Posted 13 years ago
Teacakes1940
(1 item)
I found this ring in my house doing an addition to a room here in Mobile Alabama. I've been in the home for over 40 years. One website had a picture identical to that of the inside of ring, image 1, and indicated that the markings was that of Christian Marc Schmdt. It also stated that :
This was Christian Schmidt's mark on cast items
Christian Schmidt was a Minnesota studio jeweler who exhibited at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis in 1955. He did magnificent designs based on intricate plant and pod forms. He was a friend and colleague of Ruth Roach.
He exhibited at the 1956 "American Jewelry and Related Objects" competition in Rochester, New York where he won "Best in Class Awards" for a silver and gold pendant and a gold and ebony bracelet as well as a purchase prize for a silver bracelet. He also won awards at the 1959 Midwest Designer-Craftsmen competition and the 1958 and 1959 Minnesota State Fair Fine Arts Competitions.
He was considered to be one of the foremost designer-craftsmen in the United States during his short career and was one of twelve jewelers whose work was accepted for exhibition at the Brussels World's Fair.
His work is featured in both of my books, Modernist Jewelry, 1930-1960, The Wearable Art Movement and Form & Function, American Modernist Jewelry, 1940 - 1970 and was included in the exhibit "American Modernist Jewelry, 1940 - 1970" at the Fort Wayne Museum of Art, 2008.
I'm curious about the value.
Does the sculpted detail on the outside of the ring match his designs from the research you've done? It's hard for me to see the designs on the ring itself, they look out of focus.
If so, perhaps your next step would be to have the ring professionally photographed, and appraised. It's much easier for someone to copy someone's signature than their craftsmanship.
Hello, my name is Katherine Schmidt, Christian Schmidt was my grandfather. I was wondering if you ever received clarification about your ring? If I were too make a guess without really looking into it, I would say that this is not something that came from Christian Schmidt but I would need to ask my father to know for sure. Is there an "s" stamped on the inside of the ring?
Did you ever get an answer?
We have a necklace that Chris made for my Mother for partial payment for the town site of Manson Creek in northern British Columbia back in 1972
Will like to put a picture of it on this site but will have to find out how to do it first
Cool! I’d love to talk to you if you wouldn’t mind.
My email is kschmidt1706@gmail.com