Janet Payne Bowles

Janet Payne Bowles (June 29, 1872 or 1873 – July 18, 1948) was an American art educator, metalsmith, and jewelry designer from Indianapolis, Indiana, who is best known for creating intricate Arts-and-Crafts-style jewelry, flatware, and other small objects. Although the self-taught artisan had little commercial success during her lifetime, she became famous after designing a jewelry collection for actress Maude Adams to wear in a stage production of As You Like It. Sir Caspar Purdon Clarke and J. P. Morgan commissioned Payne Bowles to make severals pieces of metalwork and jewelry for their collections. She also regularly exhibited her art in the United States and Europe and taught art classes at Shortridge High School in Indianapolis from 1912 until her retirement in 1942. Examples of Payne Bowles's work are included in the collections of the Indianapolis Museum of Art. She also wrote book reviews for Modern Art in the early years of her career and contributed articles to The Craftsman in 1904, Handicraft in 1909 and in 1910, and Jewelers' Circular Weekly in 1911. In addition, Payne Bowles provided illumination paintings for limited-edition books such as The Second Epistle of John (1901). Her novel, Gossamer to Steel, was published in 1917.