VINTAGE

ART DECO STERLING BROOCH

BY

McCLELLAND BARCLAY

United States, c.1930's, smartly designed brooch in patinated Sterling depicts stylized lamb & flowers, signed "MCCLELLAND BARCLAY STERLING SILVER," approx. 2 x 2 in., classic design, secure safety catch, nice weight, good condition.                                                    

McClelland Barclay - was born in 1891, in St. Louis, Missouri, and studied at the Art Institute of Chicago. He moved to New York City in 1912 to make his way in the art world and study at the Art Students League. He quickly became known about New York as a colorful character and according to Life magazine was “talented and seen all around the town”. Tom Fogarty and George Bridgeman were his most influential teachers at the Art Students League and encouraged him to go directly into illustration as he needed immediate income. After a year of study, he garnered several important commissions and his work was soon gracing the covers of national publications. During the 1920’s and 30’s, McClelland Barclay’s images were selected by art directors for the nation’s most popular periodicals: Collier's, Country Gentleman, Redbook, Pictorial Review, Coronet, Country Life, Saturday Evening Post, Ladies’ Home Journal, Cosmopolitan,  

In 1930, the General Motors Company selected Barclay’s ‘Fisher Body Girl’ for a series of advertisements, and she quickly became as popular as ‘The Gibson Girl’ and ‘The Christy Girl’. He used his wife, just 19 years old, as the model for the iconic Fisher Autobody image. She later appeared in magazine advertisements and was so well published and plastered across the country on billboards that she was recognized wherever she went. He also painted advertisements for A & P, Eaton Paper, Elgin Watches, Humming Bird Hosiery, and Lever Brothers, amongst others. In the late 1930’s, Barclay also set up a small company to reproduce jewelry and utilitarian figures for ashtrays, bookends, desk sets, and other articles for home and office use. These products were fabricated out of cast grey metal with a thick bronze plate finish and retailed for a few dollars. He appropriately, if unimaginatively, named the company the McClelland Barclay Art Products Corporation. Although one can still find these Barclay products in flea markets, they never brought the artist/illustrator very much income. In some ways, this undertaking reminds one of Maxfield Parrish’s notion of a ‘businessman with a brush,’ as Barclay tried to emulate Parrish. However, Parrish licensed his images for a one-time use only while McClelland Barclay did not license, but rather was his own client and product designer.                                                                                                

(Some items are purposely not polished to retain aged finish and left to buyer's discretion.)

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