Exhibitions Archive - By subject
General
Jewellery and Body Adornment from the NGV Collection
Presenting an exquisite selection of jewellery and body adornment from antiquity to the present day, this exhibition reflects a wide variety of making traditions and practices across different material, cultural and geographical contexts. Defined by a relationship with the body, jewellery and body adornment are among the world’s oldest known artforms.
Ranging from the ceremonial and talismanic, to the decorative and conceptual, the exhibition features work composed of dazzling, highly prized materials, such as precious gems, metals, and iridescent seashells, as well as unexpected materials, such as hair, plastic, and rubber, which challenge conventional thinking of what constitutes jewellery and its significance.
All the works in the display have been drawn exclusively from the NGV Collection across multiple collecting areas, including Indigenous Art, Antiquities, Decorative Art, Australian Art, Asian Art, Fashion and Textiles, and Contemporary Design. Presented across four themes – Identity and Place, Status and Aspiration, Ceremony and Ritual, and Values and Sentiment – the pieces in this display provide insight into body adornment as a shared global practice.
27/08/2022 – 6/08/2023
NGV International, 180 St Kilda Road, Melbourne, Australia
Bijou Bijoux
Jewels attract light. Gems, rings, necklaces, capture all the attention while faces, bodies, buried memories are just hidden behind, waiting to come out of oblivion and get moving.
Discover a panorama of these stories, images and often unknown destinies which fill the life of jewels and give them the only lasting value, that of feelings.
What is our connection to jewellery? Which part of ourselves takes shape in contact with them and what images are released in our thoughts?
Do not look for real jewels in this exhibition which focuses precisely on what gravitates around. Materials, gems, jewellery techniques, workshops, creators, jewellery houses, models, designs, films, books, the choice is vast and takes us all around the world.
9/11/2022 - 19/02/2023
Musée de l'Imprimerie et de la Communication graphique, 13 Rue de la Poulaillerie, 69002 Lyon, France
Mirror of the world. Masterpieces from the Dresden cabinet of curiosities
This exhibition brings together around one hundred remarkable artworks and objects collected between the 16th and 18th centuries by the powerful Prince-electors of Saxony. During a period marked by the struggle for imperial power between the Electorates of the Holy Roman Empire and the courts of Europe, this dazzlingly rich collection demonstrates the political power of the Prince-elector. Featuring objets d'art, instruments and scientific books, natural materials and ethnographic objects, the Kunstkammer or “cabinet of curiosities” was the first European collection to open to the general public, who viewed it as a place of knowledge and learning. This exhibition places an emphasis on the artistic quality and provenance of the works, which not only reflect the many global relationships and cultural exchanges, but also the Euro-centric world view they embody. A few historical objects are arranged so as to mirror works by contemporary artists, putting these historic collections into perspective through the key issues of our time.
14/09/2022 - 15/01/2023
Musée du Luxembourg, 19 rue de Vaugirard, 75006 Paris, France
Form Follows Function 200 + 200 Decorative and Applied Arts 1621 – 2021
The Greek War of Independence against the Ottoman Empire (1821-1829), was a cataclysmic event which, however, gave birth to a new nation-state: Modern Hellas, simply known as ‘Greece’ at the present time. It was an all-out war fought both on land and at sea, a valiant struggle in the name of freedom, justice and, as a corollary, modernity. As such, it harnessed the resources of a deep-rooted tradition of liberal thinking and cultural expression.
The exhibition does not merely divulge the story of the ‘Greek Revolution,’ but illuminates the material culture that comprised the communities which eventually rose against the mighty Ottomans. Undoubtedly, rural, and urban Greeks of the seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries, employed the material culture of their despots. At the same time, they also turned their gaze westwards, as they were fascinated by the arts and styles that they discovered in ‘Europe’. Following the Renaissance, the Baroque and the Rococo movements, arts were influenced by their style, travelled to Greece to apply to the local needs and tastes. Thus, the exhibition reveals the story of the material culture spanning from 200 years prior to the Greek liberation until its modern-day aftermath.
Functions of attire and jewellery in men and women from the Greek mainland occupy an important component of Greek Traditional Crafts history. In a continuously changing society, dress becomes a principal symbol of local societies with innumerable combinations of local habits and ethnographic traditions. “Greek traditional jewellery” follows grooming or ceremonial use, through an incredible embracement of the human body’s most focal parts. Large pieces are kept today as precious artefacts commemorating traditional functions of the 18th and the 19th centuries and truly manifest an important chapter of Greece’s ethnographic history.
Bejewelled snuff boxes, seals, storage boxes narrate daily life activities, indicate social standing, and testify daily routines. Nowadays, these small objects are debased works of art and are often granted insufficient space in museum displays. Although our investigation has uncovered thousands of these precious decorative arts together with their making, mechanics, and many other secrets, a selection has been meticulously chosen to display accountable highly elite social activities such as smoking and writing.
16/05/2022 – 30/11/2022
Ilias Lalaounis Jewelry Museum, Kallisperi 12 & Karyatidon Str., Acropolis 11742, Athens, Greece
Silverware and Jewelry in Mascort Collection
This exhibition includes more than 300 works, several of which are of exceptional quality. It is divided into three sections: the first is dedicated to jewellery and the other two to religious and civil goldwork, covering a period that stretches from the 14th to the 19th century. The pieces are presented by type and chronology and room 6 contains the best creations by the most highly qualified makers.
