Croissant Necklace

Spratling called this a "croissant" necklace, a curved, wrapped form here executed in gold-plated silver and bound with tortoise shell, the warm shell set against the gold-washed metal. It is recorded in both Penny C. Morrill's Maestros de Plata and Phyllis M. Goddard's Spratling Silver field guide, and dates to the third design period, 1951 to 1967.

The same croissant motif was used in a necklace of gold-plated silver and silver, and in belt buckles, an example of how the later workshop carried a strong sculptural form across several object types. The binding of tortoise shell to the curved bands is the kind of material contrast Spratling favored, pairing organic material with worked metal.

Documented later jewelry of this design is collected as evidence of Spratling's mature, more sculptural phase, and the croissant form is among the recognizable motifs of that period.