Collect: Brooch

Brooch
Alexander Calder (1898-1976)
Connecticut, c. 1941
Brass, silver
Lent by Erika Pfammatter

Alexander Calder, a friend of the Gropius family and others in their Bauhaus circle, designed this brooch for fourteen-year-old Ati. Like others he designed for friends, it spells out her first name. Calder gave it to Ati at a 1941 New Year’s party at architect Marcel Breuer’s house, the same year he offered his first jewelry collection for sale in New York City.