11/06/2022 – 16/10/2022
Fundació Mascort, Casa Galibern Carrer de l'Església, 9, 17257 Torroella de Montgrí. Girona, Spain
All That Glitters: The Crown Jewels of the Walt Disney Archives
This exhibition features jewellery and accessories from Titanic, The Princess Diaries and other favourite Disney and 20th Century Studios films in a way that has never been done before. The three main sections each explore different facets of how jewellery is used to tell stories: “Jewelry Informs Character” explains what wearable accessories tell viewers about characters; the “Feature Vault” offers a jaw-dropping look at the most prized jewellery and accessories inside the Walt Disney Archives; and “Reflections on Reality” includes displays that tie earrings, cuff links, rings, tie pins, and more back to the Disney films and parks that they originated from.
"All That Glitters" brings together the best of old and new. Visitors will recognize iconic pieces from classics such as a rare merchandise locket from the 1960 film Pollyanna, the stunning “Heart of the Ocean” necklace from James Cameron’s Titanic (1997), and Anne Hathaway’s crowns and tiaras from The Princess Diaries movies (2001 and 2004). Never-before-displayed costumes and jewellery pieces will be exhibited. These special pieces include Mulan’s matchmaking outfit from Disney’s 2020 live-action film and the Genie’s lamp from Aladdin in their exhibit, ensuring that "All That Glitters" will brighten everyone’s eyes.
12/12/2021 - 19/06/2022
Bowers Museum, 2002 North Main Street, Santa Ana, California 92706, USA
Designing Jewels
Little studied and published, even more rarely exhibited, jewellery drawings remain relatively unknown to the general public. Nevertheless, this drawing plays an essential role, serving as the reference point for all those involved in the creation of the jewellery item. Since the Renaissance, the drawing constitutes the first, and indeed, one might say the primordial step, in that it gives life to the idea, and allows the idea to be realised.
It is to this long neglected object — a technical tool serving the artisans involved in the fabrication of the jewellery but also a sensitive work — which 'L’ÉCOLE, School of Jewelry Arts' wishes to pay tribute, by shining a light on its history, technique, authors and status. L’ÉCOLE is proud to organize the first exhibition devoted to this theme, explored from a wide variety of perspectives!
The selected works broadly cover the 19th century, beginning in the 1760s and ending with the First World War, and were executed by numerous artists and designers, either famous or anonymous, illustrating a great diversity of techniques and uses. All come from the Van Cleef & Arpels Jewelry Culture Fund, set up for research, presentation and educational purposes.
14/10/2021 - 14/02/2022
L'École des Arts Joailliers, 31 rue Danielle Casanova, 75001 Paris, France
The Process of Becoming, The Jewelry Collection of Carolyn L.E. Benesh
This exhibition will showcase the jewellery collection of the late Carolyn Benesh as it narrates the story of a life fueled by a passion for the created object and the friendships that were a rich byproduct of that quest. Carolyn was founding editor of Ornament Magazine along with husband, Robert Liu wherein they celebrated and documented the human tradition of wearable expression. Ornament Magazine’s current co-editors Robert Liu and son Patrick Benesh-Liu have selected one hundred pieces from Carolyn’s personal collection to be featured on view.
4/12/2021 - 29/01/2022
Wayne Art Center, 413 Maplewood Ave., Wayne, PA 19087, USA
Connessioni. Gigi Mariani per i 150 anni del Museo Civico Connections. Gigi Mariani for 150 years of the Civic Museum
A tribute to the 150th anniversary of the Civic Museum, this exhibition is the result of a long process of approach by the goldsmith Gigi Mariani to the multifaceted heritage of the museum, from which he drew inspiration to create an exclusive collection of jewels that recall reflections, details, suggestions among the archaeological, ethnological and artistic collections.
The jewels unfold in a path through the exhibition halls and each of them offers a precious surprise, enhanced by a ray of light that delivers it immediately to the eye of the visitor.
6/11/2021 - 30/01/2022
Museo Civico di Modena, Largo Porta S.Agostino, 337, 41121 Modena, Italy
All That Sparkles: Jewelry from the Museum's Collection
Brick Store Museum, 117 Main Street, Kennebunk, ME 04043, USA
Canvas & Silk: Historic Fashion from Madrid’s Museo del Traje
This exhibition pairs paintings in the Meadows collection with representative examples of the historic dress depicted to shed new light on the relationship between representation and reality, between image and artefact. 'Canvas & Silk' will be curated in collaboration with the Museo del Traje and marks that institution’s first major partnership with an American museum. Loans include jewellery, shoes, accessories, and ensembles for men, women, and children. The combined installation of objects and images from the Enlightenment to the modern era will facilitate rich dialogues between fashion and the fine arts in which the visitor will experience and learn about the evolution of both. Sections include ‘Precious Things’ featuring accessories like jewellery and combs made from precious metals and other rare materials such as coral, ‘Traditional Dress’ showcasing examples of garments and ensembles that are typically identified with Spain, such as a traje de luces, the suit typically worn by bullfighters, and mantón de Manila, the traditional embroidered silk shawls historically traded through Manila, and ‘Stepping Out’ demonstrating the importance of what one wore when presenting oneself in public. The exhibition will be accompanied by a fully illustrated publication featuring a single essay co-authored by the exhibition’s curators, Amanda W. Dotseth (Meadows Museum) and Elvira González (Museo del Traje).
19/09/2021 – 9/01/2022
The Meadows Museum, 5900 Bishop Blvd., Dallas, TX 75205, USA
Masterpieces in Miniature. Treasures from the Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Collection
This exhibition is an ode to Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert’s impressive legacy and a chance for the public to admire these treasures from close to. As a visitor you are plunged into the world of the Gilberts and their dazzling collection. You will make the acquaintance of Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert and come to understand their collecting habits, travel with them as they go in search of exceptional craftsmanship and beauty and encounter famous historical figures such as the tsarina Catharine the Great, Napoleon Bonaparte and Queen Victoria. This is the first time items from all categories of the Gilbert Collection will go on display on the European continent. Some objects, such as a 16th-century partridge cup, are exclusive to the Antwerp exhibition.
