Vintage 1980 Gillian Packard Sterling silver Brutalist/Modernist brooch. 1980s 925 pin badge, signed London GEP. Bark textured folded ribbon

A super Sterling silver 925 brooch dating from 1980, by iconic 1960s jewellery designer Gillian Elizabeth Packard (1938-1997).

Gillian (sometimes spelt as Gilian) was an iconic award-winning English jeweller based in London in the swinging 60s, and her pieces were generally large statement Brutalist creations with semi-precious stones. Please google her work! Her items were constantly on display in one of the shops on Bond Street, and before that she often exhibited them in the Cameo Corner. In the 1970s she taught at the London Central School of Fine Arts, and was inspired by the work that students created... this is a later Gillian Packard piece from 1980 when she was 42. I can't find any information on her later work - she probably didn't produce many pieces into the late 1970s/1980s and this small brooch has a different style and feel from earlier flamboyant works.

It's stamped on the back with the maker's initials 'GEP' within an oval, then two assay marks (the lion and lion's head, representing London, Sterling Silver) with the date stamp of 'f' for 1980. Although dating from 1980 it's full-on 1970s brutalist and modernist mid century vibes. Curiously, the brooch has been back-dated with an engraved transcription 'REED 1978 AD'; this was probably a meaningful memory brooch.

A small pretty brooch, the piece is like a folded textured ribbon, with bark or linear textures. Petite - 37 x 20mm. The roll-over pin works ok but is very small and fiddly. But this is more about her name - please google her work, her 1960s rings are stunning!

Free P&P to the UK. Comes in a presentation box.