Vintage Zentall Brutalist Brooch Stamped, 1960s-1970s

This rare piece was designed by Robert Zendall Inc, a jewelry and (believe it or not) Christmas tree ornament business founded in the early 1950s by Robert and Elizabeth Zendall. They gained notoriety after being covered by Vogue in 1954. This brooch dates to the 1960s-1970s when they ventured into Brutalist designs featuring handmade looking pieces with bumpy or knobby textures and repeated geometric abstract but asymmetric forms.
 
This brooch resembles coral or barnacles to some, branches and snowflakes to others. The designers were well known for using ‘a textured alloy of metals, sterling silver, pewter’ for example. It is not stamped STERLING or 925 and tested negative for silver on a home acid test. The only stamp on the back is ZENDALL as shown in photos. It is in excellent condition.
 
This was found in our grandmother’s vintage jewelry collection. We have no idea when or where it was purchased.
 
H 1 3/4” x L 1 3/4” x D 1/4”
Approx 0.6 oz
 
Disclaimer: We have tried to make sure colors shown in photos are representative of the real colors of each item. We have tried to identify all imperfections in descriptions, but we may have missed some. If you are unhappy with your purchase, let us know.