COPPER METAL WORK ARTSY LEAVES DONE ON CAPE COD 80s OR 90s

It was suggested I re-post here so maybe more members might see this and be able to offer more help, so here it is!!!! Please have a go at it, if you haven't already!!!

I have a question relating to a work done in copper....it's a design....5' 5" Long, and the VERY HEAVY frame that it hung by is about 1" x 3/8" painted flat black steel....I kind of just hate to see something with that much work in it just go to melt if that's what they even do....the center heart shaped opening had a brass heart with a saying or poem engraved on it....the combo looked terrific.....it hung over my parents arched fireplace in their Cape Cod house.....brother wanted the brass heart but not the copper stuff.......I just couldn't throw it away.....end of story.....so far....I would very much like to find out the maker - both parents were alive when Mom had it made....my leanings would be towards Orleans, but one never knew with her!!!! PROBABLY early 90s! It's either CJR or JR. There's a date stamped on it that says 1997.....which makes NO SENSE, as Dad had already passed in '94.....I can see the maker mixed up the direction of his '7' and then stamped over it correctly......still makes NO sense as they were BOTH alive when Mom had it made........THANK YOU for any INFO you can offer!!!!!

 

It is beautiful. 1997 could have been the code for the design. Your mother probably selected several elements which CJR or JR had in his workshop: a bit of this, and such and such leaves, that kind of thing.

 

AJ, I like that thought......didn't think of that!!!! And I JUST found a copper working blacksmith on the Cape with I think those initials!!!!! Sent an email!!! I have everything crossed on me that will cross.....he looks "vintage" enough!!!!!!

 

Wonderful, wll you let us know?

 

Must have once again not hit 'Post'....If I hear back...y'all will be the FIRST to know!!!!!

 

Great detective work!

 

Thanks, but that "remains to be seen"!!!!!

 

I would so make a headboard out of it somehow!

 

Wow, hope it is a match. Do keep us posted!

 

NOW, THAT'S a unique idea!!!!!

 

Are you sure she had it made? Curtis Jere made wall hangings like this that were marketed by Raymor, a design studio out of New York. Most of the Curtis Jere pieces are signed C.Jere. I wonder if they made pieces for Raymor to market with the CJR initials. It could be just a coincidence that the initials are the same for a metal artist on Cape Cod, however, Jere pieces sell for decent money so it's worth investigating.

 

NOW, THAT'S interesting, Mill Cove!!!! Since the date is totally perplexing me!!!!! ANOTHER item with no record of when/where/cost/purchased......I just remember it appearing on the fireplace one trip to the Cape and Mom saying she'd had it made.......not to say she wasn't perfectly capable of "creating" a 'tale' on occasion!!!!! At the moment I can't ask the Bro what the brass heart says....he just wound up back in the Hosp. in the middle of the night last night.....WHAT it says would be a key to whether Mom had it engraved or whether she bought it that way!!!!!

WHERE/HOW do you manage to find some of the info you all find!!!! I dug for hours immeasurable and only by fluke came up with the initials I did on the Cape.....WHO, BTW, I have NOT heard a word from after sending an email!!!! I was so hopeful!!!!

 

I just got through looking at a ton of Curtis Jere's work......I must say he was VERY prolific!!!!!! In looking carefully at his work, I have to say that I really don't see any similarities in my piece and his style....his work seems to be....pretty modern, highly refined and finished, whereas my piece seems much more 'rustic'........the similarities being that he did like to work in brass and copper....BUT, thank you SO MUCH FOR SEARCHING!!!! ANY clues I will follow happily!!!!!

 

Curtis Jere was actually two men who worked together and the name is a combination of both men. Usually Jere pieces are signed C. Jere, that's why I thought they might have made pieces specifically for Raymor which could explain the difference in style. Similar to when companies who manufacture the same items under different labels for different stores make some changes so the items are not exactly the same.

Maybe your mother had the frame made that holds the piece. That is something I've never seen before.

 

This was a big surprise. I just Googled the history of C. Jere and found out they were also the makers of Renoir and Matisse costume jewelry.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._Jeré

 

I can’t read this very well, but maybe you could “fix it”. There are descriptions of some of the works by the gentleman Mill Cove mentioned.
https://books.google.com/books?id=n...KEwiipuiunvXaAhXhxFQKHWW_BmU4ChDoATAIegQIBRAB

 

Good idea to look into all possibilities, but I don't think this is Jere. (Did not know of the Jere/Renoir connection. Interesting!)

All of the Jere pieces I've had have been more spindly, (easily bent and not terribly heavy), and modernist. Their pieces were made for the masses, many of exactly the same design -- possibly with different colors, or slight individual touches, made by people employed by them. Very collectible nowadays, though.

Unless this was a one-off by them, or something, always possible. But definitely not their usual look.

This looks individually done (would not be shocked to learn it was a special order).

Kind of a tricky item -- esp. missing the center piece. (BTW, how did that piece get removed? Assuming it was original to the work? Was it soldered in?)

If you really come up with a blank, you could maybe sell (on Craigslist as someone suggested) as a likely to be what once was a custom piece, but missing the center part. Someone creative might have good ideas for it. I would not melt this.

Alternatively, stick it under your bed in case your brother ever decides to reunite the pieces.

 

I wonder if adorned some stately manors front gate at one time, before your parents got it. Beautiful, it would be nice if you could keep it together with the brass heart.

 

@Any Jewelry
**!!!!!!! HALLELUJAH !!!!!!!** Remember that guy I mentioned in Orleans.....that I took a stab at????? JUST got a reply tonight!!!!! YEP!!!!! It was him!!!! TO WIT:
"Yes I made the piece for your mother and also the heart. The inscription on the heart was from her father's bible, one he had circled. Supposedly it was from the bible he carried at sea. The inscription was done by Dan Cullity a gunsmith in Sandwich. He had done a fair amount of work for her. I can't find a copy of the invoice so I don’t remember the price. I also did a piece on the headstone at the cemetery on the grind stone . Bob, I hope that helps."

I was delighted to get even that much information......!
PS....the stone in the cemetery is a MILL stone, NOT a grindstone....BIG difference!!!!!!!