Gilded Cuff Bangle, Louise Bourgeois, 2008

Of woven design with a brushed matt finish, inner circumference approximately 185mm, fitted case. Estimate 25,000—30,000 GBP - Lot Sold 32,450 GBP

NOTE: This cuff is unique. Louise Bourgeois was born in Paris, France in 1911. She grew up in the country. Her family business was repairing antique tapestries and her job was to draw the missing parts of old tapestries on to canvases for the weavers. Bourgeois originally studied Mathematics at the Sorbonne but soon moved into the art world studying at both the École du Louvre and the École des Beaux-Arts. Having finished her formal studies she went on to work under Fernand Léger, a key figure in the abstract modern art movements. She then moved to New York where she still lives and works. Last year the Tate Modern put on an important retrospective of her work which received mass acclaim.

As a contemporary and colleague of the Surrealists and Abstract expressionists and one of the most significant living artists of the 20th Century, Louise Bourgeois' own work has always been at the forefront of new developments in art. However, the most significant influence on her work has been her emotional memories of her family and childhood. Bourgeois conveys a variety of the darkest emotions in her work but with playfulness. This cuff fits perfectly into her sculptural oeuvre. Bourgeois has produced jewellery only twice before and both are totally different to this piece. This really is a work of art. It embodies the idea of wearable sculpture and the successful bidder has a rare opportunity to own a Bourgeois work unlike any other.

One can draw many comparisons with this cuff and her recent sculpture Seven in Bed, 2001. In this cuff, the tubes are weaved into a plait, each individual tube intertwining with another to form one fluid object. In Seven in Bed each fabric figure is intertwined and sewn to another to create a biomorphic mass, each element feeding from another.

Sotheby's. Important Jewels. 17 Dec 08. London. photo courtesy Sotheby's. www.sothebys.com