FALL 2009 CATALOGUE

Métaux Mélangés

NOMADE EXQUIS Fall ’09 presents Métaux Mélangés, over seventy-five pieces of vintage organic
modernist, biomorphic and brutalist copper, brass, silver and mixed medium jewelry from the late
1950’s through the late 1970’s. This collection of modernist works assembled over eighteen months
by curator Mo Clancy features artisans such as Robert Larin, Guy Vidal, De Passille-Sylvestre, Jorma
Laine and Pentti Sarpaneva.

Métaux Mélangés explores the workmanship of the craftspeople who contributed to these movements,
with shapes, materials and intentions appreciated as a true art form.
ROBERT LARIN
silver plated pewter necklace with brass round
Montreal, c. 1970
Opposite:
UNSIGNED
bronze 3-tiered necklace with neckring
Unknown origin, c. 1960
 Opposite:
ROBERT LARIN ROBERT LARIN
gold plated bracelet with black rounds and pin clasp gold plated 3 inch cuff with pin clasp
Montreal, c. 1970 Montreal, c. 1970
ROBERT LARIN
silver plated pewter chain link belt
Montreal, c. 1970
Left to Right:
JORMA LAINE
bronze ring with round cutaways
Finland, c. 1970

PENTTI SARPANEVA
bronze ring with solid round
Finland, c. 1960

PENTTI SARPANEVA FOR TURUN HOPEA OY

bronze oval ring
Finland, c. 1960

Left to Right:
UNSIGNED PENTTI SARPANEVA
silver dome ring with brass inlays FOR TURUN HOPEA OY
Unknown origin, c. 1970 bronze round ring
Finland, c. 1960
JORMA LAINE
bronze ring with deep grooves JORMA LAINE
Finland, c. 1970 silver celestial ring
Finland, c. 1970
ROBERT LARIN
brass plated pewter bracelet with turquoise studs
Montreal, c. 1970
 Top to Bottom:
MARJORIE BAER
brass round pendant with copper hinges and snake chain
San Francisco, c. late 1970’s

MARJORIE BAER
silver round pendant with metal mesh chain
San Francisco, c. late 1970’s

MARJORIE BAER MARJORIE BAER

brass round pendant with copper hinges and snake chain brass round with woven brass circular overlay
San Francisco, c. late 1970’s San Francisco, c. late 1970’s
 Left to Right:
JORMA LAINE
bronze celestial bracelet with chain closure
Finland, c. 1970

JORMA LAINE
bronze celestial necklace
Finland, c. 1970

Left to Right:
JORMA LAINE
bronze celestial bracelet with chain closure
Finland, c. 1970

JORMA LAINE
bronze celestial necklace
Finland, c. 1970

JORMA LAINE
bronze celestial ring
Finland, c. 1970
Top to Bottom:
JORMA LAINE
bronze heart valve ring
Finland, c. 1970

JORMA LAINE
bronze valve necklace
Finland, c. 1970
PENTTI SARPANEVA
bronze lava necklace
Finland, c. 1960
PENNTTI SARPANEVA
bronze pendant with neckring
Finland, c. 1970
 Top to Bottom:
LUCIANO
hand wrought brass necklace with Eliat stone
Italy, c. 1960

LUCIANO UNSIGNED
hand wrought brass necklace with Eliat stone brass bracelet
Italy, c. 1960 Unknown origin, c. 1960
Left to Right:
DE PASSILLE-SYLVESTRE
gold plated enameled blue hues pendant with chain
Montreal, c. late 1970’s

DE PASSILLE-SYLVESTRE
gold plated enameled brown hues pendant with chain
Montreal, c. 1970’s

DE PASSILLE-SYLVESTRE
gold plated enameled red hues round pendant with chain
 GUY (GILES) VIDAL
silver 3-tiered pendant with chain
Montreal, c. 1960

UNSIGNED
silver crushed bracelet
Unknown origin, c. 1970
BETTY COOKE
silver choker with white quartz
Baltimore, c. late 1970’s
UNSIGNED
silver choker with quartz and pearls
Unknown origin, c. 1970’s
UNSIGNED
brass earings
Unknown origin, c. 1970
Top to Bottom:
UNSIGNED
mixed metal necklace with brass neckring
London, c. 1960

UNSIGNED UNSIGNED
mixed metal necklace with knotted brass neckring mixed metals of copper, brass and silver bracelet with agate stone
London, c. 1960 Unknown origin, c. 1970
Opposite:
LOUIS GIUSTI
brass fish with flexible spine
Unknown origin, c. 1970
UNSIGNED
brass belt buckle with newly constructed muslin braided/tea dyed belt
Unknown origin, c. late 1960’s
NOMADE EXQUIS is a nomadic purveyor of luxury hard-to-find and limited edition goods, all
curated with a perceptive eye, relentless taste and a modern edge. Once a year, NOMADE EXQUIS
presents an offering of distinctive goods with an augural look at the directions of covetable design.

NOMADE EXQUIS is a collaborative, ever-changing family of established and emerging creators.

MO CLANCY
Founder + Curator
Mo Clancy is a former fashion trend watcher & cultural forecasted – advising on social movements and fashion influencers
for iconic brands including Levi Strauss, Nike and Proctor & Gamble UK. In addition, Mo co-founded one of the country’s
first influencer & cultural anthropology companies, Ammo (www.ammomarketing.com).

Mo launched NOMADE EXQUIS in 2008, during which she privately sold a line of handmade and hand dyed clothing
and accessories to celebrities, tastemakers and stylists.

