Vintage 1940s clear lucite and carved wood brooch features a simple but strikingly detailed horse’s head. As if tossing in the wind, the ruffled lucite mane follows the graceful arch of the horse’s muscular neck, while touches of red, black and white paint enhance its flaring nostril and high-strung sideways glance.

The brooch has a c-clasp pin back on the reverse, riveted to the wood, which the lucite mane is riveted to (in two places) as well.

Figurative brooches made of imaginative alternatives to metal, and frequently referred to as “lapel gadgets,” were popular throughout the WWII years. Whimsical in material as well as subject, most of these morale-boosting suit or dress accents were, as a March 1940 fashion reporter notes, “the size of a small fist”.

At 2 1/3” wide by just under 3” tall, this lucite and wood example comes close to that description.

Very good condition, with a slight "wiggle" to the securely attached lucite mane.

Proud Member of the VFG Vintage Fashion Guild