Bracelet

This luxurious jewel, decorated with diamonds and covered by fine enamel of various colours, was shown at several exhibitions at the turn of the century. Its designer, painter Gyula Hary (1864–1946), who was mainly known as a graphic artist and illustrator, demonstrated his talents in several braches of the applied arts. He won several prizes at competitions organized by the Hungarian Society of Applied Arts for his designs for porcelain dishes, maiolica table decorations and bracelets. This bracelet decorated with the popular flower of Art Nouveau, irises, was executed by the excellent goldsmith of Parisian training, Samu Hibjan (1864–1919), who also worked together with several other Hungarian designers of the period. His fame largely stems from his activity as an artist and teacher of enamel techniques. In 1895, he became a teacher at the Hungarian School of Applied Arts, where he had founded the department of enamel. He applied several enamel techniques, including painted Limoges enamel, filigree enamel, etc. on his works. He won the grand prize at the 1896 Millennial Exhibition in Budapest, a silver medal at the 1902 International Exhibition of Modern Decorative Arts at Turin, and a state medal for applied arts in the same year. This brilliantly executed piece, which presents several jewellers’ techniques, decorated with gemstones, enamels and filigree, was shown at the 1900 Christmas exhibition at the Museum of Applied Arts, and at the Turin exhibition two years later. The Museum purchased the set exhibited there.