5/03/2021 - 15/08/2021
DIVA, Suikerrui 17-19, Antwerpen - BE - 2000, Belgium
Luxes
Presented in 2019 at the Louvre Abu Dhabi, this project, designed by Olivier Gabet, is adapted to the Western context at the museum he directs in Paris. The exhibition invites the visitor to discover around 100 pieces of what was and is today the concept of luxury through majestic pieces in precious materials, the creative madness of merchants, the first artistic directors, the splendour of the luxury industries at the time of the great universal exhibitions, haute couture, and the panache of French luxury houses at the start of the 21st century. These works of art, fashion, jewellery or design are brought together to evoke key moments, to shed light or invite reflection on issues in our contemporary society: consumerism and ostentation, the relationship to spirituality and the sacred or even environmental awareness. And whether, in 2020, luxury could try to return to these essentials that anchor humanity in a poetic and creative reality, combining freedom, transmission and know-how?
15/10/2020 - 18/07/2021
Musée des Arts Décoratifs, 107 rue de Rivoli 75001 Paris, France
Natural Beauties: Exquisite Works of Minerals and Gems
Marjorie Merriweather Post was a renowned collector of jewelry and gems and today her collection is considered to be one of the most important of those assembled in the twentieth century. Marjorie’s interest in gems and minerals wasn’t limited to its use in jewelry and a less well-known but no less dramatic area of her collection reflects the appreciation she had for the finest hardstones. Natural Beauties is the first exhibition at Hillwood to focus on the exquisite stones and minerals that became works of art in the hands of masterful artisans. It will present a selection of nearly 100 objects from Hillwood’s collection alongside loans that further explore the beauty and history of the precious stones.
15/02/2020 - 3/01/2021
Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens, 4155 Linnean Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20008, USA
Jewels!
One of the Hermitage’s greatest treasures is the fabulous jewellery collection. Hundreds of them superbly sparkle in Jewels!. Together with many portraits and a profusion of richly decorated gowns and ensembles once worn by the highest echelons at the Russian court in St Petersburg, they represent two centuries in fashion and jewels. Meet the country’s flamboyant empresses – Anna, Elizabeth and Catherine the Great – as well as grand dukes and duchesses, tsarinas and noble fashionistas of the nineteenth and early twentieth century. For balls and parties they wore dazzling costumes, set off by bijoux carefully selected to demonstrate identity, taste, breeding and wealth. Jewellery might also be designed to provoke or convey secret messages. Pieces were ordered from leading houses like Cartier, Tiffany and – of course – Fabergé, special supplier to the Imperial Crown. Many pieces were lost following the Russian Revolution. Jewels! presents a glittering array of surviving masterpieces, situated in ballrooms and boudoirs like those of the tsars’ Winter Palace.
1/06/2020 – 16/10/2020
Hermitage Amsterdam, Amstel 51, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Treasure
The museum’s collections are full of ‘treasures’, but why do we value certain things and want to keep them, hoard them, show them off and hand them down? This exhibition explores the nature of treasure and our relationships with it, showcasing some of the most cherished, rare and valuable artefacts from Cheshire’s past.
5/10/2019 - 22/03/2020
Grosvenor Museum, 27 Grosvenor Street, Chester, Cheshire CH1 2DD, UK
Jewelry Making: Past & Present
Jewellery making is a language. It is a language whose vocabulary comprises different metals, precious stones and new and contemporary materials. They all combine in an infinite number of ways, like words that join together to form sentences. The Jewelry Making exhibition presents a dialogue between culture, religion, past and present, across a timeline of around a millennium. Then first section features jewellery making works associated with the world’s three main monotheistic religions, which were designed to be used for cult or ritual purposes. The second section of the exhibition engages in contemporary jewellery making. 45 Israeli jewelry makers were asked by the museum to create jewelry works inspired by the museum’s Islamic jewelry collection. The third part of the exhibition will present jewellery that belonged to the late singer Ofra Hazza. These are traditional jewellery items from Yemenite Jewry made especially for her by Benzion David, an 8th-generation descendant of jewellery makers from Najran in north Yemen. The exhibition will also include jewellery made by Bedouin jewellery makers Hussein Awad and his son Mansour, from the Jabalia tribe.
30/05/2019 - 16/11/2019
The Museum for Islamic Art, 2 Hapalmach St. Jerusalem, Israel
Unconfined Horizons. Jewellery from Humboldt’s Travel Routes
Born 250 years ago, the scientist Alexander von Humboldt is regarded as one of the last universal geniuses, whose thoughts and actions laid many foundations for our current world view. In his 90-year life, this world citizen set out on two major expeditions: through South and Central America and through Russia as far as the borders of China. Influenced by the ideals of the Enlightenment, he was convinced that the only differences between people were their education or culture, and that all were equally destined for freedom. "The horizons of his thinking were unconfined", as the Humboldt expert Ottmar Ette points out. Genuine education, for Humboldt, meant being able to perceive the interconnectedness of things. His fields of research areas were correspondingly broad. He owes his present importance to his close scrutiny and scientific analysis, coupled with a profoundly humanistic approach. Accompanied by texts and images from the researcher's work, this exhibition displays a variety of artefacts and jewellery from his travels.
