POWERHOUSE COLLECTION

Silver neckring made by Darani Lewers and Helge Larsen

Object No. 2001/43/1

Helge Larsen (b.1929 Copenhagen, Denmark) and Darani Lewers (b.1936 Sydney, Australia) have been working collaboratively in Sydney Australia since 1961. They pioneered the modern jewellery movement in this country and are among our most important and influential jewellery designer/makers. Helge Larsen completed a four year apprenticeship with Copenhagen jewellery firm Viggo Wollny, a two year diploma course in art and design at the Guldsmedehojskolen (College of art and design) as well as a student exchange program in the USA where he was placed in the workshop of silversmith Stig Gusterman. In 1957 with fellow jeweller Harald Jensen he purchased an old shirt shop in Copenhagen and converted it into a workspace and shop called Solvform which quickly attracted a substantial clientele. Darani Lewers attended a jewellery course part-time at East Sydney Technical College while working with Estonian master-jeweller Nina Ots in Sydney. She then travelled to England intending to find employement in the jewellery trade but her ambitions were hampered by the reluctance of the trade to take on female apprentices and assistants. Her father encouraged her to travel instead to Denmark and it was here in 1959 that Lewers came across Larsens workshop and asked if she could be taken on as an assistant. In the early 1960s Lewers returned to Australia attracted by the encouraging environment for craftworkers. She was soon followed by Larsen and they married and set up their first workshop in George Street, Sydney before moving to a residence and workshop in Seaforth. Lewers and Larsen formed an inspiring partnership, creating an impressive number of works and mounting regular local and overseas exhibitions. They were an important influence on Australian based jewellers introducing Danish modernist design traditions and constructivism while later drawing on a wide variety of cultural traditions to present a more complex vision for contemporary jewellery. The neckring's simple organic form refelcts their early practice and the influence of the clean pure sculptural forms of Scandinavian design. Lewers and Larsen's influence has also been felt through their educational and professional commitments. Helge Larsen was one of the driving forces behind the establishment of the Craft Association of Australia in 1964. He lectured in the Department of Industrial Arts at the University of New South Wales and was appointed founding Head of the Jewellery and Silversmithing department at the Sydney College of the Arts. He was also involved in organising tours of European jewellery to Australia and Australian jewellery to Europe. Darani Lewers was appointed Chairperson of the Crafts Board, was a Trustee of the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences and joined the Artworks Advisory Committee of the Parliament House Construction Authority, nurturing and guiding the crafts through these influential appointments.

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Summary

Object Statement

Neckring, silver, designed and made by Darani Lewers and Helge Larsen, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 1964-1965

Physical Description

Silver neckring comprising two flat silver undulating bands forming an open backed ring. It is stamped with a silver mark and maker's mark on one end of the bands.

DIMENSIONS

Height

70 mm

Width

125 mm

Depth

150 mm

PRODUCTION

Notes

The neckring was designed by Darani Lewers and Helge Larsen. The simple organic form of the neckring reflects their early practice and the influence of the clean pure sculptural forms of Scandinavian design. The neckring was made in the workrooms of Darani Lewers and Helge Larsen in Sydney between 1964 and 1965.

HISTORY

Notes

The neckring was given to the donor for her 21st birthday.

SOURCE

Credit Line

Gift of Nagasuri (Caroline Ralston), 2001

Acquisition Date

31 May 2001

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