Or: why lizards turn up constantly in Art Nouveau jewellery once you start looking
Alongside the insects, dragonflies especially, that define so much Art Nouveau jewellery, the lizard was another recurring subject the movement kept returning to. Its sinuous, curving body suited the era’s obsession with organic, flowing line better than almost any other creature available, a single lizard’s form could carry the whole visual vocabulary of the style in one continuous shape. This brooch, by the German house Gebrüder Falk, set with ruby accents, is a strong example of exactly that.
Gebrüder Falk, working in the same broad German Art Nouveau tradition as the guard chain elsewhere in this collection, brings the same combination this collection keeps returning to: precious material, silver and genuine ruby, handled with the movement’s naturalist sensibility rather than traditional formal jewellery’s more rigid symmetry. The lizard’s form curves and flows the way the era’s poster art and glasswork did too, the same visual language across entirely different media.
Why the lizard motif specifically rewarded a skilled silversmith. Unlike a symmetrical floral motif, a convincing lizard has to read correctly from every angle while still following the body’s actual anatomy, no cheating the proportions to make the metalwork easier. Getting both the naturalism and the flowing Art Nouveau line right simultaneously took real skill.
What to look for. The ruby settings should be secure and the silverwork’s line should read as a genuine, anatomically plausible lizard rather than an abstracted squiggle, both true of this piece.
This piece is part of a small, genuinely personal collection of antique jewellery, gathered over years rather than acquired for resale. See the Gebrüder Falk lizard brooch on Gozotiques.
[Image pending, to be added once source photo is confirmed.]