A Seaman Schepps Retrospective
Staff -- JCK-Jewelers Circular Keystone, 8/1/2004
The Museum of Arts and Design in New York will present "Seaman Schepps: A Century of New York Jewelry Design 1904-2004," a retrospective exhibition that traces the development of one of America's most innovative 20th-century jewelry firms. Featuring approximately 150 pieces of jewelry, this exhibition includes design renderings, reproductions from fashion publications, and jewelry molds and other implements to establish a sense of the development of the work and the culture surrounding it. The exhibition will be accompanied by a color catalog with essays by jewelry historian Janet Zapata and Seaman Schepps's granddaughter, Amanda Vaill.
After years as a dealer of jewelry and art objects, Seaman Schepps began designing his own pieces around 1926, introducing them in his Lower East Side showroom. He moved to various Upper East Side locations and in 1959 to the current 485 Park Ave. location. Schepps's production studio exemplified the Arts & Crafts Movement: He served as designer and employed highly skilled craftsmen to create one-of-a-kind works of art.
