Jade

Be fortunate to own a stunning Spinach Jade necklace once adorned by Marilynn Alsdorf, Chicago. This piece was purchased directly from Sotheby’s auction. The bag with the Southeby’s sticker is shown in the pictures and included for your record keeping provenance. It is strung in incredible dark green spinach jade and offset by larger and lighter spinach jade beads. Please see below for a brief history on the Alsdorf’s. The necklace is approximately 28″ and weighs approx. 128 grams in high quality jade. For renowned Chicago collectors and philanthropists James and Marilynn Alsdorf, collecting art represented a unique opportunity for exploration, adventure, and the pursuit of beauty. ‘We looked for objects,’ Marilynn said, ‘to delight our eyes and our souls.’ Over the course of their four-decade marriage, the couple assembled a remarkable collection of artworks and objects spanning all eras and areas of the world. Married in 1952, James and Marilynn Alsdorf built a life that was centred on art, philanthropy and family. ‘Studying and collecting art was their all-consuming passion, and it took them all over the world. Their spirit of adventure was unique; they went places that few collectors at the time were curious and confident enough to explore.’As their interests diversified, so did their collection. ‘They were not strategic in their collecting. ‘They were guided by what fascinated them and gave them pleasure, by knowledge and instinct. They were an incredible team.’ As well as being great collectors, the Alsdorfs were loyal supporters of museums and cultural institutions across Chicago and the wider United States, including the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., the Leigh Block Museum of Art at Northwestern University and the Art Institute of Chicago. James Alsdorf served as Chairman of the AIC from 1975 to 1978, and Marilynn sat on various committees.In 1967, the Alsdorfs joined other prominent Chicago collectors, in founding the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, an institution to which they would provide extensive financial and personal leadership. Marilynn, was known as ‘the queen of the Chicago arts community’