CLAUDE LALANNE | 'NOEUD' BANGLE, CIRCA 1980 Realistically modelled as a ribbon bow with leaf terminals, and a textured finish simulating fabric, signed C.Lalanne, numbered 92/100, internal diameter 5.5cm Footnotes: Overall condition is very good; clasp in working order. CLAUDE LALANNE One of the art world's longest-standing surrealist pioneers, Claude Lalanne (1924-2019) designed furniture and sculpture alongside her husband Francois-Xavier Lalanne, and her delicate, sculptural jewellery is inspired by the natural world. She designed windows for Christian Dior and was known from the 1960s for her mastery of life-casting. Yves Saint Laurent commissioned her to create sculpted busts and waists in bronze for his Autumn/Winter 1969 Haute Couture Collection, which fitted over billowing blue dresses dubbed 'Les Robes Lalanne'. The couturier observed, 'What touches me is how she brings together the same high standard of craftsmanship and poetry. Those beautiful sculptor's hands seem to push aside the mists of mystery to reach the shores of art'. Surrounded by her furniture and animal sculptures at her atelier in Ury, near Fontainebleau, Lalanne worked with the doors flung open to her garden, while translating forms inspired by flora and fauna into lasting jewels. She would submerge flowers, plants and butterflies she had found, using a meticulous electroplating process to cover them with a delicate metallic layer, immortalising these organic subjects and breathing life into their castings. Her husband said of her, 'Claude works as the birds sing, without really thinking about it'. Brambles, cherry blossoms, snakes, butterfly orchids, buttercups and gooseberries all passed through her hands. The 1980s and 1990s are considered Lalanne's golden era by collectors of her work, which possesses a delicate and whimsical beauty. Lalanne also produced a choker to match this bracelet. Lots 36-42 are from a Private Collection of Artist Jewellery. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing