Hand and Tulip Brooch

A silver hand cradling an amethyst tulip, this brooch is a reversed version of a design Spratling more usually made the other way, a right hand here where the common variant shows the left. The hand was a recurring motif in his jewelry, and the small reversal documents how the workshop produced a popular design in more than one configuration.

The figural hand-and-flower composition belongs to the first design period, 1931-1946, when Spratling drew on folk and Mexican imagery for his wearable forms. The amethyst supplies the single note of color, set as a cabochon in the manner of his early jewelry.

Variant hand pins of this kind survive in limited numbers, and a reversed example is an uncommon catch for collectors who track the design's variations.