Saturday, September 25, 2010

Mysterious hand painted leather from the 1970's. Elyse Stone...Who are you?

As vintage clothing dealers we come across lots of interesting finds all the time, many of which require a degree of research and detective work to try and trace the origin and find out any information we can about an obscure designer or long since vanished boutique. This helps us when trying to apraise the piece, and is also interesting for our customers and of course satisfies our own curiosity. Sometimes though, even with all the books in the world and the power of mighty Google at our fingertips, we hit a brick wall.

We recently bought some great designer bags and clothing from a New York socialite, including this beautiful pair of hand painted leather clutches, and suede jacket. We were not familiar with the designer but found them to be very unusual and intriguing pieces, and although we have tried to research the artist/designer 'Elyse Stone,' we can't seem to find out any information about her or even a trace of her existence! If anyone out there knows something about the artist, or these wonderful pieces then we would love to hear from you. All we know is that they were purchased in the 1970s at a boutique in NYC....

....perhaps the story behind these particular treasures will remain a mystery!


'Elyse Stone' signed & numbered hand painted leather clutch circa 1979



1970s 'Elyse Stone' signed hand painted leather clutch



1970s 'Elyse Stone' hand painted suede jacket
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4 comments:

  1. edgertorSeptember 26, 2010 at 9:31 AM

    these are amazing! the rainbow clutch and leather jacket especially.

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  2. cyndeSeptember 27, 2010 at 8:59 PM

    Coincidentally, I bought a book at a flea market this weekend from 1994 called '60s and 70s Designs and Memorabilia Identification and Price Guide' by Anne Gilbert, so I looked up Elyse Stone, and was surprised to read this on page 40, "Another of Paraphernalia's designers, Elsa Stone, had a penchant for paper dresses cut like the popular a-line fabric dresses. While they weren't made to last, fortunately some did, and they sell in the high hundreds and up at vintage clothing shows." Maybe this is your mysterious Elyse Stone. Betsey Johnson worked there too. Maybe she can help. I also have a print of the rainbow girls with the umbrella that my sister gave me in the 80s. It's a repro of a 1930s painting. Fun stuff.

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  3. Another Man's Treasure Vintage StoreSeptember 28, 2010 at 5:32 AM

    How interesting about the print that you have.. does it happen to be signed at all? Would love to see the image of the original!
    We don't think Elsa Stone is the same person, unfortunately.. but thank you anyway!

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  4. cyndeOctober 8, 2010 at 4:49 PM

    Hello again! Sorry for the delay, but I dug out my print and opened the frame to find a name. The artist is George Barbier, and here is a link to the "Rainbow" print: http://www.artophile.com/Artwork/PublicDisplay_George_Barbier_LArc_en_Ciel_1029_35.htm
    I love his work and was happy to find dozens of his prints on the artophile page. Amazing drawings. Another coincidence: He was born October 10th!

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