Figurals & Novelty Designs

DeLizza & Elster created an extraordinary variety of figural jewelry.

Bugs, butterflies, animals, holiday motifs and other whimsical forms gave D&E designers an opportunity to use rhinestones, glass, enamel, metalwork and movement in ways that were very different from traditional floral or geometric jewelry.

Figurals are also an area where small details matter. Antennae, stone placement, body construction, settings and other features can help us understand how a design was made — and sometimes help distinguish authentic DeLizza & Elster jewelry from similar pieces by other manufacturers.

This section of The Juliana Collector brings those designs together by subject so collectors can compare related forms and study their differences.

Bugs

Juliana bug figurals are among the most popular D&E designs with collectors today.

But the bugs were not all constructed alike. Antennae styles, body shapes, wings, stone combinations and other small details vary considerably from one design to another.

The three-part Let’s Get Buggy series takes a close look at these variations.

Let’s Get Buggy — Part 1

Begin with the basic construction and identifying features found among Juliana bug figurals.

Read: Let’s Get Buggy — Juliana Bug Figurals Part 1

Let’s Get Buggy — Part 2

Continue the study with additional bug forms and variations, including differences in antennae and construction.

Read: Let’s Get Buggy — Juliana Bug Figurals Part 2

Let’s Get Buggy — Part 3

The final installment examines the rarer rhinestone-tipped antennae and additional details collectors can look for when studying Juliana bugs.

Read: Let’s Get Buggy — Juliana Bug Figurals Part 3

Butterflies

Butterflies form another important group within DeLizza & Elster figural jewelry.

They appear in a wide range of stone combinations, sizes and constructions, and some of the details used on butterflies overlap with features seen on D&E bugs.

Butterfly studies coming soon.

Animals & Other Figural Forms

DeLizza & Elster also produced a remarkable range of other figurals — including animals, characters and unusual novelty forms.

As this section grows, we will use documented examples to examine how these pieces were constructed and how the designs changed over time.

More figural studies coming soon.

Holiday & Novelty Designs

Not every D&E figural fits neatly into an insect or animal category.

Holiday designs, celestial forms, trees and other novelty subjects are another fascinating part of the DeLizza & Elster story.

These pieces often combine recognizable D&E construction with unusually playful subject matter.

More novelty-design studies coming soon.

Why Figurals Are Worth Studying

Figural jewelry is fun to collect, but it can also be extremely useful for learning.

Because similar subjects were produced by many costume-jewelry manufacturers, collectors cannot rely on subject matter alone. A butterfly is not automatically Juliana because it resembles another butterfly, and a bug is not D&E simply because it has colorful rhinestones.

The same identification principles still apply:

construction, settings, components, design relationships and documentation all matter.

Studying groups of related figurals side by side helps train the collector’s eye to recognize those differences.