Early 20th century silver jewellery has undergone a resurgence in the past few years, in particular the works of Georg Jensen and his designers. Here we take a look at the life and work of one of these designers - Alphonse La Paglia.
Alphonse La Paglia (1907-1953) was an Italian-born silversmith, who studied in Denmark, under the watchful eye of Georg Jensen.
Georg Jensen (1866-1935) was a Danish silversmith, who began his training at the age of just fourteen. He originally studied sculpture and ceramics and made his first piece of jewellery – a silver and silver gilt belt buckle – in 1899.
In 1901, Jensen decided that the life of a silversmith was for him and began his designing and silversmithing career. His designs caught the eye of the public and the business expanded from the Copenhagen base to retail establishments from Europe to New York.
Details of La Paglia’s early life are not well-documented, so we can only speculate about what drove him to take up the arts.
Immigrating to America in the 1940's, he began to design and produce jewellery for a firm named Frederick Lunning - who operated under the name of Georg Jensen USA.
Alphonse later went on to work for the International Silver Company, moving his offices to Meriden, Connecticut, where he produced not just jewellery, but also decorative household items, such as candlesticks, trays, jugs and even table lighters.
Foliate designs, set against curled motifs, feature heavily in La Paglia’s body of work and are exemplified by the two examples featured in our three-day Jewellery & Costume Jewellery auction. We have not seen pieces like this for many years at Fellows, so it is a delight to see two of them at once!
Alphonse La Paglia at Auction
Jewellery & Costume Jewellery Day One | Wednesday 21st August 2024
Jewellery & Costume Jewellery Day Two | Thursday 22nd August 2024
Viewing times (ID required):
Birmingham
Tuesday 20th August 10:00-16:00
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Helen Foster | Junior cataloguer, Jewellery department
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