Pair Of Earrings

Consumer choices in plastic jewelry diversified and expanded in the twentieth century and the development of plastics also yielded a wider color range. Makers experimented with surface detail to enhance visual appeal as seen here in the metallic geometric decoration. During World War II fine jewelry factories were converted to the manufacture of bullets and radio parts and plastic jewelry rose in favor. In the postwar period, plastic jewelry remained the most attainable fashion accessory for many women. Changes in fashionable shapes and styles were reflected in costume jewelry as seen here in the substantial size of these clip-on earrings that might have balanced the weight of a strong-shouldered silhouette. The rod and ball decoration on the surface was in line with designs of the period that paid homage to atomic structure that were influenced by the start of the nuclear age and to interest in abstraction that pervaded contemporary art but was quite new to jewelry design.

Pair Of Earrings; painted and molded plastic, base metal; H x diam.: 2 × 3 cm (13/16 × 1 3/16 in.); Gift of Bartholomew Voorsanger; 2016-48-5-a,b