Small All Silver Moth Brooch

A small all-silver moth brooch is the most modest member of a documented design family, made in three variations: this smallest version, a larger brooch set with amethysts, and a larger brooch without stones. The moth, rendered in plain silver, relies on the cut of its wings and body rather than on color, the form reading at a glance. It is recorded in the Montgomery Ward Fall 1944 catalogue.

That catalogue appearance places it in the years Spratling silver was carried by Montgomery Ward, from 1943 to 1946 (Morrill, p. 257), reaching a national mail-order audience. It dates from the first design period.

A motif made in three sizes and two material treatments is a small design family to track, and a documented appearance in a period catalogue gives this smallest moth a firm place in the record.