On Jewellery

Contents

6

Introduction

17

I. The Meaning of Jewellery

33

II. A Short History of Jewellery and Photography

46

III. Beyond the Showcase

60

IV. Reading Jewellery

106

V. On the Fringe

125

VI. The Body

141

VII. Jewellery and Ornament

158

VIII. Jewellery and Tradition

207

IX. Collecting Jewellery

221

Museums

226

Galleries

227

Websites

229

Index

237

Acknowledgements About the author

238

Photo credits

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6

Introduction

This book has been a long time in the making. It started as a simple idea to compile differ­ ent lectures into book form, complete it with images and to publish it. However while starting to rewrite these lectures, new ones emerged, and inevitably the urge came to write about other aspects of jewellery that I hadn’t lectured on before. My aim was not to write an academic book on jewellery, but rather a readable one that reflects on current tenden­ cies within contemporary jewellery. Therefore the book is dependent on examples, many of which have been reproduced, while others have just been described. I think it is import­ ant to mention the fact that I have seen the majority of these examples in reality. After all, images can be misleading, particularly with jewellery, where you cannot see the measure­ ments, or feel and hear the materiality – characteristics which are so important in relation with the body and wearing. Philippe van Cauteren, the artistic director of S.M.A.K. in Ghent, Belgium, in an open letter (dated April 2010) to sculptor Henk Delabie expressed his ideas about the mendacity of the image of an artwork in publications. He thinks that it ‘… can hardly be called a document. It is flimsy, a two-dimensional archaeological “dis­ covery” of something that does not exist the way we perceive it.’ With good reason, he talks about a ‘second-hand way’ of getting to know art works.1 Unfortunately that is all I can offer the reader in this book: an indirect introduction to pieces of jewellery or works of art through images and my interpretation of them.

A person who is engaged in contemporary jewellery, like me, has to explain an awful lot. For instance, that you are not a maker (‘no, I did not make this brooch, I bought it in a gallery’), or that one can indeed be professionally involved with jewellery as an art histor­ ian, or that there exists another type of jewellery rather than the regular stuff most people wear. You have to explain that there are jewellers across the world, graduated from art academies, who create this other kind of jewellery. And how their work differs from com­ mercial or precious jewellery because it is an artistic expression, and that its value is not determined on the material it is made of. You then explain that the history of this kind of jewellery is rather recent, but that there are specialised galleries, private collectors and museum collections. That fairs are organised, competitions are held and books are pub­ lished, but that it is still a rather unknown field. There is nothing wrong with explaining but sometimes you become weary of it. Why is the subject so out of reach? Why is it seen as something trivial? Why do museums and universities still hold on to age-old hierarch­ical distinctions between the fine and applied arts?

My own history with jewellery started in 1980. As a young history of art student at the University of Amsterdam, I had developed a chief interest in modern and contemporary architecture. However, in December 1980 there was an article in my daily newspaper under the heading ‘The New Jewellery Art Wants to Give Shape to an Idea’.2 It was about Paul Derrez, who had just won the first Françoise van den Bosch Prize, and his Galerie Ra in Amsterdam. This was the first article about jewellery in a newspaper that I had ever seen or read. Up until that very day, jewellery had never attracted my attention, apart from

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Beyon d t he showc a se

51

52 a

52 b

51 Iris Eichenberg, body objects Wollen Harten (Woollen Hearts), 1994, wool, various dimensions. Private­­ collection. /// 52 a, b Christoph Zellweger, installation Ossarium Rosé, the National Museum of Natural History, Lisbon, 2005.

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Be yon d t he showc a se

53

54 a

54 b

53 Hilde De Decker, installation Luster voor het oog (Lustre for the Eyes), 1998, silver-lustred ceramic objects, tapestries, 700 × 800 × 60 cm. /// 54 a, b Hilde De Decker, growing exhibition Voor boer en tuinder (For the Farmer and Market Gardener), Galerie Marzee, Nijmegen, August–October 1999.

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r e a ding j ew el l ery

59

60

59 Paul Derrez, pendant Face, 1994, aluminium, resin, rubber, 7 × 6 × 2.5 cm. Collection Paul Derrez and Willem Hoogstede, Amsterdam. Model: Paul Derrez. /// 60 Paul Derrez, pendant Dick, 1994, aluminium and rubber, 10 × 5 × 2.5 cm. Collection Paul Derrez and Willem Hoogstede, Amsterdam. Model: Paul Derrez.

