Copper diamond design cuff by Winifred Mason Chenet

This bracelet was made around 1945, the same year Winifred Mason Chenet spent five months in Haiti studying the island's art and culture. Chenet had been awarded a Rosenwald Fellowship grant, "to gather folk material and basic art patterns used by West Indians and to express these feelings in jewelry." The design of this bracelet, with the thin strands of copper wrapped around copper pegs in a criss-crossign diamond pattern, may have been inspired by the peg drums Chenet saw in Haiti.

A copper bracelet made by Winifred Mason Chenet.

The bracelet is made of a curved band of copper with an opening of approximately two inches so that it can be placed on the wrist. The bracelet has two thin bands of brass or bronze set on top of the copper, running horizontally through the center of the bracelet, breaking the copper up into three (3) section. There are six (6) raised copper rivets across the top 1/3 of the bracelet and six (6) across the bottom 1/3 of the bracelet. Two (2) copper wires wrap around the rivets, connecting top to bottom in a diamond pattern.

The bracelet has some scuffs, scratches, and areas of discoloration. On the underside of the bracelet there are more scratches and areas of discoloration. The backs of the raised copper dots can be seen. At the back center is a double imprint of [chenet].