Vintage 1980 Ibram Lassaw gold vermeil collar necklace

A sculptor above all, Egyptian-born American artist Ibram Lassaw extended his oeuvre to jewellery design, rendering the essence of his large-scale abstract pieces in miniature to decorate the bodies of art connoisseurs. Lassaw’s inspirations were the early works of Modernism and abstract Constructivism, which evolved into exploring biomorphic forms. Architectonic silhouettes blooming with metal droplets are a signature of his design process, exemplified by this striking 1980s collar necklace, rendered in vermeil – a process whereby sterling silver is gilded with a weighty layer of gold.