13/04/2019 - 8/09/2019
Schmuckmuseum Pforzheim, Jahnstraße 42, 75173 Pforzheim, Germany
Il mestiere delle arti. Seduzione e bellezza nella contemporaneità
The craft of art. Seduction and beauty in the contemporary world
Why on earth is a unique and refined piece of jewellery considered to be craft and not art? This exhibition shows the "major" arts, sculpture and painting, flanked by the production of gold, glass and resin or ceramic offering a selection of more than one hundred works by contemporary artists who, ignoring the border between major arts and minor arts, have given their works a universal value for style and technical knowledge.
16/02/2019 - 26/05/2019
Museo Nazionale Ravenna, Via San Vitale, 17 Ravenna, Italy
Le Temps des Collections VII: Vous avez dit bijoux?
Time for the collection VII: did someone say jewellery?
This programme, launched in 2012 at the Museum of Fine Arts in Rouen, is one of the first initiatives in France to put collections back at the heart of museum exhibitions. This season, Fashion and Textiles will be the opportunity to unveil to the public the rich collection of jewellery held by the Réunion des Musées Métropolitains. Ornaments from Oceania, 18th-century necklaces and chatelaines, Merovingian fibulae, New Guinea amulets, Gallo-Roman treasures, traditional Normandy jewellery ... The collections of the museums of the Réunion des musées Métropolitains are rich in an exceptional diversity of pieces which allow us to question the place of jewellery and adornment in human societies. With an emphasis on the symbolic, social, sentimental, gender, or political values attached to these ornaments, this exhibition will present pieces from the collections of the Museum of Antiquities, the Fabrique des Savoirs, the Museum of Natural History, the Museum of Fine Arts and the Museum Secq des Tournelles, gathered together for the occasion. While some works are regularly featured in the permanent collections, others will be on display here for the first time.
7/12/2018 - 19/05/2019
La Réunion des Musées Métropolitains, Musée de la Céramique, Entrance : 1, rue Faucon, or 94, rue Jeanne d'Arc, Rouen, France
Jewelry: The Body Transformed
What is jewelry? Why do we wear it? What meanings does it carry? Traversing time and space, this exhibition explores how jewelry acts upon and activates the body it adorns. This global conversation about one of the most personal and universal of art forms brings together some 230 objects drawn almost exclusively from The Met collection. A dazzling array of headdresses and ear ornaments, brooches and belts, necklaces and rings will be shown along with sculptures, paintings, prints, and photographs that will enrich and amplify the many stories of transformation that jewelry tells.
12/11/2018 - 24/02/2019
The Met Fifth Avenue, 1000 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10028, USA
Culture Juice - Beyond Bling!
Centred on 300 varied pieces from the State Art Collection from the 1800s to today, Beyond Bling! unlocks the vaults to showcase the best, the bizarre and the most sophisticated jewels in its historical and contemporary collections. Moving from bold and captivating wearable art to quiet and subtle, almost private, personal interventions, the show will change how you think about what jewellery is and can be. Beyond Bling! also features capsule displays from key collectors including major historic pieces of gold nugget jewellery from antiquarian expert Trevor Hancock, some timeless classics from Georg Jensen and by contrast some jaw-dropping displays from Perth's King of Bling, Shane Pavlinovich.
13/10/2018 - 14/01/2019
Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth Cultural Centre, Perth WA 6000, Australia
L’ÉCOLE, School of Jewelry Arts
As part of Van Cleef and Arpel's brief L'ÉCOLE season in New York, there will be three exhibitions dedicated to the many facets of the jewellery arts: art in the form of sculptural works by Daniel Brush; connoisseurship marked by an exclusive viewing of a local private jewellery collection; and science and history in a display of replicas that are only possible due to L’ÉCOLE’s multidisciplinary research approach. Each exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue written by jewellery historians, curators, and professionals in their field. Guides will be present at all times in each exhibition to offer tours to visitors.
24/10/2018 - 9/11/2018
Academy Mansion, 2 East 63rd St, New York, NY 10065, USA
Magtens Smykker
The Splendour of Power
This exhibition showcases a selection of magnificent and unique Danish and European pieces to illustrate the ability of jewellery to capture our fascination and act as statements of shifting power structures over the past 750 years. The exhibition is framed by the notion that power structures are reflected historically in both jewellery design and architecture. Thus, in a contemporary museum context, exemplary jewellery holds the capacity to illustrate and convey the story of varying power relations, body and gender perceptions and stylistic expressions of power in a fascinating and eye-opening way. Across the variations in fashion over the centuries, jewellery has always had a close relationship to the human body where it is worn for others to see. Apart from holding significant economic and emotional value, jewellery is also embedded in a historical iconography and acts as a significant marker of status and personal identity. Insignia are a manifestation of the changes in power structures and society throughout the 750-year period covered by the exhibition. Hence, they represent an important and highly relevant category of exhibits well suited to illustrate the shifts and changes in power structures across the historical sections of the exhibition. The exhibition marks the 750th anniversary of Koldinghus.
6/05/2018 - 30/09/2018
Museet på Koldinghus, Koldinghus 1, 6000 Kolding, Denmark
Extravagant Objects: Jewelry and Objets d’Art from the Masterson Collection
For centuries, jewellery and objets d’art — luxurious objects made of precious and exotic materials — have been sought after by royals, aristocrats, and the affluent to demonstrate status, wealth, power, and taste. From small, personal, functional objects to bejewelled adornments and extravagant sculptures meant simply to delight the eye, these creations reflect the artistic vision and innovations of their time. The objects’ forms and functions, and the elaborate decoration, illustrate changes in social customs and artistic development over three centuries: the 18th to 20th. This exhibition features a dazzling array that reflects the eclectic tastes of Carroll Sterling Masterson and Harris Masterson III, the former owners of Rienzi.
