Miriam Haskell
Encyclopedia
Miriam Haskell was an American designer of costume jewelry
. Like Hattie Carnegie
, Haskell founded her own company, one that still bears her name. With her creative partner Frank Hess, she invented affordable pieces of stunning originality from 1920 through the 1950s. Vintage examples and samples of Miriam Haskell designs are now much sought, held in both private collections and museums internationally.
Haskell was born in Tell City, IN, a small town across the Ohio River from Louisville
, KY. After high school in nearby New Albany
, where her Russian Jewish immigrant parents ran a dry-goods store, she studied for three years at Chicago University. Moving to New York City in 1924 with $500 in her pocket, probably borrowed from her father, she opened a jewelry boutique in 1926 in the old McAlpin Hotel, and a second outlet within the year at West 57th Street. Frank Hess joined her business the same year. Despite some controversy concerning the extent to which the magnificent jewelry designs are Haskell's or Hess's (Ellman quotes Haskell's nephew's claim that she designed a great deal; Pamfiloff and others give the lion's share of credit to Hess), the two worked together until Miriam left the company; Hess continued to design for many years afterwards. In the 1930s, the company relocated to 392 Fifth Avenue; their affordable art glass
, strass
, and gold-plate parures were wildly popular throughout the Great Depression, and the company went on to open boutiques at Saks Fifth Avenue
and Burdine's, as well as stores in Miami and London. The Saks shop also offered pieces by Chanel
.
Miriam Haskell jewelry was worn for publicity shots, films, and personal use by movies stars Joan Crawford
and Lucille Ball
, as well as by Gloria Vanderbilt
and the Duchess of Windsor. Crawford owned a set of almost every Haskell ever produced, from the 1920s through the 1960s.
A line of classic baroque pearls supports the company's more colorful and experimental designs, but there are few venues the Haskell jewelers have not explored. Her workshop of craftsmen, many of whom were European refugees, was well paid for their strenuous work of wiring complex motifs built up of beads and strass montees to filigree backings. Noted for the superior quality of their materials and the exquisitely painstaking detail of their execution, Miriam Haskell's vintage pieces command high prices and are prized by collectors.
In addition, the advertising watercolors of Larry Austin and others, which show models wearing exaggeratedly large Haskell necklaces, pins, bracelets, and so on,http://imageevent.com/bluboi/haskellads are highly-sought collectors' items, after a Florida dealer found them in a set of steamer trunks around 1978; Haskell's family was selling her archives and samples to defray the costs of her nursing home.
Today Miriam Haskell jewellery is highly sought after by costume jewellery enthusiasts, her vintage pieces command high prices and are prized by collectors. Interestingly, her jewellery was very seldom signed before 1950, it was her brother Joseph Haskell who introduced the first regularly signed Miriam Haskell jewellery. For a very short time during the 1940s, a shop in New England did request all pieces they received be signed by Miriam, this signature was a horseshoe-shaped plaque with Miriam Haskell embossed on it. A piece with this signature would indeed be a rare find. However, the signed pieces of this period constituted less than 1% of the early jewellery. Pieces by Robert Clark who designed for her, are exceptionally collectable also.
Haskell's lovers included Florenz Ziegfeld
, who decorated the chorines of his Follies with her designs; Bernard Gimbel of the department store chain; and John D. Hertz, Jr., scion of the car-rental company. With Hess, she traveled in search of materials to Paris, Gablonz, Venice, and Wattens
, home of Daniel Swarovski
's crystal factory. She built a mansion that she called Sainte Claire Cottage on the Hudson River
near Ossining
. When the Ohio flooded in 1937, Haskell sent boxcars full of relief materials to New Albany, and traveled home to assist during the disaster. In World War Two, she contributed most conscientiously to the war effort, and asked Hess to create new patriotic metalfree jewelry designs, using natural materials and plastics.
But the horror of World War Two began to affect her health and emotional stability; in her fifties, she became ill, despite a prescient adherence to health food. At last, in 1950, she lost control of her company to her brothers. Living in an apartment on Central Park South with her widowed mother through the next decades, she became increasingly erratic in her behavior. In 1977, she moved to Cincinnati, under the care of her nephew Malcolm Dubin; bereft of New York and the work she loved, she died in 1981. It was a sad ending for an exceptional life, but, as Pamfiloff writes, "Obviously, the legacy of her dream has filtered on down through the decades. It was a man’s world. Designers were men. The owners of companies were men. The staff was men. The salesmen were men. It was all men. And then you had Coco Chanel
, who just jumped right out there, and a couple of other women who carved out their own niche in the world. Haskell did that, too."
