A rare vintage 1940s 50s handmade copper modernist geometric design cuff bracelet designed by Francisco "Frank" Rebajes of NYC. Entirely handmade from copper sheet to form a cuff bracelet with a curing ribbon shape set with raised Stars across the top! A rare design, one that I've never seen before! Measures 1.5" wide, and presently fits up to a 7.5" wrist although it could be opened up or closed down a bit for larger and smaller sizes if needed. Weighs a hefty 42.3 grams total. Marked at one side as shown with the distinctive Rebajes signature. Excellent vintage condition. In 1922, Francisco Torres arrived in New York on a steam ship from his hometown of Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, at the age of sixteen. Despite being an unaccompanied minor, he convinced immigration authorities to allow him to enter the United States by speaking the fluent English he learned from a native Virgin Islander living in Puerto Plata and revealing the $300 he had in his pocket. With his sights set on building his fortunes, Francisco Torres gradually transformed himself into Frank Rebajes. He adopted his mother’s last name of Rebajes, which he believed had a more interesting air, and in New York, he soon became known as “Frank” among his inner circle of artists, writers, and intellectuals. While living in a friend’s basement, Rebajes began transforming cans and scrap metal into animal shaped sculptures using the everyday tools his friend had lying around. In 1932, he displayed these works on an ironing board at the Washington Square Park Outdoor Festival and caught the eye of Juliana Force, the first director of the Whitney Museum of American Art, who purchased the entire collection for $30. Rebajes used the money to open his first shop in Greenwich Village—a four-foot wide space between two buildings with an improvised roof and a dirt floor. There he began developing what would become his emblematic line of copper jewelry, inspired by cultural references and Modern art.
His jewelry quickly gained popularity and in the late 1930s, his work was included in exhibitions at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Brooklyn Museum, and the 1939 New York World’s Fair. With his newfound success, Rebajes upgraded to larger storefronts in Greenwich Village, until in 1942, he settled in an expansive space at 355 Fifth Avenue called Rebajes Jewelry and Gifts. (See my photo of a post card from that shop in the photo section, also a short biography of the artist from the Cooper-Hewitt Museum, and a photo of the artist in his workshop.) Designed by Puerto Rican architect José Fernández, the store boasted an avant-garde interior with an S-shaped counter suspended from the ceiling as its centerpiece. The store reflected the Modernist principles that were taking hold at the time and featured subdued colors, gray marble, pickled oak, and bronze trim. Rebajes’s atelier also grew to include 100 artisans; yet, despite the growth of his business he continued to design and create prototypes for all the works himself. Copper made up the majority of the production, however, silver, gold, semi-precious stones, enamel, and even found objects were used on occasion. At the workshop, the most important pieces were hand produced, while by the 1950s the majority of the jewelry was cast or die stamped and then hand assembled. In 1958 Rebajes sold his business and moved to Torremolinos Spain to work on his art projects although he did continue to make jewelry and decorative objects usually on a one of a kind basis."
A rare 1940s Francisco Rebajes NYC handmade copper Stars design cuff bracelet - adjustable, fits most!
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