Arthur King On Sale
Vintage 1970s North American Modernist Cocktail Rings
Emerald, Yellow Gold, 18k Gold, Gold
Vintage 1960s American Modernist Brooches
Coral, Diamond, Turquoise, Gold, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
20th Century American Modern Fashion Rings
Diamond, Emerald, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
Mid-20th Century American Modern Pendant Necklaces
Quartz, Ruby, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
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20th Century Dome Rings
Diamond, Yellow Gold, Gold, 18k Gold
Vintage 1960s American Modernist Brooches
Ruby, Sapphire, Blue Sapphire, Gold, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
Antique 1890s Brooches
Diamond, Gold, Silver, White Gold
21st Century and Contemporary American Contemporary Cocktail Rings
Emerald, Diamond, Gold, Yellow Gold, 14k Gold
Vintage 1980s French Modernist Link Bracelets
Gold, 18k Gold
Vintage 1970s Italian Drop Necklaces
Diamond, Emerald, 18k Gold
Mid-20th Century German Modernist Cocktail Rings
White Diamond, Emerald, Diamond, Yellow Gold, 18k Gold, Gold
Antique 1880s French Egyptian Revival Choker Necklaces
Garnet, Silver, Sterling Silver, Enamel
1990s German Modernist Clip-on Earrings
Sapphire, Blue Sapphire, Gold, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Indian Modern Cocktail Rings
Turquoise, Diamond, Coral, Yellow Gold, 18k Gold
21st Century and Contemporary American Cocktail Rings
Diamond, Emerald, Platinum
Vintage 1970s British Modernist Hoop Earrings
Gold, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
2010s French Link Necklaces
18k Gold, Yellow Gold
Vintage 1970s Swiss Fashion Rings
Diamond, Cultured Pearl, Pearl, 18k Gold, Gold
Vintage 1980s Italian Modern Cocktail Rings
Diamond, Emerald, Platinum
Late 20th Century Italian Cocktail Rings
Diamond, Lapis Lazuli, Turquoise, Gold
Recent Sales
Vintage 1960s American Modernist Brooches
Diamond, Pearl, Ruby, Sapphire, 18k Gold
Vintage 1970s American Modernist Dangle Earrings
Jade, Pearl, Yellow Gold, 18k Gold
Arthur King for sale on 1stDibs
Self-taught American jeweler Arthur King worked with baroque pearls, geodes, and raw semi-precious gemstones to create distinctive modernist jewelry during the mid-20th century.
Like many of the accessories that populate our jewelry boxes, the forms of King’s provocative vintage brooches, necklaces, rings and other jewels were inspired by the natural world, but the pieces’ metalwork is sculptural and shapely, resembling gnarled tree branches or the surface of an elm’s aging trunk.
King was born in New Jersey in 1921. He became interested in art at a young age and was fascinated with the lost-wax casting technique practiced by some sculptors. King taught himself the process using scrap metals, and his jewelry and objets d’art would come to share common ground with abstract art in the years to come.
While stationed overseas in the Merchant Marines in World War II, King began to work with metal and dabble in jewelry making, integrating sharks’ teeth, white scrap metal and whatever else he could find into his modest “art jewelry,” a term that has been used to describe adornments created by Alexander Calder, pioneering African American studio jeweler Art Smith, Andrew Grima and others over the years. Upon returning from the war, King continued to develop his skills — eventually opening his first shop in New York City's Greenwich Village neighborhood.
King truly distinguished himself from other jewelers of the time — at his workbench, he shaped the brass and silver settings for his often unpolished, chunky stones that featured asymmetrical cuts and employed the age-old technique of lost-wax casting, which sees objects cast from wax models. His early pieces mainly featured silver settings, but his popularity soared once he began to craft jewelry in gold.
In 1961, King's work was exhibited at Goldsmiths’ Hall in London as part of the “International Exhibition of Modern Jewellery” and a year later, he opened his flagship store on Madison Avenue. His success allowed him to open more locations in London, Cape Cod, Havana, Miami and elsewhere.
King used a dizzying array of gems and other materials in his unconventional pieces. And as much as the jewelry of the 1960s featured eye-catching candy-colored stones, it was also an era of new textures and freeform gold settings, and King was at the forefront, creating audacious designs that contrasted sharply with the work of the world’s leading luxury houses.
King’s work has been celebrated at a range of institutions over the years including the Museum of Contemporary Crafts (now the Museum of Arts and Design), the Cultured Pearl Association of Japan, the Victoria and Albert Museum and more. His jewelry was exhibited at the Cincinnati Art Museum’s “Simply Brilliant: Artist-Jewelers of the 1960s and 1970s,” which opened in 2021.
On 1stDibs, find vintage Arthur King brooches, rings, necklaces and more.