18/11/2017 - 4/02/2018
The Museum of Fine Arts, 1001 Bissonnet, Houston, Texas 77005, USA
18/11/2017 – 29/07/2018
Museum of Fine Arts Houston MFAH at Rienzi, Rienzi, 1406 Kirby Drive, Houston, USA.
Pretty on Pink — Graue Eminenzen des Schmuck
Pretty on pink — Eminences Grises in Jewellery
Grey is conspicuously unobtrusive. Different mindsets are manifested in this colour spectrum: refined understatement in diamond jewellery, or dispassionate sobriety and rationality in Art Deco jewellery or in pieces designed in the tradition of the Bauhaus. Like no other colour, grey represents the modern era, whose most characteristic materials, i.e. concrete and steel, are also grey. In particular contemporary jewellery artists have meanwhile turned their attention to this colour spectrum, which is in stark contrast to pink. With its vibrant chromatic depth, the latter immediately demands our attention. In the hue of Tyrian purple, it once demonstrated both secular and ecclesiastical power, and in contemporary fashion, pink has even been used intentionally to shock. Effectively contrasting the jewellery creations on display, this colour will be highlighting them quite 'indiscreetly'.
27/10/2017 - 25/02/2018
Schmuckmuseum Pforzheim, Jahnstraße 42, 75173 Pforzheim, Germany
Spectacular! Gems and Jewelry from the Merriweather Post Collection
For centuries, extraordinary gemstones have been the centerpieces of stunning jewelry made to adorn royalty, aristocracy, high society, and Hollywood stars. Nearly sixty pieces that once belonged to Marjorie Merriweather Post, one of the greatest jewelry collectors of the twentieth century, will tell the story behind some of the remarkable stones and the jewelry into which they were transformed.
10/06/2017 - 1/01/2018
Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens, 4155 Linnean Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20008, USA
Jeweled Objects of Desire
All that glitters is gold—and diamonds, pearls, rubies, emeralds and sapphires! Visitors of all ages will be dazzled by extraordinary gems, beautiful jewelry and fantastically embellished creations from the collections of the Smithsonian Institution. Presenting uncut examples of precious materials such as jade, amethyst and quartz alongside the artistry of man-made objects, Jeweled Objects of Desire celebrates the beauty of stones found deep within the earth. Highlights of the exhibition include a 7,000 carat quartz egg from Brazil, containing 240 facets (or surfaces) and resting on a gold stand embellished with 16 small and 4 large sapphires; a freshwater pearl corncob with 18-karat gold husk, inspired by the importance corn played in Incan society; and an ivory camel covered in brilliant-cut diamonds and cabochons of rubies, emeralds, and sapphires. The special exhibition also features the work of internationally renowned jewelry designer Sidney Mobell, celebrated for crafting common utilitarian items into unique artworks through the use of gold and precious gemstones. Among the spectacular works on view are a 14-karat gold cell phone encrusted with more than 250 gems; a golden mail box studded with 76.70 carats of precious and semi-precious stones; and a jeweled penny gumball machine. Also included is the world’s most expensive slot machine, an antique Art Déco-style model covered in gold and gemstones from Mobell’s own collection valued at $21 million.
2/02/2017 - 31/12/2017
D'Amour Museum of Fine Arts, Springfield Museums, 21 Edwards Street, Springfield, MA 01103, USA
6/02/2018 – 3/05/2018
Whatcom Museum, 121 Prospect Street, Bellingham, WA 98225
Must-sees — Schmuck in der Kunst
Must-sees — Jewellery in the Arts
Marking the anniversary of Pforzheim’s jewellery and watchmaking industries, this exhibition will be showcasing unique jewellery creations that have become famous all over the world or are particularly impressive examples of the goldsmith’s art, juxtaposing them with paintings and sculptures from the respective era. Presented by Pforzheim’s Jewellery Museum in the exhibition hall of the Arts Association, which is also located in the Reuchlinhaus, the show will be spanning the eras from classical antiquity to the 20th century. The jewellery on show will include important pieces from the Hellenistic period, masterly crafted Etruscan and Roman goldwork, exquisite Renaissance jewellery, extravagant pieces created by René Lalique and at the Vienna Workshops, all the way through to creations from the Art Deco period and the modern era.
21/05/2017 - 10/09/2017
Schmuckmuseum Pforzheim, Jahnstraße 42, 75173 Pforzheim, Germany
Cult
For CULT, eight overlapping categories have been defined to help navigate the means through which this happens: identification, participation, non-conformation and fetish, persuasion, conformation, ritual and fantasy. How does wearing jewellery strengthen human relationships, or harness new kinds of social collectiveness? Is it subcultural, ideological, or both? Either way, the true allure of jewellery is cult. One of CULT’s main particularities will be the emphasis on the jewel’s role as a catalyst of a wearer’s identity. The physical body however, will be absent. In its place, Current Obsession has asked six fiction writers and artists to create narratives meant to allude to the potentially infinite human scenarios jewellery may become involved in. Their stories are crafted around certain themes or selected pieces found in the exhibition.
15/10/2016 – 12/02/2017
Stedelijk Museum, De Mortel 4, 5211 HV 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands
Eva's Beauty Case:Schmuck und Styling im Spiegel der Zeiten
Jewelry and styling Through the Ages
The LVR-Landesmuseum in Bonn has one of the most important collections of Roman jewellery north of the Alps and one of the largest and most important of early medieval jewellery, including numerous extremely delicately worked gold disc fibulae as evidence of the extraordinary craftsmanship of goldsmiths in the Middle Ages. These unique and precious finds are the focus of an exhibition that deals with the cultural history of jewellery and beauty. "Eva's Beauty Case" invites the visitor to experience the many facets of the struggle for human beauty spanning an overarching arc of unique cultures and epochs, from the Stone Age to the present day; the blueprint of nature on the changing ideals of beauty; of gems as beauty aids, trade and plunder; of jewellery, hair and makeup as a status symbol and as an expression of regional, state and social identifications to the beauty and celebrity culture of the present.
