Gustave Sherman
{{short description|Canadian/Paris couturier (1910-1984)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date= May 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Gustave Sherman
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| birth_date = {{birth year|1910}}
| birth_place = Montreal, Quebec
| death_date = 1984
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| known_for = Canadian costume jewellery maker
}}
Guatave Sherman ("Gus") (1910{{snd}}1984) was a Canadian costume jewellery maker who started Sherman & Company Ltd. (1949-1980). In time, his costume jewellery was sold across Canada and the United States.{{cite book |last1=Palmer |first1=Alexandra |title=Canadian Modern |date=2022 |publisher=Royal Ontario Museum |location=Toronto |page=88|isbn=978-0-88854-5329|url=https://shop.rom.on.ca/products/canadian-modern |access-date=6 July 2024}} "Sherman is the most recognized and collectible costume jewellery in Canada," wrote a long-time collector.{{cite journal |last1=Delany |first1=Terry |title=article: Jewelry by G.Sherman & Company LTD |journal=Vintage Fashion & Costume Jewelry Magazine |date=2000 |issue= 2|url=https://vintagejewelrygirl.com/blogs/vintage-jewelry-information/sherman-jewelry-history |access-date=7 July 2024}}
Biography
Sherman was born in Montreal to Jewish parents from Lithuania.{{cite web |title=Makers |url=https://www.collectorsweekly.com/costume-jewelry/sherman |website=www.collectorsweekly.com |publisher=Collectors Weekly |access-date=7 July 2024}} He joined the Royal Canadian Air Force as a navigator during the Second World War and after he was demobbed, he worked in insurance and jewellery sales. After learning about the costume jewllery business from a friend he had known since childhood, Hy Mendelson who had bought the Canadian franchise to manufacture Jay Kel and Jay Flex in Canada, in 1949,{{cite web |title=History |url=https://gshermanjewels.com/pages/the-history |website=gshermanjewels.com |publisher=Sherman grandson|access-date=7 July 2024}} he began Sherman & Company Ltd. in Outremont, a borough of Montreal. When it started, the company had only one employee, a Ukrainian, Dmytro ("Jimmy") Kurica was a jewellery maker who had left Jay Kel with Sherman.
Sherman was a very popular employer, he was quite concerned with their wellbeing and their experience at work. For instance, when employes fell ill for a long amount of time, their positions would be kept open for them. {{Cite web |title=Sherman Jewelry History |url=https://vintagejewelrygirl.com/blogs/vintage-jewelry-information/sherman-jewelry-history |access-date=2025-06-19 |website=Vintage Jewelry Girl |language=en}}
Sherman made his business part of the growing market for costume jewellery, but used Swarovski crystals, new and different cuts and colours, and superior findings and plating methods by contrast with most other jewellery makers.{{cite web |last1=Lewis |first1=Melinda |title=Article |url=https://www.costumejewelrycollectors.com/vintage-costume-jewelry-research/designers-manufaturers-and-styles/sherman-enduring-elegance-story-and-photos-by-evelyn-yallen-sandra-caldwell/ |website=www.costumejewelrycollectors.com/vintage-costume-jewelry-research |date=5 April 2013 |publisher=CJCR |access-date=8 July 2024}} The company's primary stone supplier was GH Ashley in Toronto.
By the 1950s, Sherman had established himself as Canada’s costume jeweler, and his work was starting to appear on runways in Paris and New York. In 1956, Dior asked him for a new crystal inspired by the northern-lights and the company responded with Aurora Borealis, a multicoloured coating over simulated crystals for the holiday season. It is still popular in his jewellery today, along with many other colours and effects.