MATT DICK
Collaborator
Matt Dick is a designer and creative director. His work in textile and clothing design, fashion branding, and product development
has kept him involved in the Japanese market since 1997, although he is based in San Francisco. After eight years working
for Tamotsu Yagi Design, he opened Matocreative, continuing to work in the areas of clothing design, space design, and art
direction. He is guest faculty in the Design and Technology department of the San Francisco Art Institute.

Matt and Mo worked together to produce the elegantly raw belts for the Fall ‘09 NOMADE EXQUIS (Matt designed
and produced the braids; Mo provided vintage buckle and tea dying). Matt will be contributing to NOMADE EXQUIS
again in 2010.

ELENA LACUESTA
Collaborator
The images of Métaux Mélangés comprise the second round of collaboration between NOMADE EXQUIS and LA-based
photographer Elena Lacuesta, whose polished yet raw work originates from the juxtaposition between her early inspirations of
record bands such as Bikini Kill and the later influence of photographer Sally Mann. Prior to hitting the LA photo scene, she
earned her B.A. at Pasadena’s prestigious Art Center College of Design. Currently she maintains her studio in LA, where she
continues to create some of the world’s most evocative photographs for fashion and music.
www.elenamarialacuesta.com

INDEX OF NOMADE EXQUIS FALL ’09 MODERNIST CATEGORIES

Photography: Elena Lacuesta
Catalogue Design: Carrie Nelle Burgin Organic modernism is characterized by marrying organic shapes and/or materials with more structured
Model: Alicia Ottinger architectural elements.

SPECIAL APPRECIATION TO: Brutalism is typically a raw, unstructured style, often the surface looks damaged, reminiscent of broken
Allison Storr, Ben Bennett, Gustavo Wainzbot and Shelly Socol Wainzbot, Doris Raymond.
rock or forming lava – quite primitive but elegant.

Biomorphism incorporates fluid lines and biological-derived ideas, often amoeba-like shapes, with the
use of mixed or singular metals.
FEATURED ARTISANS

PENTTI SARPANEVA // Finland

Well-known Finnish jeweler is Pentti Sarpaneva, a graphics designer started to experiment with jewelry styles in 1950.
The public did not take to his outrageous designs where he used natural materials such as bark, wood, feathers - and even
incorporated zips and the like. In the 1960’s and 1970’s Pentti came back with his wonderful bronze creations exploiting
rough surfaces and unpolished gemstones. They had a look of volcanic lava flowing over them. He produced Folk jewelry
as well but even here there was still an untamed rather than traditional feel to his designs.

JORMA LAINE // Finland

A prolific member of the Finnish modernist movement, Jorma Laine produced much of his work in the ’60s and ‘70s
adhering to the bold but organic style that was the signature of Finnish movement. Laine’s interpretation is chunky and
bold, typically featuring brass or bronze. Most of his designs are abstract structures or reflect the shapes of Arctic nature
phenomenon: changing seasons, midnight sun or northern lights.

ROBERT LARIN // Montreal

Robert Larin was creating pewter jewelry as early as 1968 based in Montreal, PQ and selling across Canada. Born in
Montreal, he was in his mid 20’s in the late 1960’s and maintained a factory on rue Papineau. Here he employed approximately
25 workers most of whom were deaf, which worked perfectly in a noisy shop where communication even between those
who could hear, had to be in sign language.

Most of Larin’s production jewelry was made of pewter, which was cast by the lost wax process and then filed by hand to
remove the rough surfaces left by the casting. The piece was then oxidized or plated with silver or gold and then, finally
polished. He only produced work during 1968 through 1972.

GUY (AKA GILLES) VIDAL // Montreal

Gilles Vidal was also a Montreal based designer, who worked in pewter and was in production at about the same time as
Larin in the late 1960’s to early 1970’s. It was thought among the jewelry fraternity that Vidal’s designs were somewhat
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more sophisticated and daintier than Larin’s and it was also said that Vidal had concocted his own pewter formula which
provided an ability to work finer designs that still held their strength, as pewter, a lead alloy is very soft and finer work can
bend easily and be damaged.

DE PASSILLE-SYLVESTRE // Montreal
The talented team of Micheline de Passille and Yves Sylvestre began their shop in St. Adele PQ in 1960. Skilled enamalists, their
work embodies the most prized elements of colour and form related to modern design. Their early work is all hand done
and enameled on both sides where it was signed by also by hand.

MARJORIE BAER // San Francisco

Marjorie’s career began on the steps of New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art in the late 60’s.
It was there that the recent Berkeley grad displayed her first group of hand-crafted necklaces, bracelets and earrings-the
pioneering pieces that would lay the groundwork for 18 years of collections. Ms. Baer prides herself on producing all
works through artisans in U.S. and still maintains a studio in San Franscisco.

CARL TASHA // Provincetown

American modernist Carl Tasha is an artist, sculptor and jewelry designer based in Provincetown. Carl was considered a
maverick in the modernist movement during the 1960’s, producing raw, primal pieces that still held true to modernism’s
shapes and materials.

BETTY COOKE // Baltimore

Part of the east coast modernist movement, Betty Cooke’s work has become highly sought after and collected. Betty
Cooke graduated in the 1950’s from John Hopkins School of Design and in the early 1960’s joined other artisans such as
Art Smith of New York in pioneering the modernist movement on the east coast, a school of thought that marries strong
architectural design with organic forms.