Costume jewelry
Costume jewelry is jewelry manufactured as ornamentation to complement a particular fashionable costume or garment. Costume jewelry came into being in the 1930s as a cheap, disposable accessory meant to be worn with a specific outfit...
. Like Hattie Carnegie
Hattie Carnegie
Hattie Carnegie was a fashion entrepreneur based in New York City from the 1920s to the 1960s. She was born in Vienna, Austria-Hungary as Henrietta Kanengeiser....
, Haskell founded her own company, one that still bears her name. With her creative partner Frank Hess, she invented affordable pieces of stunning originality from 1920 through the 1950s. Vintage examples and samples of Miriam Haskell designs are now much sought, held in both private collections and museums internationally.
Haskell was born in Tell City, IN, a small town across the Ohio River from Louisville
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
, KY. After high school in nearby New Albany
New Albany
New Albany is the name of several places in the United States of America:*New Albany, Indiana*New Albany, Kansas*New Albany, Mississippi*New Albany, Ohio*New Albany, Pennsylvania*New Albany High School *New Albany High School...
, where her Russian Jewish immigrant parents ran a dry-goods store, she studied for three years at Chicago University. Moving to New York City in 1924 with $500 in her pocket, probably borrowed from her father, she opened a jewelry boutique in 1926 in the old McAlpin Hotel, and a second outlet within the year at West 57th Street. Frank Hess joined her business the same year. Despite some controversy concerning the extent to which the magnificent jewelry designs are Haskell's or Hess's (Ellman quotes Haskell's nephew's claim that she designed a great deal; Pamfiloff and others give the lion's share of credit to Hess), the two worked together until Miriam left the company; Hess continued to design for many years afterwards. In the 1930s, the company relocated to 392 Fifth Avenue; their affordable art glass
Art glass
Definitions of art glass can be as complex and contentious as definitions of what constitutes "art" and will inevitably include many refinements and exceptions...
, strass
Strass
-Places in Austria:* Strass im Zillertal, a municipality in Tyrol* Straß in Steiermark, a municipality in Styria* Straß im Straßertale, a municipality in Lower Austria* Straß im Attergau, a municipality in Upper Austria- People :...
, and gold-plate parures were wildly popular throughout the Great Depression, and the company went on to open boutiques at Saks Fifth Avenue
Saks Fifth Avenue
Saks Fifth Avenue is a luxury American specialty store owned and operated by Saks Fifth Avenue Enterprises , a subsidiary of Saks Incorporated. It competes in the high-end specialty store market in the Upper East Side of Manhattan, i.e. 'the 3 B's' Bergdorf, Barneys, Bloomingdale's and Lord & Taylor...
and Burdine's, as well as stores in Miami and London. The Saks shop also offered pieces by Chanel
Chanel
Chanel S.A. is a French fashion house founded by the couturier Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel, well established in haute couture, specializing in luxury goods . She gained the name "Coco" while maintaining a career as a singer at a café in France...
.
Miriam Haskell jewelry was worn for publicity shots, films, and personal use by movies stars Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford , born Lucille Fay LeSueur, was an American actress in film, television and theatre....
and Lucille Ball
Lucille Ball
Lucille Désirée Ball was an American comedian, film, television, stage and radio actress, model, film and television executive, and star of the sitcoms I Love Lucy, The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour, The Lucy Show, Here's Lucy and Life With Lucy...
, as well as by Gloria Vanderbilt
Gloria Vanderbilt
Gloria Laura Vanderbilt is an American artist, author, actress, heiress, and socialite most noted as an early developer of designer blue jeans...
and the Duchess of Windsor. Crawford owned a set of almost every Haskell ever produced, from the 1920s through the 1960s.
A line of classic baroque pearls supports the company's more colorful and experimental designs, but there are few venues the Haskell jewelers have not explored. Her workshop of craftsmen, many of whom were European refugees, was well paid for their strenuous work of wiring complex motifs built up of beads and strass montees to filigree backings. Noted for the superior quality of their materials and the exquisitely painstaking detail of their execution, Miriam Haskell's vintage pieces command high prices and are prized by collectors.