Unfortunately Sherman's designs fell out of favour in the seventies when more sleek and minimal jewelry was largely preferred{{Cite web |title=Sherman Jewelry History |url=https://vintagejewelrygirl.com/blogs/vintage-jewelry-information/sherman-jewelry-history |access-date=2025-06-19 |website=Vintage Jewelry Girl |language=en}}. Eventually he was forced to end prodoction of his jewelry in 1980{{Cite web |title=the history {{!}} gsherman jewels |url=https://gshermanjewels.com/pages/the-history |access-date=2025-06-19 |website=G.SHERMAN JEWELS |language=en}} after having converted his production plant to use precious matterials like gold whose price had just risen to over 300 Dollars a pound.{{Cite web |title=Sherman Jewelry History |url=https://vintagejewelrygirl.com/blogs/vintage-jewelry-information/sherman-jewelry-history |access-date=2025-06-19 |website=Vintage Jewelry Girl |language=en}}
Sherman's jewellery praised today for its artistic use of colour, sense of movement, three-dimensional effect and the resulting sophistication and elegance. It is extensive branded.{{cite web |last1=Vandor |first1=Dara |title=Article |url=https://www.waddingtons.ca/sherman-jewellery/ |website=www.waddingtons.ca |date=20 November 2023 |publisher=Waddingtons Auction House, Toronto |access-date=7 July 2024}}{{cite web |title=Makers |url=https://vintagecostumejewelryblog.blogspot.com/2013/09/vintage-sherman-jewelry-gallery.html |website=vintagecostumejewelryblog.blogspot.com |date=6 September 2013 |access-date=7 July 2024}}{{cite web |last1=Lewis |first1=Melinda |title=Article |url=https://www.costumejewelrycollectors.com/sherman-gallery |website=www.costumejewelrycollectors.com |publisher=CJCR |access-date=8 July 2024}}
Around four decades after having ended production, the brand was revived by Gustave Sherman's granddaughter Genna Sherman.{{Cite web |title=my story {{!}} gshermanjewels |url=https://gshermanjewels.com/pages/the-resurrection |access-date=2025-06-19 |website=G.SHERMAN JEWELS |language=en}}
Selected public collections
Sherman jewellery is in the collections of the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto (92 objects){{cite web |title=Collection |url=https://collections.rom.on.ca/search/gustave%20sherman/objects/images?page=1 |website=collections.rom.on.ca |publisher=Royal Ontario Museum |access-date=8 July 2024}} and the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.{{cite web |title=Collection |url=https://collections.mfa.org/search/objects/*/Sherman%20costume%20jewellery |website=collections.mfa.org |publisher=Boston Museum of Fine Arts |access-date=8 July 2024}}
Legacy
In 2024, the Beaverbrook Art Gallery in Fredericton, New Brunswick held an exhibition titled Gustave Sherman – Jewels of Elegance, organized by the Andrew and Laura McCain Art Gallery in Florenceville, NB.{{cite web |title=Exhibitions |url=https://beaverbrookartgallery.org/exhibition/gustave-sherman-jewels-of-elegance |website=beaverbrookartgallery.org |publisher=Beaverbrook Art Gallery |access-date=7 July 2024}}
References
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Category:Canadian jewellery designers
Further reading
- {{cite book |last1=Hammond |first1=Valerie J.|title=All That Glitters: An Introduction to the "Jewels of Elegance" Manufactured by Gustave Sherman: Reference and Value Guide, 2nd Edition |date=2006 |publisher=Pinpoint Publications Limited, London, Ontario, Canada |isbn=9781427623911 |url=https://www.torontopubliclibary.ca/detail.jspEntt=RDM2413813&R=2413813 |access-date=10 November 2024}}
- {{cite book |last1=Caldwell|first1=Sandra|last2=Yallen |first2=Evelyn |title=Sherman Jewellery: The Masterpiece Collection |date=2008 |publisher=self |isbn=978-0981116402|url=https://librarysearch.library.utoronto.ca/discovery/search?query=any,contains,sherman%20jewellery%20the%20masterpiece%20collection%20by%20sandra%20caldwell%20and%20evelyn%20yallen&tab=Everything&search_scope=UTL_AND_CI&vid=01UTORONTO_INST:UTORONTO&offset=0|access-date=7 July 2024}}
- {{cite book |last1=Tanenbaum |first1=Carole |title=Vintage Costume Jewellery: A Passion for Fabulous Fakes |date=2011 |publisher=Antique Collectors’ Club |location=Woodbridge, Suffolk|isbn=978-1851495115|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=GPiXQAAACAAJ |access-date=7 July 2024}}
- {{cite book |last1=Dormishian |first1=Farideh |title=Fun Facts About Jewelry |date=2015 |publisher=AuthorHouse |isbn=9781504929622 |url=https://www.authorhouse.com/BookStore/BookDetails/721655-Fun-Facts-About-Jewelry |access-date=7 July 2024}}