Necklace

Marie Křivánková was a great name in Czech jewellery of Late Art Nouveau and Modernism. Her unmistakable, stylised designs based on geometric patterns influenced Prague jewellery production for several decades.
Křivánková’s participation in a contest announced by the Museum of Decorative Arts in 1908 was her first public presentation. She entered her designs for hair ornaments, featuring an abstract linear composition made of Bohemian garnets. At the time, she was still employed in the Max Schober jewellery house that specialised in Empire Revival jewellery. Křivánková’s designs soon enriched the company’s output with minute, almost ethereal pieces made of meticulously coiled spirals and regularly arranged chains, encrusted with garnets and tiny pieces of mother-of-pearl. Her inspiration in ancient ornamentation and the granulation and filigree techniques led to objects that boasted an entirely modern appearance, in many aspects reminiscent of the Wiener Werkstätte aesthetic.