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    Artist

  • Unknown

    • Title

  • Gold bracelet owned by Gerda Rath

  • Physical Description

    1 bracelet : gold ; 1 in x 2.5 in, 2.7 cm x 6.5 cm

  • Date

    1930s

  • Notes

    008 or 800 is stamped on the inner part of the bracelet.

  • Summary

    Chunky gold bracelet with some floral motifs stamped into it. It opens and closes with a hinge and clasp.

  • Medium

    Jewelry; Accessories; Objects

  • Part Of

    Arthur Rath collection, AR 25762

  • Accession Number

  • URL

Biographical/Historical Information

Gerda Rath or a member of her family had had the bracelet made in the 1930s. It was originally covered in silver plating so as not to draw attention to its value. Gerda wanted to use the bracelet as a tool to barter or sell, in case she needed funding during her time living away from her family.

Gerda Dora (née Rath) Evensen (1917-2005) was born in Essen, Germany in 1917. Her parents were Adolf and Eva (née Schonbach) Rath. Adolf had a furniture business. Gerda was the second born in a family of four children: Julius, then Gerda, Arthur, and Blanka (Bianca). Gerda left Germany for the Mandate of Palestine when she was 16 years old, and she attended a high school in Herzliyaa, where she had relatives. After graduating high school, she worked at a British police station, then was briefly engaged to a British soldier and lived in Manchester, England until she broke off the engagement. Gerda then traveled to Switzerland, where her parents had managed to emigrate and had an apartment in Zurich. Gerda met Helge Evensen, a Norwegian student studying at the Zurich Institute of Technology, and they married in Denmark. Gerda and Helge then moved to the US, with Gerda's sister Bianca as sponsor. They first lived in New York, then Springfield, OH, and then moved to California in the 1960s, as Helge had gotten a job in the aerospace industry. Gerda had two daughters, went to college and graduate school, opened her own boutique shop, and then took up jewelry making and metal sculpture. Gerda and Helge bought a house in Hawaii, and it was there where Gerda died on November 25, 2005.

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Citation

Unknown: Gold bracelet owned by Gerda Rath, Leo Baeck Institute, 2025.15.