Sibyl Dunlop (1889 – 1968), British jewelry designer, best known for her work created in the 1920s and 1930s, which art historians refer to as the style of the late period of the ARTS & CRAFTS movement.
Dunlop was born in London and graduated from school in Brussels, where she became interested in jewelry design and trained in jewelry making. She set up a workshop and shop at 69 Kensington Church Street, London. In the early 1920s, William Nathanson joined as her chief craftsman. Dunlop’s work is characterized by the use of semi-precious and precious stones: chalcedony, chrysoprase, moonstone, amethyst, agate, quartz and opals, set in sterling silver with symmetrical patterns often inspired by nature.
The design of this bracelet is a typical example of Sybil Dunlop’s “carpet of gems” style: a repeating pattern of closely spaced stones that are set in single wall fixtures and hold adjacent stones. The stones are processed in unusual shapes: crescents, claws, rhombuses and triangles. By the mid-1930s, wide bracelets and necklaces were made in this way, as well as brooches with an intricate carpet of precious stones.
The company closed with the outbreak of World War II in 1939, and Sybil Dunlop never returned to work for health reasons. After the war, Nathanson continued to manufacture Dunlop jewelry and silver until 1971.
Sibyl Dunlop ‘s parents were from Scotland. In her designs, Celtic motifs are often guessed, as, for example, in this bowl. Its shape, reminiscent of our Russian cup, is made in the image of a traditional Scottish two-handled bowl, which is called a kueych, from the Gaelic cuach, which means a cup.