Stein, Lea

A French trained artist who was born in Paris in 1931, Lea Stein began making her whimsical pieces of jewellery in 1969 when her husband, Fernand Steinberger, came up with a process of laminating layers of rhodoid (cellulose acetate sheets) with interesting textures and colours.

The layers were baked overnight with a secret component of his creation and then cut into shapes for various designs of pins, bracelets, earrings and shaped decorative objects. Viewed from the side, as many as 20 layers of cellulose can be seen in some models, bonded together to make these pieces.

The most easily recognizable Lea Stein pin is the 3-D fox, which has been produced in a myriad of colours and designs. Often, lace or metal layers were incorporated into the celluloid, which produced an astounding number of unique textures. The 3-D fox's tail is looped from one piece of celluloid.

Many different styles of cats, dogs, bugs, bunnies, birds, ducks and other creatures were introduced, as well as Deco-styled women, mod-styled children, flowers, cars, hats, purses, gold-encased and rhinestone encrusted designs and lots of little "things" such as stars, hearts, rainbows... even pins resembling John Travolta and Elvis Presley.

These 'vintage' pieces of jewellery were made from 1969 until 1981 and are identified by a v-shaped pin-back which is heat mounted to the back of each piece, as are the pin-backs on her newer pieces. The v-shaped pin back is always marked 'Lea Stein Paris.' The smallest pieces have tiny straight pin-backs which say 'Lea Stein.' Some of the thinner pieces have the clasp glued or heat-mounted on a small plastic disk, but all of them are marked in the same way.