attributed to Bernard Cuzner (1877-1956) for Liberty & Co, in the form of a silver heart shaped locket bound tightly with silver rosebuds and thorns, the buds chased with rose blossoms and foliage, topped with a turquoise cabochon within a rope twist border with beading, suspended from a handmade chain with beaded clusters and wire work, terminating in a single banded turquoise cabochon beneath a silver loop.
Length: 8cm
The original design for the locket is recorded in the Liberty Jewellery Sketchbook which is held by Westminster City Council, number 8514.
A heart bound with thorns is a rebus not only of the pleasure but also the pain that love can bring.
Bernard Cuzner was a leading figure in the Arts and Crafts Movement and an influential designer of silver during the first half of the 20th Century. He worked for Liberty & Co as one of its key designers of silver for the Cymric range, alongside artists such as Archibald Knox and Oliver Baker. After the Cymric range ceased in 1908, Cuzner continued to supply the firm with silver designs until the late 1930s. He headed the school of metalwork at the Birmingham School of Art from 1919 to 1942. Examples of his work can be found in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.