Hand-shaped Brooch attributed to Elsa Schiaparelli, France, ca. 1937
This hand-shaped brooch, attributed to Elsa Schiaparelli and created by (most likely) Jean Clément in France around 1937, reflects a moment when art moved beyond ornament into something more imaginative. Familiar forms were reinterpreted, turning the body into a space for subtle disruption. Rooted in the visual language of Surrealism, the brooch transforms the hand into an object that is at once playful and slightly uncanny. Recognizable, yet removed from its original function.
Lee Miller was instinctively drawn to such objects. Hands, in particular, appear throughout the things she collected. Small, curious forms that carried character rather than value. Worn on the body, the brooch becomes a gesture in itself: a quiet expression of humor, elegance, and a sensibility that embraces the unexpected.
Gilded metal and celluloid.
Measurements:
4,5 cm in length
Chapter 1. Lee Miller
Antony Penrose (director of Lee Miller Archives, photographer) recalled his mother’s style as impossible to reduce to convention. Lee Miller approached objects the same way she approached life: intuitively, fearlessly, and without concern for expectation.
