Rosewood Circle Star Earrings

A rosewood circle with a four-pointed silver star dangling within it, these Third Design Period (1951 to 1967) earrings set warm wood against bright metal in a clean, almost mobile-like composition. The star swings free inside the wooden ring.

The pairing of silver with wood is a hallmark of Spratling's later work. Morrill describes how in the 1950s he set silver against dark woods and other contrasting materials for "richness and textural contrast," using circles and dots and pared-down forms that gave the pieces "playfulness and sophistication" (Morrill, Mexican Silver, 1994, p. 73). A silver star floating in a rosewood ring is squarely in that idiom.

The four-pointed star is a simple geometric form, and suspending it inside the circle introduces movement, a small kinetic touch on the ear. The rosewood brings color and warmth that a stone could not.

Wood-and-silver earrings are a recognizable part of Spratling's Third Period production. Their reliance on contrasting materials rather than precious stones makes them a distinctive and collectible thread within his later output.