9/06/2016 - 22/01/2017
LVR-LandesMuseum Bonn, Colmantstr. 14-16, 53115 Bonn, Germany
22/02/2018 - 12/08/2018
Braunschweigisches Landesmuseum, Burgplatz 1, 38100 Braunschweig, Germany
Jewelry, from Pearls to Platinum to Plastic
Whether it is made of natural miracles or marvels of human invention and skill, jewellery has adorned the human body since prehistoric times. The Newark Museum has been collecting jewelry since 1911, and has one of the most comprehensive holdings in the country. The Lore Ross Jewelry Gallery, newly redesigned and reinstalled, showcases jewellery across seven centuries. The focus of the new installation is the wide array of materials, both noble and humble, that have been used over the centuries to create things of beauty for personal adornment.
27/06/2015 - 1/01/2017
Newark Museum, 49 Washington Street, Newark, NJ 07102-3176, USA
The Jeweller’s Art – Precious Objects from the 17th Century to the Present Day
This summer’s exhibition at Läckö Castle, The Jeweller’s Art – Precious Objects from the 17th Century to the Present Day, features tiaras, necklaces, brooches, snuff boxes, pocket watches and beautifully mounted miniature portraits from Nationalmuseum’s collections. The 300 exhibits, dating from 1650 to the present, all exemplify great craftsmanship and reflect the artistic ideals of the day. Most of the pieces are being shown outside the museum for the first time, and many have never previously been exhibited at all. The artifacts span a range of categories. Besides pure jewellery pieces, they include boxes, pocket watches and other accessories that illustrate the jeweller’s craft and creativity. Many of the older pieces, signifying wealth and power, were integral to the wearer’s identity and status. The contemporary pieces include some where the designer set out to push the boundaries of what constitutes a piece of jewellery. Gold, pearls and diamonds are often still present, alongside new materials like plastic, titanium, eggshell and perch skin.
12/06/2015 – 2/10/2016
Läckö Castle, Vänerskärgården, S-531 99 Lidköping, Sweden
Take it personally
Personal adornment is important to people everywhere - and has been throughout the ages. And why is so much of our cultural heritage about adornment? Archaeological and ethnographic collections are full of adornments people wore during the small and great moments of their lives. The interplay between body and adornment creates an intimate and powerful bond, which some cultures call magic. The objects in this exhibition have been carefully chosen. Each was once special in its own time, in its own right. Many have exciting stories to tell and this time, you really should should take it personally. Welcome to the wonderful world of adornment!
12/06/2015 – 2/10/2016
Museum of Cultural History, Frederiks gate 2, 0164 Oslo, Norway
A fine possession: jewellery and identity
This exhibition, the most ambitious jewellery exhibition ever staged at the museum, showcases over 700 pieces made from a variety of traditional and avant-garde materials, spanning millennia of jewellery history across continents and cultures while addressing the key theme of ‘our place in time’ through a remarkable selection of jewellery collected in Australia. The exhibition also aims to celebrate some of the diversity of Asian, African and Oceanic adornment, as well as the innovation and creativity of contemporary studio jewellers.
24/09/2014 - 22/05/2016
Powerhouse Museum, 500 Harris Street, Ultimo, Sydney, Australia
Smycken - Jewellery
This exhibition displays 1,000 pieces of jewellery dating from the sixteenth century to the present day from the museum’s own collections. History, fashion, status, personal stories, magic, symbolism and violent death – this exhibition has all this and more. From sets of matching jewellery worn by royalty to popular costume jewellery and simple pieces in various materials, it’s all on display in this dazzling exhibition in the gallery overlooking the main hall.
14/09/2012 – 14/12/2015
Nordiska museet, Djurgårdsvägen 6-16, Box 27820, 115 93 Stockholm, Sweden
The Jewellery Box...a Collection of the Beaulne Museum
An aspect of body embellishment, jewellery, which comes in many forms and has many functions, can be composed of various types of materials. Made of seashells and animal teeth during prehistoric times, metal jewellery only appeared during Antiquity where gold was transformed by goldsmiths using different techniques. Since then, diverse metals and materials were used: copper, metal, plastic, etc. Lavish and luxurious jewellery, custom jewellery and handmade jewellery are the principal groups in which a piece of jewellery may be classified as social, esthetic, sentimental, useful, etc. This exhibition regroups, apart from the materials used, many types of jewellery all from the collection of the Beaulne Museum such as: bracelets, pendants, brooches, earrings, necklaces, etc. In total, 77 carefully chosen pieces are awaiting visitors.
13/04/2014 – 19/10/2014
Beaulne Museum, 96 Rue de l'Union, Coaticook, Quebec, Canada
Indossare i gioielli. Mode e modelli
Wearing jewellery. Fashion and models
Through the exhibition of diverse jewellery, this exhibition proposes getting to know the evolution of these precious objects that are closely linked to the different historical moments at which they were created. Jewellery has been a part of human beings' attire since time immemorial. In each of its historical periods, jewellery has had specific characteristics. It has also been closely related to the clothing of each period. It could be said that, just as men and women dress in clothing, they do the same with jewellery. Therefore jewellery is characterised by its continuous transformation of form along with its symbolic transformation. The exhibition analyses the way that jewellery was worn in each period, the techniques used in its creation, the materials with which it was made, and its aesthetic connotations. Most of the pieces are from the jewellery collection of the Museo del Traje, although some are on loan from private collections.
