VERY RARE VINTAGE REBAJES COPPER BROOCH "THE KISS"

Modernist Copper "KISS" broach circa 1950s. Very Good Condition. Stamped Rebajes. In 1922, Francisco Torres arrived in New York on a steam ship from his hometown of Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, at the age of sixteen with his sights set on building his fortunes, Francisco Torres gradually transformed himself into Frank Rebajes. He adopted his mother’s last name of Rebajes. While living in a friend’s basement, Rebajes began transforming cans and scrap metal into animal shaped sculptures using the everyday tools his friend had lying around. In 1932, he displayed these works on an ironing board at the Washington Square Park Outdoor Festival and caught the eye of Juliana Force, the first director of the Whitney Museum of American Art, who purchased the entire collection for $30. Rebajes used the money to open his first shop in Greenwich Village—a four-foot wide space between two buildings with an improvised roof and a dirt floor. There he began developing what would become his emblematic line of copper jewelry, which was an accessibly priced collection inspired by cultural references, Modern art, His jewelry quickly gained popularity and in the late 1930s, his work was included in exhibitions at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Brooklyn Museum, and the 1939 New York World’s Fair. With his newfound success, Rebajes upgraded to larger storefronts in Greenwich Village, until in 1942, he settled in an expansive space at 355 Fifth Avenue called Rebajes Jewelry and Gifts.