#Ciners #Collectible #Menagerie #Animal #Jewelry #Designs #WorthPoint
Over a lifetime of wearing, selling, and collecting jewelry, I’ll admit to being a fan of anything with an animal motif. Some of my personal favorites include African animals and monkey pins. I’m not alone in my affinity for these pieces since just about every culture from ancient Egypt to the Vikings of Scandinavia wore jewelry featuring animals—often to denote social status or prowess. As time passed, wearing animal jewelry became more of a fashion statement, whether in fine or costume jewelry versions. Like me, many celebrities, dignitaries, and noteworthy collectors have also shown a fondness for animal jewelry.
One of the prolific makers of costume jewelry featuring animal motifs was Ciner. The company produced pieces in sterling silver in the 1930s and ‘40s but really upped its game in the 1960s when many different companies were making jewelry depicting fauna from around the globe. The business continued to create its popular animal styles for decades after that, including when Pat Ciner Hill, the granddaughter of the firm’s founder Emanuel Ciner, took the company’s reins. From 1979 and throughout the costume jewelry boom of the 1980s, animal designs were best-sellers for the firm.
Pat Ciner Hill passed away in early 2023, and the business subsequently closed, leaving a legacy of amazing adornment for collectors to enjoy. Among these pieces were bee pins given to every attendee at the Costume Jewelry Collectors Int’l (CJCI) convention in 2017 to commemorate Ciner’s 125th anniversary. My CJCI partner Melinda Lewis joined me in honoring Ciner with our CJCI Achievement Award during the event. That little bee, a gift I’ll cherish for many years to come, is stashed away in my collection with a few other Ciner keepers.
Inspiration for the Ciner Menagerie
Looking at Ciner’s array of animal jewelry, it’s clear that many pieces were inspired by fine jewelry. A number of them echo the work of notables like Jean Schlumberger, who designed for Tiffany & Co. and David Webb’s “Kingdom Collection.” The company took these limited-edition looks and made similar styles, bringing some remarkable designs to the masses. Not a new idea, but one that Ciner had been doing very well since the 1930s when the business moved from fine jewelry to the costume jewelry industry.
Ciner, in fact, has been known to revive its styles made decades prior in new colors. When Elizabeth Taylor’s jewelry collection was sold at auction in 2011, dozens of Ciner pieces were among those lots. Yes, Taylor was fabulously photographed wearing Ciner jewelry and enjoyed them alongside her breathtaking fine jewelry collection. One noteworthy item was a gray enameled dolphin bangle made for her by Ciner in the 1960s. After the original was sold, Ciner reportedly reintroduced the design in other colors, much to the delight of collectors.
Another noteworthy collection featuring animals was called “The Magic Garden of Mr. Lee.” It was introduced in 2018 and quickly became a favorite among fans of costume jewelry. These pieces, produced as part of a collaboration with designers Don Carney and John Ross of PATCH NYC, were inspired by a fictional tale in which Mr. Lee’s garden yields huge, magical blooms that transform animals feeding on them into colorful creatures. I couldn’t resist purchasing a couple of brooches from the collection, including a turquoise blue enameled tiger head with a black rose and enameled insect perched on a bejeweled bow. Several other collaborations in the 2010s melded new colorations and embellishments with classic Ciner animal designs, including a unicorn produced in partnership with Candy Shop Vintage.
The Form and Function of Ciner’s Animal Jewelry
Collectors often think of brooches when Ciner animal motifs come to mind, and for good reason. Time and again, Ciner produced intricately cast and meticulously decorated pins featuring everything from African animals and birds to sea life and various insects. Several different Ciner animal brooches are featured in the book Read My Pins: Stories from a Diplomat’s Jewel Box by the late Madeleine Albright, who served as Secretary of State during the Clinton administration. As a dignitary representing the United States, she often wore her jewelry to make a statement or send a message, and Ciner’s expressive animals are perfect for that purpose.
Beyond the many brooches, Ciner also made bracelets with animal heads serving as part of the clasp in the style of David Webb’s designs. Liz Taylor’s dolphin bracelet falls into this category, but a great many more of these bracelets were sold during the 1980s, featuring zebras, horses, leopards, and several other animals. Many unmarked pieces in similar styles were also made, but in general, Ciner’s are of better quality in terms of enameling, plating, and other embellishments. Sellers representing the unmarked pieces as Ciner do so in error.
Necklaces with animal motifs were made frequently in the 1980s, too. These were usually beaded designs, either strands of glass beads in varying lengths or twisted torsades, with an animal head or two “kissing” animal heads serving as the clasp. These range from big cats and zebras to frogs, and they’re all fun to collect and to wear.
I can certainly see more of Ciner’s menagerie in my collecting future. Be sure to check out the WorthPoint® Price Guide to see many pieces you can aspire to add to your own collection of statement-making jewelry.
Pamela Siegel is a freelance writer and author who has been educating collectors for more than two decades. In addition to three books on topics relating to antiques and collectibles, she frequently shares her expertise through online writing and articles for print-based publications. Pamela is also the co-founder of Costume Jewelry Collectors Int’l (CJCI) and the proprietor of Chic Antiques by Pamela.
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