I’m still browsing the Sotheby’s catalogue for their upcoming May 11 auction of magnificent and noble jewellery (their descriptor and totally apt). This brooch is magnificent – who says the 70s were a design wasteland?

Described as, “Obsidien, diamond and mother of pearl brooch, ‘LA FEMME À LA COIFFURE DE PLUMES’, STERLÉ,
Circa 1970. The lady’s bust carved in black obsidian, the hair embellished with brilliant-cut diamonds and stylised feathers set with mother-ofpearl, signed Sterlé Paris and numbered, French assay and maker’s marks.
ESTIMATE 11,000 – 16,000 CHF”

A further catalogue note adds, “This brooch, called “La Femme à la coiffure de plumes, is one of a series of figures that Sterle created between 1965 and 1974. Other examples of this theme are: “Le Chinois”; L’Archet”; “L’Indien”; “Le Joker” and “L’Arlequin”.
These heads were all carved by the renowned lapidarist Robert Lemoine.”