WJA Philly Round Table - F. Walter Lawrence & Gustav Manz Desert Brooch

 2020 has been a whirlwind of a year, but I have been thankful to be able to stay connected with my peers through a series of virtual artist talks hosted by the Women's Jewelry Association.

These talks allowed for a more focused platform of sincere conversation that is not diluted by the distractions a typical studio tour (office pets, bench set up, etc). Though I yearn to get back to normalcy, I do appreciate getting to know each member more intimately.

 I'm was very excited for our year end event - WJA Philly Round Table

Here, each member had the opportunity to introduce themselves and their work! 

My contribution is one of the more interesting pieces that has come through Wilson's Estate Jewelry - 

The Desert Brooch.

This remarkable piece was commissioned by Frank Walter Lawrence and produced by esteemed Arts & Crafts artist Gustav Manz, circa 1901. During his travels, Lawrence procured a piece of Phoenician glass from Old Jerusalem. The fragment itself is a tremendously profound artifact of an ancient city, but its destiny was to be displayed in a wrought 14 karat gold frame as an imaginative Middle Eastern sunset.

Manz masterfully crafted a surround of whiplashed gold as stylized lotus and vigorously rendered palm trees. This centers a depiction of two pyramids towering over a line of camels led by a lone rider, unintimidated by the grandeur of his environment. The Phoenician glass serves as the vehicle for an expansive sky, smokey and translucent, glowing as a burgundy twilight.

The piece was exhibited at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in 1904 as well as published as a feature in Town & Country the same year.

After this however, the brooch disappeared for over a century, until 2019 when it resurfaced at an auction and was purchased by my employer. There was an inclination towards what we had found since stylistically the piece is reminiscent of Manz's work, but with no signature and a lack of provenance we were forced to continue our research. 

I'm always ensnared by the journey that our investigation unfolds for us, but this was an instance where we genuinely felt like Ben Gates in National Treasure, peeling back layers of a mysterious artifact to unravel its story. 

The story brought us to Gustav Manz's great-granddaughters who published a blog that was the very piece we were trying to authenticate! We had the pleasure to meet with them and observe the brooch together with a collective sigh of appreciation. 

The piece wanders into my mind often, not only because of its craftsmanship, but because of how it silently was able to emit its foothold in jewelry history. 

Photos courtesy of Wilson's Estate Jewelry & Gustav Manz & Co.

My Membership With the Women's Jewelry Association

About three years ago I got an email from my friend Lauren Priori asking if I'd help establish a Philadelphia Chapter of the Women's Jewelry Association. We had noticed that even though we are a craft centric city, there was a lack of communication and camaraderie amongst designers and artists.

In recent years, I have noticed a shift in this field from secretive and competitive to more communal and uplifting. It was great time to create an opportunity for people to meet up and share what projects they were working on and have a safe place to learn a new skill.

Needless to say, here we are today as an official chapter with 30+ members and have had three different presidents, including our current President Lauren Volovar. What had originally started as social happy hours has turned into a mentoring group. Each member brings their own unique perspective and has valuable experience to share.

Our younger student members are experiencing the pinnacle of technology while our older retired members have ushered in a more female friendly environment in what was a traditionally male dominated industry.

In helping curate this group I have learned how to project manage, event plan, and have tremendously improved my public speaking.

Through WJA I was given the chance to grow and have blossomed into a flourishing jewelry professional. As a president I was offered a trip to Austin, Texas to gather with other chapter leaders to discuss challenges each city faced and to framework a plan for continued gender equality research that will allow us to keep passing a better tomorrow for women in art.

I am so thankful for this group that took someone like me who was very frustrated with their degree and felt like a spinning wheel going nowhere in a huge machine. Through networking I was able to find a passion in jewelry history and appraising that I wouldn't have had exposure to otherwise. These women have supported me in changing my career as well as giving me the connections to do so.

Even now in this uncertain time WJA has been a guiding light. Each Monday we highlight one of our members and their work. On Tuesdays we focus on an opportunity to give back with a featured fundraiser.

I've also have been thankful to be able to continue to develop my skills through webinars and courses. Most recently I participated in the webinar educating on Google advertisement and SEO optimization, something that directly improved my ability to work at home.

As a member, I'm also offered a special discount on continuing my GIA courses in my pursuit of my Graduate Gemologist title.

This group has been fundamental in who I have become professionally and I look forward to helping others navigate their paths to find a fulfilling career.