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EARRINGS of sterling silver, white gold, rutilated quartz; 6.7 x 2.4 x 2.0 centimeters, circa 1955. These earrings are exemplary of De Patta's progressiveness and daring in design. By contemporary standards, to create a pair of unmatched earrings is au courant, but in 1955 it was nothing short of avant-garde. Further, they are extraordinary in their size—two elongated slices of rutilated quartz; their settings—stones suspended from wires; and their hand-designed ear fittings. They are truly master works of wearable adornment. Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Liliane and Davd M. Stewart Clection, Gift of Paul Leblanc. RING of sterling silver, 1939. In the center, De Patta inset the design of her personal insignia. RING of sterling silver, tourmaline, quartz; 2.5 x 0.6 x 0.6 centimeters, 1947. The cut of this quartz stone— exploiting its tourmaline inclusions—shows the collaboration between jewelry designer De Patta and gem- cutter Sperisen. When worn, the drama of the ring is enhanced as the appearance of the stone changes with varying light refractions. didn't like getting old. She told me once that when she was standing on a bus a young man got up to offer her his seat. This offended Margaret! That meant that she was perceived as being old. Me? I would have sat down and said thank you." Whatever the case, De Patta was at the height of her career when she died the day after her sixty-fifth birthday. De Patta's legacy is surely now writ in stone with the publication of Space- Light-Structure: The Jewelry of Margaret De Patta. The museum viewer who has the opportunity to see De Patta's elegant jewelry on display at the Museum of Arts and Design will understand the dramatic effect of light, line and color when imaginatively manipulated within a small sculpture. Her complex compositions that play with spatial relationships of transparencies, motion and layering will delight the eye and the senses. (Except that of touch—in the literal sense—because in a museum touching is verboten.) SUGGESTED READING Goldstein, Doris. "Sculpture For Wearing," Modern Magazine, Winter 2012: 98-103. Ilse-Neuman, Ursula. Margaret De Patta: Pioneer of Modernism," Metalsmith Magazine, Vol. 32, No. 1 (2012): 42-51. Ilse-Neuman, Ursula, and Julie M. Muñiz. Space-Light-Structure: The Jewelry of Margaret De Patta. New York: Museum of Arts and Design and Oakland, Oakland Museum of California, 2012. 39 ORNAMENT 35.5.2012