Openwork sculpture pendant necklace and tubular beads, carved solid ebony, direct cutting, unique piece, unsigned, circa 1970
 
Catherine Noll (1945-1992) is the granddaughter of the sculptor and designer Alexandre Noll. She began her career in the 1970s by taking over her grandfather's workshop. She cut her teeth with her mother Odile Noll, herself a wood carver. Coming from a line of sculptors, her jewelry bears the imprint of her family and artistic heritage. His jewels with organic shapes, natural and noble materials such as wood or ivory, resonate like an echo of Alexandre Noll's furniture, where refinement   arises from the sulptural power and the elegance of forms. Brutalist and modernist, his necklaces, cuffs, rings and earrings also draw their inspiration from African and Oceanian tribal ornaments, while asserting a resolutely contemporary modernity. Attached to natural, precious and organic materials such as ebony, ivory, horn, lapis lazuli, gold and bronze, she sometimes innovates with  translucent materials to break with the opacity of the previous ones,  thus creating  a luminous contrast  which plays with transparencies such as altuglas, crystal and bakelite. The strength of his work is affirmed also in the simplicity of the wear, the sensuality of the shapes and the softness of the materials, without to move away from its primary identity as a bijou d'artiste with a strong personality. Proof if any of this success: his jewelry will be worn by powerful women like Elsa Schiaparelli or inspiring actresses like Catherine Deneuve in Belle de jour by Bunuel. Catherine Noll has exhibited  at several Triennales du bijou in Paris and has designed collections for major fashion houses such as Nina Ricci, Chanel, Christian Dior, and other brands and prestigious brands like Tiffany, Baccarat or Bergdorf Goodman in New York.