20/11/2013 – 30/03/2014
Museo dell'Abbigliamento. Centro di Ricerca del Patrimonio Etnologico, Avenida Juan de Herrera 2 (Ciudad Universitaria), 28040. Madrid, Spain
Masterpieces: Art and East Anglia
On 14 September 2013, the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts at the University of East Anglia will launch its newly refurbished galleries with a major exhibition displaying the best art of Norfolk and Suffolk throughout history. Art and East Anglia will celebrate the rich and unique artistic heritage of the region, with works from across the visual arts – paintings, sculptures, architecture, ceramics, glass, jewellery, photography, textiles and design – from the prehistoric period to the present day. Drawn from major collections, the exhibition will showcase the array of masterworks the region has inspired, produced and collected, as well as treasures that have been long associated with the area, and demonstrate its importance in a national and international context.
14/09/2013 - 24/02/2014
Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, University of East Anglia, Norwich, NR4 7TJ
The Language of Jewelry
Men and women have adorned their bodies for millennia with precious metals and stones. Throughout the centuries, jewelry, as objects of beautification, have symbolized authority, wealth, status, worldliness and affection. For guests and employees at the Tampa Bay Hotel, the story of their jewelry was one of adornment and an expression of sentiment and station. Rich symbolism was written in the motifs and materials that created their jewelry. Rarely displayed pieces from the Museum’s permanent collection, including Plant Family jewelry, will be complemented by selections from private collections.
8/03/2013 - 8/01/2014
Henry B. Plant Museum, 401 W. Kennedy Boulevard - Tampa, FL 33606, USA
SHINE
For centuries, the light and lustre of materials have captivated artists and audiences, attributing to simple objects powerful symbolism as well as the allure of beauty, luxury and opulence. Across the world, an array of metals, mirrors, silver- and gold-wrapped thread, wire, beads, insect wings and carapaces have been transformed to create some of the most mystifying and coveted personal and cultural expressions. SHINE showcases an array of historical artifacts from the Museum’s permanent collections as well as the work of three contemporary artists creating new conversations between contemporary culture and complex, sometimes conflicting ideals of desire, status, wealth and beauty.
27/03/2013 – 2/09/2013
The Textile Museum of Canada, 55 Centre Avenue (Dundas St. W & University Ave., St. Patrick subway), Toronto, Ontario, M5G 2H5, Canada
Boys get skulls, girls get butterflies. Schmuck im MAKK
To adorn themselves and differentiate through jewellery is an important and basic need of man, which is found in all eras and in all cultures. Jewellery appeals to the senses and greatly affects how we feel and give. Therefore, it is worthwhile for a jewellery designer to continually develop their own individual solutions. This exhibition combines jewellery from ancient times through Antiquity, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance and the Baroque to the present from the jewellery collection of the Museum of Applied Art in Cologne with rare and exemplary pieces by the goldsmith artist Georg Hornemann. From birth to death, the use of jewellery will be tracked and brought alive with the help of topics such as mysticism and power, love and sentimentality, extravagance and splendour and function and design. The jewels thus leave their place in the art-historical chronology for a limited time and join together to form a thematic course.
21/09/2013 - 15/12/2013
Museum für Angewandte Kunst, An der Rechtschule, 50667 Köln, Germany
Jewels, Gems, and Treasures: Ancient to Modern
What is a gem? Today, in the West, we have come to regard diamond, pearl, emerald, sapphire, and ruby as the most precious of materials. That has not always been the case. Throughout the course of world history, other substances have commanded equal attention, including materials that are largely ignored today. Kingfisher feathers, tiger claws, jet beads, and mica appliqués were at one time worn in different parts of the world with great pride. Some materials, such as coral and rock crystal, have served a protective role, in which they were perceived as being able to guard their wearer from dangerous circumstances or malevolent forces. Other substances, especially those that are rare and available to a select few, are signifiers of wealth and power. This exhibition, the first in the Museum's new Rita J. and Stanley H. Kaplan Family Foundation Gallery, will examine the various roles and meanings associated with a wide range of gem materials.
19/07/2011 – 25/11/2012
Museum of Fine Arts, 465 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115-5597, USA
Delle mie gioie ed oggetti d'oro...
About my jewels and gold objects...
This exhibition aims to capture the taste of an age, but especially the way in which the 19th-century Counts of Gorizia experienced the fashions, trends and social conventions, which, between the late 19th and early 20th centuries, profoundly affected the production, forms and use of jewellery.
22/04/2012 – 30/09/2012
Palazzo Coronini Cronberg, Viale XX Settembre 14-34170 Gorizia, Italy
Jewellery from the estate of Ilona Ptasnik
Last year the Dutch Silver Museum in Schoonhoven received a generous gift from the estate of Ilona Ptasnik. A large collection of antique jewellery was given by this lady who had been unknown to the Museum before her gift. Ms. Ptasnik was born in Amsterdam in 1918 from a Jewish Polish family. In 1938 her family emigrated to the USA where Ilona married Adriaan van der Bilt with whom she returned to The Netherlands after the Second World War. From her jewellery collection she appears to have had a preference for gemstones, but apart from this, there is a large variety of styles, techniques and fashions. The donation forms the basis of this exhibition, together with contributions of stories, drawings, collages, poems – anything – collected from a competition concerning people's ideas about who Ilona Ptasnik was.
