside such notables as Lacloche, Mauboussin and Van Cleef & Arpels.Paris was the source and center of the Art Deco movement, and its jewelers were responsible for the period's most imaginative designs. While some firms showed a marked preference for color and the influence of the exotic, others sought to simplify, sometimes to the point of austerity. As a direct reaction against the excesses of Art Nouveau, the Art Deco designers preferred the symmetrical and balanced. Geometric shapes -- rectangles, circles and triangles -- appeared singly or interlocked. A trend for 'black and white' jewelry emerged, perhaps evolving from the simple elegance of black and white for evening dress especially favored at this time. These pieces featured diamonds set in white metal, platinum or silver, accented with rock crystal, black onyx or enamel. The brooch offered in this sale is an excellent example of how effective an Art Deco jewel can be when pared down to a simple geometric form and monochromatic color scheme.

Dusausoy jewels are rare and are seldom seen at auction. Examples are illustrated by Sylvie Raulet, Art Deco Jewelry, pp. 103, 105, 135, 165 and 304.