Elsa Schiaparelli (Italian, 1890–1973)
Necklace ca. 1937
A striking, unusual design, this necklace by Schiaparelli is characteristic of her highly original design aesthetic. The sculptural piece, crisp in gold metal, although worn as jewelry, also looks like and functions as a collar, exemplar of Schiaparelli’s Surrealist influences. This conflation of form, an idea central to Surrealism, is reflective of Schiaparelli’s involvement and collaboration with Surrealist artists such as Salvador Dalí and Jean Cocteau. Worn by devoted client and fashion icon Millicent Rogers, the necklace would have perfectly suited her arresting features.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art