Earl Pardon: Enamel Crescent Brooch

Earl Pardon’s circa 1980’s brooch is an exploration of his interest in the late 70’s and early 80’s in organic materials like wood and bold, almost calligraphic or brush-stroke forms, like this long curved brooch. The colorful enamel mosaics, each one individually created and inlaid in sterling, curve in a dramatic crescent, set with wood, bone, abalone, enamel tiles and 14K gold, with a rhodolite garnet accent. Pardon’s colorful jewels are a signature style for this Modernist whose artistic investigations in precious metal, from 1953 to 1991, are museum-worthy works. Brooch measures 6″ x 5/8″.