171 - LALAOUNIS: BROOCH/PENDANT

LALAOUNIS: BROOCH/PENDANT Shield-shaped, centered with an eye and a starburst motif, maker’s mark for Ilias Lalaounis, French import marks for 18-karat gold (750 ‰), length 4.7 cm, gross weight 19.57 g. LALAOUNIS: BROOCH/PENDANT Shield-shaped, with a central eye and starburst motif, maker’s mark, French import marks for 18-karat gold, length 4.7 cm, gross weight 19.57 grams. Footnotes: Ilias Lalaounis (1920–2013) grew up in Athens as part of a lineage of goldsmiths from Delphi. Passionate about history, he devoted his career to reviving the techniques of ancient jewelers—granulation, filigree, hammering, and gold weaving—which he taught in his workshops beginning in the 1950s. From his collections, inspired by the Minoan, Mycenaean, and Byzantine worlds, emerged sculptural and richly textured gold pieces, now on display in museums as diverse as the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Smithsonian Institution. The only jeweler to be admitted to the Academy of Fine Arts of the Institut de France (1990), he also founded a museum in Athens in 1993 dedicated to the art of jewelry. Ilias Lalaounis (1920–2013) grew up in Athens in a family of goldsmiths from Delphi. A devoted student of history, he spent his career reviving the techniques of ancient jewelers—granulation, filigree, hammering, and the weaving of gold—and taught these techniques in his workshops beginning in the 1950s. His collections, drawing on the Minoan, Mycenaean, and Byzantine worlds, gave rise to sculptural, richly textured gold pieces, exhibited in museums as diverse as the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Smithsonian Institution. The only jeweler ever admitted to the Académie des Beaux-Arts of the Institut de France (1990), he also founded a museum in Athens in 1993 dedicated to the art of jewelry. For further information on this lot, please visit Bonhams.com