| Lea
Stein
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| by
Tracy Martin |
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On
my travels around collector’s fairs I have recently been drawn to a
range of unusual looking costume jewellery. So distinctive in design it
keeps leaping out at me and I cannot walk past without studying its
intricate patterns and styles. So intrigued was I that after some
investigation and research I found myself being sucked into the vibrant
colourful world of renowned French costume jewellery designer – Lea
Stein. |
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Lea was born in
Paris, France in 1931 and although very little is known of her early years
it is believed that a lot of her childhood was spent in a concentration
camp during WW2. Lea married Fernand Steinberger in the 1950s but it was
not until the 1960s that she embarked in her own business of making
creative innovative designs in costume jewellery. |
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Fernand had discovered
the process of laminating celluloid; using many paper-thin celluloid
acetate sheets he created a multi-layered effect, finishing the process
off with a top layer of material such as lace or even straw. Once the
layered sheets had been blended they were then baked to harden and various
shapes could be hand carved. The master piece could take up to as long as
6 months to perfect and then when totally satisfied it was used as a
template to produce the jewellery (or component to use its official term),
these components then transformed into the fantastic sculpture designs
that today is so recognisable as Lea Stein.
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From
the 60s right through to the 80s Lea produced pins, earrings, necklaces,
bangles and even other objects of desire such as picture frames and
mirrors. Amongst some of her earlier work are unusual buttons that again
vary in design and were bought by French Couture fashion houses, but even
rarer are the serigraphy pins, which were typically art deco in style, and
were commonly images of ladies or girls framed like miniature paintings. |
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Lea’s
patterns and designs vary from the amusing caricature to the classic
geometric deco style. Lea’s great passion for Art Deco shines through in
her work with pins such as “Flapper” and one of my favourites the
“Deco Cat” which I have seen sell recently for as much as £90.00. The
stretch bracelets, bangles and necklaces also have a distinct deco
influence with the geometric squares and colours such as green, which were
typically used in jewellery during the 1920s and 1930s
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| One of the more
common designs and the one that Lea is most famous for, is the “Fox”
pin; these come in all types of colours and patterns and are easily
recognisable with their looped tail and outstretched paws. This particular
design can be found in layered pattern, pearlized, snakeskin and even
glitter. Costing as little as £30 to £35 upwards you could easily just
concentrate on collecting the foxes, as there are so many pattern
variations.
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In
the 1970’s Lea Stein bought the licence to a French Children’s
Television show called “L’ile aux Enfants” - this translated into
English means “Isle of Children”.
She reproduced the characters onto pins, which were only made
during 1975. All the characters were from the programme and include “Casimir”,
“Tiffins” and the really loveable “Calimero” who is a little black
bird with an eggshell sitting on his head. These are extremely hard to
come by and do not come up for sale very often, but if you do find one
expect to pay £70 to £100.
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In the early
eighties the company fell into financial trouble and had to cease trading.
However, this was not the end of Lea Stein, after a break of 9 years she
began making earrings out of the fox head pins and cat faces left over
from the factory. She hasn’t stopped there either, now from her home in
France Lea is still producing and coming up with new ideas, thus keeping
up with the demand from collectors. Prices for Lea Stein vary from as
little as £25 upwards, depending on whom and where you buy, but it is
actually the more modern pieces that fetch higher prices as less
quantities are being made compared to when Lea had a factory and was able
to produce on a much higher scale. The more recent designs very rarely
appear on the secondary market as collectors snap them up instantly. |
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It is
not just the distinctive patterns that make Lea Stein so recognisable, the
“V” shaped clasp is the trademark and is signed “Lea Stein Paris”
on the back although some earlier 1960s pieces do not have the signature.
This clasp creates some confusion about distinguishing the vintage
pieces from the more modern but I am reliably informed the only way to
tell the age is by the designs themselves. There is discussion that the
clasp gives away the age of a piece by whether it has been secured by
being melted into the back of the pin or whether it has been riveted. This
allegedly is not true, the type of design determines how the clasp is
fastened and does not identify the age of the item. Another way to
distinguish between earlier and later pieces are the back of the pins
themselves, some of the lying down and upright cats have nasty white
backing which generally means that they are later pieces.
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| Early
vintage designs to look out for are the “Tennis Lady” or “Diver”
as she is also known, this particular pin was made between 1968 and 1980
and can cost around £65 - £70. “Rolls Royce”, “French Sailor”, “Saxophone” and
even rock legend “Elvis” are also highly desirable to collectors,
again made in the same time bracket and costing around the same price on
the secondary market |
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One
of the more modern pieces to look out for is the front facing panther.
There are only a few on the open market as Fernand and Lea recalled it due
to the fact that they were not entirely happy with the finished product.
Other modern designs are the bears and Pouf Dog. These too vary in price
depending on whether they are bought from retailers or other forms of
secondary market such as internet auctions.
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I am a great believer in getting vast amounts of enjoyment from collecting
and what better way than to be able to use the items that you collect as
well as admire them. It is the sheer combination of vibrant bold designs
and the twist of Art Deco influence that I feel draws collectors to
Lea’s work. The other major factor to Lea Stein - and in my opinion the
most important - is that when you wear it you are not only wearing a piece
of innovative craftsmanship but you are wearing a piece of designer
jewellery that will really make you stand out of the crowd.
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RECOMMENDED READING
Lea
Stein Jewelry by Judith Just
(Please
note this book is one produced by a collector so fantastic for the images
of pieces but the guide prices are not totally correct).
ISBN
: 0-7643-1381-9
Published
by Schiffer Books
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Article by kind permission of Tracy Martin
for Collect It! Magazine September 2004
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Photographs © Decogirl
2006 |
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