This gilt bronze brooch was conceived circa 1945 by Line Vautrin, a prodigy in the field of costume jewelry. Having mastered the fundamental techniques of artistic jewelry design at the wide-eyed age of 14, Vautrin rose to prominence after pounding Parisian pavements as a door-to-door saleswoman and fine-tuning her craft with a stint at Elsa Schiaparelli’s studio. Vautrin’s pieces take inspiration from ancient symbols and treasures, along with the avant-garde – a combination that makes them eternally collectible. In this instance, the asymmetric texture of the gilting and the vertebrae-like protrusions are destined to capture the imagination of even the most casual admirer.