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61

62

61 Iris Eichenberg, brooch Gross-Schneen, 2004, 925 silver, leather, canvas, buttons, paper, h. 14 cm. The Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam. /// 62 Iris Eichenberg, brooch Deutschland ist ein Mädchen (Germany Is a Girl), 2004, 925 silver, leather, canvas, hardboard, h. 17 cm.

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67

68

67 Robert Smit, brooch Bello als Stilleven (Bello as a Still Life), 1992, 18 ct, 21 ct and 24 ct gold, 1 × 7.5 cm. /// 68 Robert Smit, necklace Cwrt from Bryn-dafydd, 2004, gold, paint, 13.5 × 12 × 1 cm. The Helen Williams Drutt English Collection, Philadelphia.

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69

70

71

72

69 Melanie Bilenker, brooch Still in Bed, 2004, gold, silver, ivory, resin, hair, 2.1 × 2.9 × 1 cm. /// 70 Melanie Bilenker, brooch Undress, 2007, 18 ct gold, silver, ebony, pigment, hair, 4.2 × 4.7 × 1 cm. /// 71 Esther Knobel, brooch, series: The Mind in the Hand, 2007, 925 silver, iron thread, 7 × 4 × 0.7 cm. /// 72 Esther Knobel, kit My Grandmother Is Knitting Too, 2002, bear, pliers, brooches, thimble, enamel on copper, various dimensions. The Israel Museum, Jerusalem.

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on t he fr inge

94

95

94 Naomi Filmer, object Ball in the Small of My Back for Alexander McQueen’s show El baile del toro retorsido (spring/summer 2002), 2001, glass, silver plated copper (electroformed), 28 × 28 cm. /// 95 Hans Stofer, installa­tion Walk the Line, Gallery SO, London, March 2010.

96 Hans Stofer, Off My Trolley, 2009, ART applied objects, mixed media, objects ranging from jewellery to water jugs to disused shoes, 107 × 115 × 60 cm.

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on t he fr inge

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t he body

101

102

103

104

105

101 Gerd Rothmann, Sammlung: 107 Handflächen von Freunden und Bekannten (Collection: 107 Palms of Friends and Aquaintances), 1982, moulds, pewter, each mould 0.6 – 0.7 cm. /// 102 Gerd Rothmann, necklace The Balls: Von ihm für seine Freundin Rosetta (The Balls: From Him for His Girlfriend Rosetta), 1986, gold plated silver, 0.83 × 0.5 × 0.22 cm. /// 103 Bruno Martinazzi, brooch Backside, 1968, 925 silver, 3.1 × 3.8 × 1 cm. Private col­ lection. /// 104 Bruno Martinazzi, brooch Occhio, 1968, 20 ct gold, 18 ct white gold, 4 × 4.5 × 1 cm. Private collection. /// 105 Bruno Martinazzi, bracelet Tempo, 1976, marmo rosso Levanto (red marble), 18 ct white gold, 6.7 × 6.3 × 2.5 cm. Collection of the artist.

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t he body

106

107

106 Marjorie Schick, sculpture for the neck A Plane of Sticks, 1986, painted wood, riveted and painted, 68.58 × 91.44 × 15.24 cm. /// 107 Pierre Degen, wearable object Square Frame, 1982, wood, string, paper, cotton, ca 135 × 135 cm.

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t he body

112

113

114

112 Frédéric Braham, Inner Beauty, 2005, ingestible homeopathic dilution of ruby, ruby, glass flask, nickel silver, copper, polyester thermolac, silicone, polyester thermolac coated 925 silver, 13 cm. /// 113 Selina Woulfe, skin brooch Silvergraft, 2010, sterling silver, surgical steel pin, 5 × 4 × 2.3 cm (variable). /// 114 Tiffany Parbs, ­photographic documentation of Cosmetic, 2006, stainless steel pins, digital print, 33 × 47 × 35 cm.

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t he body

115

116

115 Stefan Heuser, necklace The Egg, 2009, mother milk, gold. /// 116 Lauren Kalman, Lip Adornment, 2006, inkjet print.

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