BETTY COOKE 1990 Geometric Dangle Earrings In 14Kt Yellow Gold & Sterling
Geometric dangle earrings designed by Betty Cock. (1924-2025)
This is a great pair of geometric dangle drop earrings created by the artist-jeweler Betty Cooke. The sculptural earrings have been crafted with two semi-oval elements, made up in solid yellow gold of 14 karats and sterling silver, all with high polished finish. This pair of earrings is fitted with French wires for pierced ears.. They are very attractive, comfortable, easy to wear and super interesting.
Country: United States.
Artist: Betty Cooke (1924-2025).
Period: Modernist 1970-1990.
Weight: 4.35 Grams, (2.80 Dwt).
Measurements: 46 mm by 20 mm (1.82 x 0.79 Inches).
Hallmarks: They are both stamped with the maker's mark, the mark for the assay and warranty of the .585/.999 gold and the silver, and signed as follows, "COOKE© 14KT STERLING".
Betty Cooke
She was born in 1924. Cooke helped to pioneer the mid-century modernist studio jewelry movement. In a style distinctly her own, Cooke’s jewelry features simple geometric forms in materials such as gold and silver tubing, quartz, opal, and onyx. Her clean, architectural designs are pared down to their most essential forms, recalling modernist works by Bauhaus artists who sought to reimagine the material world through their art in 1920s Germany. Cooke discovered her love of jewelry design while studying at the Maryland Institute College of Art, where she also taught for 22 years. In 1965, she and her husband Bill Steinmetz opened The Store Ltd at the Village of the Cross Keys. Still in business and operating under the guiding principle “sell only great design,” The Store Ltd sells Cooke’s jewelry, as well as a wide variety of contemporary home décor, furnishings, and apparel. Cooke’s prolific career also includes designing clothes for Geoffrey Beene’s New York and Milan fashion shows, decorating the interiors of Fair Lanes bowling alleys, and creating store fronts for the Rouse Company. She won the prestigious De Beers Diamond Today Award twice, and her work has been collected by major institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art, the Walker Art Center, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. The Walters Art Museum’s forthcoming exhibition. The Circle and the Line will be the first major museum retrospective of Cooke’s work.
Collections: Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in New York. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, Maryland. Museum of Arts and Design, New York, NY (formerly American Craft Museum, New York, NY) Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA.
Exhibitions: 2021, "Betty Cooke: The Circle and the Line", Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, MD. 2014, "Betty Cooke: Selections", Goya Contemporary Gallery, Baltimore, MD. 2008, Fort Wayne Museum of Art. 1997, "Messengers of Modernism",[8] Group exhibition, Musée des arts Décoratifs de Montréal, (now part of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Montréal, Canada). 1995, "Design Jewelry, Betty Cooke" a retrospective exhibition and catalog of her jewelry from 1946-1994, Maryland Institute College of Art. 1951, "Young Americans", Group exhibition, American Craft Museum, New York, NY. 1951, "Textiles, Ceramics, Metalwork", Group exhibition, Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. 1950 "Good Design", Group exhibition, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY. 1948, "Modern Jewelry Under $50" 1948–19555, Group exhibition, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN.
Literature: Jeannine Falino, The Circle and the Line: Jewelry of Betty Cooke. MCM Modern, Giles the Limited, D. 2020. for similar pieces illustrated.
Collateral: These earrings are accompanied by a presentation jewelry box.
Condition: The overall condition of this Betty Cooke earrings is excellent. Beside the little normal wear, there is no damage to the gold. This pair has been carefully inspected to guarantee the condition and the authenticity.
INVENTORY REF: E012125HERR/.0815
