Rosewood Bracelet with Applied Silver Band

A rosewood bracelet banded with applied silver, the metal worked into eight cut-cornered squares separated by vertical rectangles, this piece layers wood, silver, and copper into a single ornament. The combination of rosewood with silver is the material contrast Spratling favored, the warmth of wood against bright metal that Morrill links to Jean Puiforcat (Morrill, p. 224); here a third material, raised copper half-balls with incised circles, adds another tone.

The geometric banding, squares and rectangles each centered with a bead or a domed copper boss, is decoration built entirely from the structure of the applied silver. It belongs to the first design period, 1931-1946.

Mixed-material bracelets of this kind survive in limited numbers.