The cultured and illustrious career of Geoffrey Rowlandson not only relates to his many accolades and ingenuity of design but also to his signature style – the baroque cultured pearl.
Rowlandson was born in Britain to a family of designers, who first instigated and facilitated his career as a jeweller. After his training, he began creating his own pieces of jewellery, setting up Rowlandson’s Limited in 1970. Now deceased, Geoffrey Rowlandson was the director of the business until the end of 2019. Rowlandson’s Limited is a family-run business that continues to create designs after Geoffrey’s distinct style.
Geoffrey Rowlandson: Signature Style
You can spot an original Geoffrey Rowlandson design by his ingenious and transformative use of pearls. His jewellery tends to play tricks on the eye. Rowlandson would craft and animate a caricature, story, or wearable piece of art inspired purely by the pearl’s form. As such, Rowlandson typically used Baroque pearls which have irregular indentations. This is the exact unique feature that attracts Rowlandson to these specific pearls. In their irregularity, he finds sense and accordingly creates playful pieces of decorative art.
Originality is paramount in Geoffrey Rowlandson’s work. His designs complement the usually rugged and distorted shape of the baroque pearls. It transforms any traditional connotations of what we consider the classical and coveted pearl. Rowlandson’s postmodern use of the pearl has seen the creation of a vast amount of meticulous work that has attracted much welcomed commercial attention. He uses complementary diamonds, gold and silver to further exaggerate the details from the baroque pearls.
You can see this demonstrated in his piece entitled ‘Grande Jeté’. Here Rowlandson imagines the shape of two baroque pearls as a ballerina performing a leap in the air. The upper half of the pearl crafts a figure with arms from gold and ballerina shoes from diamonds. The Victorian and Albert Museum in London featured the Grande Jeté piece in an exhibition. The exhibition took place between September 2013 and January 2014 entitled ‘Pearls’. Rowlandson had three pieces (‘Liberty and Me’ and ‘My Shadow’) in this exhibition. The museum displayed his work alongside a pearl-drop earring worn by Charles I at his execution in 1649. As well as a necklace of cultured pearls given to Marilyn Monroe by Joe DiMaggio in 1954. The pearl-studded collection at the exhibition is a testament to the calibre and craftsmanship in Rowlandson’s work.
Geoffrey Rowlandson: Noteworthy Creations
‘One Giant Leap’ (circa, 2000) is a brooch that depicts an astronaut climbing the spaceship ladder having placed an American flag on the moon’s surface. The scene is made from gold, creating the core moon, flag and parts of the spacesuit. The astronaut’s body is made from a cluster of cultured pearls.
‘The Royal Christening’ (2014) was commended as part of the 2014 Goldsmiths’ Craft and Design Council Awards. It depicts members of the Royal family and Prince George in his baptismal garment, fixed onto a diamond-shaped frame.
‘My Fair Ladies’ is a scene of two fashionable ladies promenading side-by-side holding hands. The scene is created by pairing pearls with diamonds to mimic the silhouette of two women. They both wear wide-brimmed sinamay hats represented by textured pearls and diamonds that replicate feathers accentuating the hats.
‘The Fire and Ice Tiara’ (2002) imitates the natural elements by incorporating six freshwater pearls mounted to a pavé-set with circular-cut diamonds. This tiara is striking for its white gold features, giving it a fierce and polished finish. The tiara was included in the ‘Tiaras: Past and Present’ exhibition at the Victorian and Albert Museum in 2002.
History of the Pearl
The pearl is an unusual type of gem because it is produced by a living animal such as a giant clam or land snail. Historically, pearls were harvested by divers who would usually operate in less-than-ideal environments to fetch the shells containing the gem. Nowadays, the pearl harvesting process is much more controlled and follows the growth of the pearl. Pearls are lifted by pearl farmers from the water and checked for barnacles and other organisms that could stunt their growth. Also, they are treated with medicines that kill off and prevent parasites.
Rowlandson uses baroque pearls that are extreme in their curvature, taking their name from the ornate art movement that celebrates all things eccentric and ostentatious. Baroque pearls can range from a distinctly ovoid, curved, pinched or lumpy shape. These characterful impressions create dramatic features and command a high price.
Continuation of Geoffrey Rowlandson's Legacy
His illustrious career in the jewellery industry has seen his work featured in museums and sold in auctions for impressive sums. Nonetheless, the business is still running today and seeks to uphold his legacy. However, they only produce two new brooch designs per year because the limited production attracts a higher demand. Selecting a baroque pearl is time-consuming as it is rare to find such irregular and inspiring shapes.
Rowlandson’s experimental approach to creating jewellery with pearls has expanded the stylisation of pearls for commercial and aesthetic use. Rowlandson and his legacy commemorate all types of pearls and honour their irregularities. He celebrates the versatility of pearls which has resulted in many accolades that span across decades. It proves that Geoffrey Rowlandson was a paragon of a modern jeweller.
Geoffrey Rowlandson at Auction
Fine Jewellery | Thursday 23rd May
Viewing times (ID required):
London
Tuesday 14th May 12:00 - 19:00
Wednesday 15th May 10:00 - 16:00
Birmingham
Tuesday 21st May 10:00 - 16:00
Wednesday 22nd May 10:00 - 16:00
Thursday 23rd May 08:30 - 10:00
Virtual viewings are available by request. Virtual viewings are the ultimate personal shopping experience. Using Zoom, you can ask us whatever you need to know to buy with confidence. Find out more here.
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