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Frank Gardner Hale described himself as a designer, jeweler, and enamelist. Hale studied design theory with Henry Hunt Clark at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, during the late 1890s, and at Charles Robert Ashbee’s Guild of Handicraft in Chipping Campden, England, in 1906. When Hale returned to the United States in 1907, he was well prepared to open his own studio in Boston. He became a force in the Society of Arts and Crafts, Boston, and won numerous awards for his designs, including a silver medal at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco (1915). A prominent maker and advocate for Arts and Crafts jewelry, he created work diverse in style and form. This gemset brooch, with its arabesques and swirling vines referencing Renaissance motifs, exemplifies the colorful, glitzy jewelry Hale created in Boston.
Jeweled scroll brooch
Frank Gardner Hale (American, 1876–1945)
about 1920
Object Place: Boston, Massachusetts
Medium/Technique
Gold, zircon, diamond, sapphire, peridot
Dimensions
Overall: 6.6 x 5cm (2 5/8 x 1 15/16in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Joseph B. and Edith Alpers
Accession Number1998.569
NOT ON VIEW
ClassificationsJewelry / Adornment – Brooches
Frank Gardner Hale described himself as a designer, jeweler, and enamelist. Hale studied design theory with Henry Hunt Clark at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, during the late 1890s, and at Charles Robert Ashbee’s Guild of Handicraft in Chipping Campden, England, in 1906. When Hale returned to the United States in 1907, he was well prepared to open his own studio in Boston. He became a force in the Society of Arts and Crafts, Boston, and won numerous awards for his designs, including a silver medal at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco (1915). A prominent maker and advocate for Arts and Crafts jewelry, he created work diverse in style and form. This gemset brooch, with its arabesques and swirling vines referencing Renaissance motifs, exemplifies the colorful, glitzy jewelry Hale created in Boston.
DescriptionElliptical shaped brooch with four central stones arranged vertically and flanked by gold scrolls and numerous smaller gemstones.
Marks
Marked "F. G. HALE" incuse on gold tag soldered on rear at center, below clasp.
ProvenanceOriginal owner unknown; 1985, purchased by Joseph B. and Edith Alpers from Jesse and Laski, London dealers, February 1985; 1998, given by the Alpers to the MFA (Accession date: December 31, 1998).