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Patrick Kapty
Patrick Kapty
@patrickkapty.bsky.social
1 year ago
An iconic vintage 1930s 40s handmade sterling silver Art Deco Tribal African Ubangi Girl brooch designed by Frank Rebajes of New York City. One of his best known designs from the 1930s, and in the rare sterling version rather than the more common copper. Also, some slight differences between the two versions, notice the spiral earrings versus the copper version I also have for sale in my store. This brooch measures 3-1/8" tall by 2" widest. Weighs 23.4 grams total. Marked at the back as shown, "Rebajes Sterling". Excellent vintage condition.

An iconic vintage 1930s 40s handmade sterling silver Art Deco Tribal African Ubangi Girl brooch designed by Frank Rebajes of New York City. One of his best known designs from the 1930s, and in the rare sterling version rather than the more common copper. Also, some slight differences between the two versions, notice the spiral earrings versus the copper version I also have for sale in my store. This brooch measures 3-1/8" tall by 2" widest. Weighs 23.4 grams total. Marked at the back as shown, "Rebajes Sterling". Excellent vintage condition.

The copper version of the Ubangi Girl brooch, also available in my shop. A short biography... 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. 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, which was an accessibly priced collection inspired by cultural references, Modern art, and the natural world. 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. 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. 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."

The copper version of the Ubangi Girl brooch, also available in my shop. A short biography... 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. 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, which was an accessibly priced collection inspired by cultural references, Modern art, and the natural world. 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. 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. 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."

The rare sterling version of the iconic 1930s Francisco Rebajes 'Ubangi Girl' brooch.

Available in my Ruby Lane shop...

www.rubylane.com/item/1879775...

#rebajes #rebajesjewelry #rebajessterling #ubangigirl #handmade #artdeco #modernism #earlymodern #nyc #jewelrydesign #wearableart #art #sterling

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