Brooch

Consisting of a large milky moonstone and ten small faceted diamonds set in a gold mount, this lovely brooch is the work of Margaret Rogers, a Boston-born jeweler who trained at Massachusetts Normal Art School (now Massachusetts College of Art and Design). Rogers also took private instruction from a gifted faculty member there, Albert Munsell, who invented a standardized system for defining colors—a lesson Rogers learned well. One of several highly talented female practitioners of the Arts & Crafts movement, her work earned ample praise and honors. In 1915 she was awarded the prestigious Medal of Excellence from the Society of Arts & Crafts, Boston (SACB), which she had joined in 1904. She also served four years as dean of the Society’s Jewelers’ Guild—a mark of the stature she achieved. Rogers exhibited regularly in Boston as well as in Detroit and Chicago, and she traveled abroad to view contemporary European and British jewelers’ work.