Origins & Legacy of Art Jewellery in South Africa

Timed Online Auction, 6 - 22 October 2025

Legacy
About the Session

Legacy, showcases 16 contemporary practitioners whose work reflects the movement’s enduring spirit of experimentation. Like their predecessors, these art jewellers often work with non-precious materials, producing pieces that are expressive, sculptural and conceptually adventurous.  Through these wearable artworks, the artists employ art jewellery as a critical medium to reflect upon, comment on, and challenge the world around them, exploring questions of identity, place, social standing, cultural practices, and political viewpoints.

 


  • Marlene De Beer 'Doring' bead necklace


Lot Estimate Change Currency
ZAR 5 000 - 7 000
Location
Cape Town
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About this Item

South Africa 1957-
Marlene De Beer 'Doring' bead necklace
porcelain thorns, and bespoke hand-formed silver beads, on glass bead strands, length approximately 54cm, total weight 71 grams
2017

Notes

Marlene de Beer harnesses the expressive potential of non-precious materials such as porcelain, glass (including vitreous enamel), and sisal, creating a phenomenological response to her lived experiences. Her porcelain neckpieces, incorporating indigenous thorns collected from local trails, embody contrasts of fragility and strength, evoking themes of protection, suffering, and belonging.

- Marlene de Beer

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