New York – New York jewellery designer Peter Stanley Brams died on 1 July.
He was 77 years old.
Originally from New Hampshire, Brams attended Hamilton College in New York and moved to New York City after graduation, where he started a jewellery business as a designer and manufacturer.
Brams got his start in the jewellery industry in 1973 as an importer and began designing a few years later.
His company Peter Brams Designs, Ltd. was founded in 1979 by him and his partner Abe Rosenberg. They focused on sterling silver and gold jewellery.
“We try to create what we think will become classics,” Brams said in a 1986 interview.
Before discovering his talent for jewellery, Brams had a keen interest in art, which influenced his designs. He often used his knowledge of art as a reference when creating his ‘contemporary classics’.
Brams was a collector’s collector, wrote Steve Powers for antiquesandthearts.com.”He didn’t follow fashions and wasn’t influenced by what others were buying. He bought with an open mind, a discerning eye and an adventurous heart.
In the 1980s, Brams bought contemporary art. In 1986-1987, Hamilton College exhibited his collection of works by Basquiat, Gilbert & George, Philip Taaffe and Milan Kunc at the Fred L. Emerson Gallery.
Later in the decade, Brams became interested in outsider art and American folk art, amassing a deep and personal collection.
“His aesthetic was classical but left of centre, and he valued modesty; things that were too perfect were predictable and often lacked ‘life’,” Powers wrote.
In 2001, Brams sold his folk art collection and moved to Jackson Heights, New York, where, in his new, empty apartment, he became interested in the carvings of the Woodlands people.
Brams sold the Woodlands collection in 2012 and returned to American folk and outsider art, acquiring some key pieces that had eluded him in the 1990s.
“Brams was remarkably modest and would shy away from any compliment thrown his way. Although his remarkable collecting journey amazed those around him, he would defer any personal credit, saying that it was his instincts, education and heart that shaped his highly discerning collections,” Powers wrote.
He will be remembered as a loyal friend, brother and uncle. He often spoke of his happy childhood in New Hampshire and his love for his parents; his consolation is that he will be buried with them, his younger sister and his dog Suzie in his hometown of Concord, Powers said.
A memorial service was held in the courtyard of Bram’s building in Jackson Heights, where he found solace and inspiration. Donations can be made in his honour to Hamilton College or the ASPCA.
