David Webb’s Cheeky Animal Jewels Are Celebrated in a New Exhibit

Some jewels define a woman’s status or style, and others, like David Webb’s bold, cheeky animals are an often expression of one’s true self. In the 1960s, the designer’s menagerie of jeweled animals attracted style setters like Elizabeth Taylor, who favored a sly tiger brooch perched on her shoulder, and Vogue editor Diana Vreeland whose signature piece was a graphic zebra cuff. Gloria Vanderbilt wore a snake bracelet, and the Duchess of Windsor was often spotted in a double-headed bright green enamel frog bracelet.

Those iconic Webb animals are being celebrated with the company’s first in-house retrospective “A Walk in the Woods: David Webb Artful Animals,” which is being staged at the jeweler’s Madison Avenue flagship from September 19 through October 2 (by appointment only). The show features a mix of archival pieces and sketches, jewels on loan, and two new colorful owl designs selected from the late designer’s expansive archives but never produced.

This is the jewelry house’s first in-house exhibition following shows at the Norton Museum of Art in Palm Beach and Rough Point in Newport, Rhode Island. The New York show was originally scheduled for April 2020 but was postponed because of Covid.

While animals have historically been part of our jewelry lexicon, David Webb’s creatures were unlike anything done before or still today. Instantly recognizable, his animals are bold, colorful, and full of personality yet dignified. “People see themselves in an animal, it’s the embodiment of their personality,” says Levi Higgs, David Webb’s head of archives and brand heritage, who curated the exhibition.

Those iconic 1960s animal pieces catapulted Webb’s career, making him one of America’s most influential jewelry designers. Born in Asheville, North Carolina, he created his first animal in 1957 (a mythical gold and emerald Makara bracelet) and it was followed by a parade of giraffes, cats, horses, elephants, and monkeys. In 1964, the designer was awarded the Coty American Fashion Critics’ Award for his jeweled animals. For the gala event at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Webb commissioned fashion photographer Milton Greene and illustrator Joe Eula to create a short film of the animals shot outside at his Upstate New York house. Inspired by this playful film, a new version was created for this show by photographer Noah Kalina and set to music by cellist Patrick Belaga.

Of all his fantastical animals, the zebra design remains the company’s mascot and most popular. In addition to being Vreeland’s favorite jewel, it appeared several times in Vogue magazine in the 1960s in photos by Irving Penn. “That black and white graphic zebra pattern was so of the moment in the 1960s,” says Higgs. “It’s a fun and whimsical animal.”

The new exhibition is arranged by animal theme with some never-before-seen sketches and images, like a family photo that Anderson Cooper took of his mother Gloria Vanderbilt wearing her snake bracelet. Webb’s animal kingdom continues to be produced in limited editions today for a new generation of style setters who see themselves in the designer’s whimsical yet poignant animals.

You Might Also Like

• 12 Weekend Getaway Spas For Every Type of Occasion

• What Your Favorite Champagne Brand Says About You

• Beauty Gurus Share Their Makeup Secrets for Older Women