Barrel Earrings, 2018

Jacqueline Lillie was born in Marseilles, France in 1941. From 1962-1965 she studied Metalwork at the Academy of Applied Arts, Vienna, under Professor Hagenauer. Jacqueline is internationally recognised for her innovative, sculptural jewellery with exquisite glass beads and mixed media. Her work is held in both public and private collections across the world.

‘First and foremost, every piece has to meet certain aesthetic requirements. Each piece has to stand up to the rigours of a working environment. In addition to form and function, I also insist on flexibility. In this way, I have developed my own F³ formula. Admittedly, form often follows function. For me, however, form and function are on an equal footing, complemented by flexibility. Flexibility is essential because all good jewellery should adapt to the wearer and be an extension of that person’s character. Jewellery is no longer an expression of status. It is a reflection of one’s attitudes towards life and one’s surroundings. The ultimate test with any piece of art is the impact that the piece has on the person looking at it, or in my case on the person wearing it. My work is very much a labour of love in which I have tried to meet the client’s urge for self-adornment and satisfy my own desire for poetry and elegance.’ – Jacqueline Lillie

Public collections include:

Cooper‑Hewitt Museum of Design, New York, USA; Asenbaum Collection, Vienna, Austria; Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, Australia; Museum of Applied Arts/Contemporary Art (MAK), Vienna, Austria; Corning Museum of Glass, New York, USA; Württemberg State Museum, Stuttgart, Germany; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA; Museum of Arts and Design, New York, USA; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, USA; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, USA; Racine Art Museum, Wisconsin, USA; Bollmann Collection, Vienna, Austria; National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, Australia; Donna Schneier Collection, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA; Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, USA; and Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, Ohio, USA