1STDIBS

Pre-owned Art Deco Signed Sterling Onyx Marcasite Rectangular Silver Ring 1921 In Black

On this antique early Art Deco-period solitaire cocktail ring, a long rectangular mirror-cut black onyx is surrounded by 28 faceted marcasite stones. The American silver ring, whose face is 1 x 0.5 inches, is marked "sterling" and signed "Theda", which was a line made in 1921 by the Ideal Manufacturing Co. in Providence, Rhode Island. It was named after the American film and Broadway-theater actress Theda Bara, who was Fox Studio's biggest star until 1919 before she retired in 1926 after her last movie "The Unchastened Woman". During this period, Cartier set the trend for black-onyx-diamond-platinum rings and watches, which was popularized at the Parisian international design exhibition in 1925 that gave Art Deco its name. No doubt, Bara owned lots of Cartier!