This is such a wonderfully fanciful creation of a brooch! Although unsigned,the great colour combination, materials and settings are attributed to Cis. This brooch would look super on a winter coat for the next couple of months or as a focal point on a cocktail dress for Spring /Summer. The highly fashionable and charismatic Countess Cissy Zoltowska came from Austria to Paris and began her career as a costume jeweller in the 1950s. She designed for Pierre Balmain and later, Jacques Fath, then for Balenciaga for 14 years. Her jewellery designs were ‘anti real’, she wanted them to be beautiful and fashionable in their own right, so they were large, in astounding colour combinations and highly inventive, some designs being used to peep out under skirt hems, as well as her more orthodox signature bib style necklaces. Her pieces were all prong set and hand mounted. Her jewellery was hugely popular and she designed both couture and more affordable costume jewellery for sale in shops in Europe, North America, Australia and Japan.