In addition, the advertising watercolors of Larry Austin and others, which show models wearing exaggeratedly large Haskell necklaces, pins, bracelets, and so on,http://imageevent.com/bluboi/haskellads are highly-sought collectors' items, after a Florida dealer found them in a set of steamer trunks around 1978; Haskell's family was selling her archives and samples to defray the costs of her nursing home.
Today Miriam Haskell jewellery is highly sought after by costume jewellery enthusiasts, her vintage pieces command high prices and are prized by collectors. Interestingly, her jewellery was very seldom signed before 1950, it was her brother Joseph Haskell who introduced the first regularly signed Miriam Haskell jewellery. For a very short time during the 1940s, a shop in New England did request all pieces they received be signed by Miriam, this signature was a horseshoe-shaped plaque with Miriam Haskell embossed on it. A piece with this signature would indeed be a rare find. However, the signed pieces of this period constituted less than 1% of the early jewellery. Pieces by Robert Clark who designed for her, are exceptionally collectable also.
Haskell's lovers included Florenz Ziegfeld
Florenz Ziegfeld
Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr. , , was an American Broadway impresario, notable for his series of theatrical revues, the Ziegfeld Follies , inspired by the Folies Bergère of Paris. He also produced the musical Show Boat...
, who decorated the chorines of his Follies with her designs; Bernard Gimbel of the department store chain; and John D. Hertz, Jr., scion of the car-rental company. With Hess, she traveled in search of materials to Paris, Gablonz, Venice, and Wattens
Wattens
Wattens is a market community in Austria which is the home of the Swarovski Kristallwelten, dedicated to the history surrounding the company, the man himself Daniel Swarovski and exhibitions of the crystals.It attracts visitors from the world over....
, home of Daniel Swarovski
Swarovski
Swarovski is the brand name for a range of precisely-cut crystal and related luxury products produced by Swarovski AG of Wattens, Austria...
's crystal factory. She built a mansion that she called Sainte Claire Cottage on the Hudson River
Hudson River
The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...
near Ossining
Ossining (village), New York
Ossining is a village in Westchester County, New York, United States. The population was 25,060 at the 2010 census. As a village, it is located in the Town of Ossining.-Geography:Ossining borders the eastern shores of the widest part of the Hudson River....
. When the Ohio flooded in 1937, Haskell sent boxcars full of relief materials to New Albany, and traveled home to assist during the disaster. In World War Two, she contributed most conscientiously to the war effort, and asked Hess to create new patriotic metalfree jewelry designs, using natural materials and plastics.
But the horror of World War Two began to affect her health and emotional stability; in her fifties, she became ill, despite a prescient adherence to health food. At last, in 1950, she lost control of her company to her brothers. Living in an apartment on Central Park South with her widowed mother through the next decades, she became increasingly erratic in her behavior. In 1977, she moved to Cincinnati, under the care of her nephew Malcolm Dubin; bereft of New York and the work she loved, she died in 1981. It was a sad ending for an exceptional life, but, as Pamfiloff writes, "Obviously, the legacy of her dream has filtered on down through the decades. It was a man’s world. Designers were men. The owners of companies were men. The staff was men. The salesmen were men. It was all men. And then you had Coco Chanel
Coco Chanel
Gabrielle Bonheur "Coco" Chanel was a pioneering French fashion designer whose modernist thought, menswear-inspired fashions, and pursuit of expensive simplicity made her an important figure in 20th-century fashion. She was the founder of one of the most famous fashion brands, Chanel...
, who just jumped right out there, and a couple of other women who carved out their own niche in the world. Haskell did that, too."
Books
- Deanna Farnetti Cera, The Jewels of Miriam Haskell (Milan: Idea Books, 1997).
- Barbara Ellman, "The World of Fashion Jewelry" (Highland Park, IL: Aunt Louise Imports, 1986).
- Cathy Gordon and Sheila Pamfiloff, Miriam Haskell Jewelry (Atglen, PA: Schiffer, 2004).
External links
- http://www.miriamhaskell.com/the_story.asp
- http://www.morninggloryjewelry.com/miriam-haskell-jewelry-aid-7.html
- http://www.collectorsweekly.com/articles/an-interview-with-miriam-haskell-costume-jewelry-collector-and-author-sheila-pamfiloff/
- Miriam Haskell - Designers & Jewellery Makers