Chenet d'Haiti bracelet

ca. 1955-1962

Place madeHaiti

Plated metal (probably copper or pewter)

Overall: 3/8 × 2 1/2 × 1 7/8 in. (1 × 6.4 × 4.8 cm)
Open (spread): 3/8 in. × 4 3/4 in. × 3 in. (1 × 12.1 × 7.6 cm)

Purchase, 20th- and 21st-Century Acquisition Fund

2016.13

Winifred Mason Chenet is the first known African American professional jewelry designer.This hammered metal open bracelet with seven cast, coin-like charms is from Chenet's line of Vodou-inspired jewelry. The symbols on the bracelet charms are Vodou vevets, emblems representing saints that are ceremonially drawn on the ground with powdered chalk. Chenet grew up in Brooklyn and studied English literature at New York University, where she also received her master’s in education in 1936. She then worked as a teacher for the Works Progress Administration and as a crafts instructor at the Harlem Boys Club. In 1940 she began making jewelry out of her home for friends, and by 1946 she ran her own studio in Greenwich Village. While traveling in the Caribbean in 1945 as a Julius Rosenwald fellow, Chenet met her future husband, Jean Chenet, in Port au Prince. In 1948 she opened a store called Haitian Bazaar at 133 West 3rd Street, where she sold Haitian crafts in addition to her jewelry. The couple moved to Haiti in 1951. While there, the Chenets established a jewelry workshop, producing items that drew exclusively on Haitian aesthetics and Vodou folklore and symbols. Initially calling the line Vodou d’Haiti, the Chenets changed the name to Chenet d’Haiti once they began selling it to Bloomingdale’s. Winifred was the designer and Jean handled the administration, as well as doing production work. This lasted until 1963, when Jean was killed by the paramilitary Tonton Macoutes, and Mason fled, returning to New York City. She appears to have been active as a New York-based artist and designer until around 1980.

DescriptionMetal open bracelet with seven cast charms resembling coins.

ClassificationsJEWELRY