Bolt-ring chain, no clasp, metall chromium plated; pendant in form of a rhomboid with brickwork, partly lacquered in red.

Manufacture: Jakob Bengel, Idar-Oberstein, Germany, 1931
Measure: chain L.6,7“ cm, pendant 1,6“ L. (Kette) 32,2“, Anhänger: 2,7cm

_{State: very good, no fractures, no discoloration, no abrasion of chrome plating.}

The model or pattern design is displayed in one of the pattern books, which appears just some time ago. There jewellery made of metal revealed incredible creativity and a sensitive awareness of the Zeitgeist and the new woman who was now emerging.

The strikingly distinctive jewellery is obviously influenced by the formal idiom of the Bauhaus avant-garde, with its elements borrowed from geometry, trigonometry and the aesthetic of the machine. The “masonry” or “brickwork” is composed of flat links which are interlinked in such a way that a brickwork effect is created. Specially the chromium-plated chain links matched the European taste, which was cool and objective. In 1930 base metals such as brass or tombac began to be chromium-plated as well as nickel-plated.

Jakob Bengel is rightly regarded as one of the leading representatives of the sector. A comprehensive work on the firm accompanied sucessful exhibitions: Christianne Weber-Stöber: Art Déco-Schmuck Jacob Bengel, Idar-Oberstein und Wilhelm Lindemann (Hg.): Bengel Art Déco Schmuck und Industrie-Denkmal, Idar-Oberstein, Stuttgart 2007.
Please compare other pieces of bengel-jewellery on this site.

Cp. Patternbook Vol.VIII, p.324, M-no.18.116, 24.8.31 and Weber 2002, p.100, i.01.
In: vonZezschwitz, Kunst und Design, Auktion 34, April 2007, Los 586.