Posted 5 years ago
spatania
(14 items)
The "Flora Spray" cuff which is in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian's Renwick Gallery was given back to my family by the original owner. She came into my store one day and handed me the cuff and said, "give this to a museum". I was surprised to say the least and we put it in the safe. I was unsure what to do.
In 1999 my family was given the Stonewall Foundation show at the Tucson Museum of Art called," Patania's; A Legacy in Silver and Gold" and the cuff came out of the safe and went on display. After the show ended I was made aware that Kenneth Trapp who was the curator in charge at the Renwick was interested in acquiring pieces of the family's work. I was able to offer this cuff as a representative of a body of my grandfather's work. To reduce his career to one cuff was an interesting process but I was so grateful to have it to give.
The Renwick has 4 Patania cuffs, two from my dad, Frank Patania Jr, one from my grandfather, Frank Sr., and one from me.
Unfortunately, I had just stared creating a photographic archive of my family's work when this was in my hands so I didn't photograph it much. I may find more photos on an old hard drive, I'll look and post if I can find any.
Actually this is Persian turquoise, not Burnham. Recently a family friend visited the Renwick and these pieces are out on display.