Mildred Ball modernist mid-century jewelry

Mildred Ball modernist mid-century jewelry
Born in Clarksburg, West Virginia, Mildred Lee Ball (1902 – 1997) graduated from Columbia University. After she married William M. Ball (1928) she taught home economics and needlework at school and college for several years.

In the 1940s, she began creating her unique silver jewelry using enamel, wood and natural stones. According to sources, she launched her own jewelry trademark in February 1959 in Winston Salem, NC.

Successfully participating in national art exhibitions (1955, 1956, 1959), she became one of the founders of the Winston-Salem Arts and Crafts Association and the Piedmont Craftsmen, Inc., in 1963.

The work of a talented jewelry designer, exhibitor and silversmith Mildred Lee Ball has been featured in various books on mid-century modernist jewelry in the 1960s.

Today, modernist pieces signed Ball are rare and highly collectible.