Necklace by Jessie King (2)

Gold and enamel pendant necklace comprising openwork gold floral sprays set with sapphires, designed by Jessie M. King for Liberty and Co., London, c. 1905.   Born in 1875 in Bearden, Glasgow, Jessie King studied at Glasgow School of Art under Fra Newberry from 1892 to 1899, when she took up a teaching post at the School. Her main talent was as an illustrator, especially of books, but like most artists working within the Glasgow Style she produced fine works in other media. By 1905 she had already had a working relationship with Liberty's, producing fabric designs for them. They went on to commission a series of jewellery designs from her, the originals of which still survive in the company's pattern books. Although Liberty's made it a policy not to acknowledge individual designers of work they marketed, it is possbible to identify King's work from these original drawings and their close similarity to her book illustrations. This necklace is No. 8779 in the Liberty Design Register and was probably worked up by the firm of W H Hasseler of Birmingham, one of Liberty's main silversmiths.