25/09/2012 – 25/11/2012
Nederlands Zilvermuseum Schoonhoven, Kazerneplein 4, 2871 CZ, Schoonhoven, Netherlands
The Universal Language of Ornamentation
Ornamental designs count among the earliest signs of human cultural activity. Starting from simple carvings in various archaeological finds via intertwining lines to Baroque opulence, ornaments can also be found in jewellery. They are a phenomenon that spans the entire world and the most different cultures and, in spite of all its diversity, reveals similar patterns. This show presents the wide variety of ornamental forms of expression in jewellery from the occidental European region, the wealth of variants in the Orient and the opulence on the Indian subcontinent.
23/06/2012 – 30/09/2012
Schmuckmuseum Pforzheim, Jahnstrasse 42, D-75173, Pforzheim, Germany
The Never-ending story of Jewellery
24/05/2012 - 3/09/2012
Cheb Museum, Krale Jirího z Podebrad 493/4, 350 11 Cheb, Czech Republic
Bijoux: The Origins and Impacts of Jewelry
The exhibition celebrates the long history of personal adornment through jewelry and explores its impact on our culture and environment. The exhibit showcases exquisite jewelry from both local and international private collections which are displayed together with some of the Bruce Museum’s most spectacular mineral and gem specimens.
16/07/2011 – 26/02/2012
Bruce Museum, Greenwich, CT 06830-7157, USA
Beautiful as the jewellery
People have used jewellery “always”. The museum’s collections oldest jewellery are from Stone Age; namely amber and slate pieces. The oldest collections of historical period pieces are from the 1700s. Early 1800′s, the Empire era, is represented in jewellery, as well as the late 1800′s. Fairly large amounts of collections are the so-called hair jewellery or 1800’s creations. This was organised to coincide with The Art Museums jewellery exhibition by new or modern designers.
10/04/2011 - 8/01/2012
Northern Ostrobothnia museum (Pohjois-Pohjanmaan museo), The city of Oulu, Finland
Preciousness Preserved. Jewelry from the Charleston Museum's Collections from Antiquity to Today
The finest jewelry from the Museum's collection will be showcased. Donated by generations of Charlestonians, these pieces span the globe and date from 500 B.C. to the mid-20th century. Jewelry collections ranging from men's accessories to mourning and hairwork pieces will be exhibited. Visitors can also view natural jewelry incorporating jet, corals, pearls, and lava rocks. And, finally, a display of gemstone jewelry will feature amethysts, garnets, diamonds, and pastes (faceted highcontent leaded glass that closely imitated diamonds).
until 5/09/2011
Charleston Museum, Charleston, SC 29403, USA
Bedazzled : 5,000 Years of Jewelry
This exhibition will provide examples, both in depth and range, of stunning jewelry from 3000 B.C.E. through the early 20th century. It will feature some of the Walters Art Museum’s greatest masterpieces as well as many hidden treasures on view for the first time. This selection of more than 150 pieces will not only present the evolution of techniques and materials, but also demonstrate the importance of jewelry as an expression of creativity and often wealth and position. In addition, a special exhibition section will be devoted to rings, the only type of jewelry worn continuously through the ages. Assembled primarily by one of the Walters Art Museum’s founders, Henry Walters, during the first three decades of the last century, this renowned collection contains superb examples of expert craftsmanship.
19/10/2008 - 4/01/2009
The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, MD, USA
28/03/2010 - 25/07/2010
El Paso Museum of Art (EPMA), El Paso, Texas, USA
European traditional
Kopfschmuck, Tracht und Identität – Europa, Asien, Afrika
Headdress, costume and identity - Europe, Asia, Africa
Historical headgear from the Lake Constance area and over 35 countries in Europe, Asia and Africa can be seen for the first time in a new concept. The more than 300 objects date from the 18th to the 21st century. Across the world, headdresses indicate social status and origin. The variety of textile and metal head ornaments includes bonnets, shackles, hair ornaments and other rare forms. A special focus is on wheel and gold bonnets from Liechtenstein and Austria, including individual items from the archive of the Liechtenstein Traditional Costume Association. Numerous complete costumes from Europe with their headdresses give an impression of the variety of regional clothing styles. The face of the costume comes to life in costume biographies. One focus is on the individual wearing of traditional costumes in historical use.
25/06/2022 – 30/10/2022
Liechtenstein National Museum, Städtle 43, Postfach 1216, 9490 Vaduz, Liechtenstein
Jewellery. materials craft art
Whether as a ritual, ornament, decoration, memento or status symbol, people have always made jewellery. Depending on the era, fashion or function, we have used all sorts, ranging from natural materials, gemstones and precious metals through to plastics. The “Jewellery. materials craft art” exhibition at the National Museum Zurich is based on the Swiss National Museum’s extensive collection supplemented with exhibits from the Museum of Art and History in Geneva, the Museum of Contemporary Design and Applied Arts (mudac) in Lausanne and the Museum of Applied Arts (MAK) in Vienna, among others. This exhibition highlights aspects of jewellery manufacture and presents jewellery in its context of love, rebellion or tradition. A separate room is dedicated to jewellery of the 20th century, from Lalique to Max Bill and right through to contemporary jewellery artists like Bernhard Schobinger and Johanna Dahm.
19/05/2017 – 22/10/2017
Landesmuseum Zürich, Museumstrasse 2, 8021 Zürich, Switzerland
Klosterarbeiten, Flitterkränze, Haubenspiegel. "Schöne Arbeiten" für Andacht und weltliche Zier
"Beautiful work" for religious and secular decoration
Glittering beads, refined wire work and coloured glass: Our first special exhibition of 2014 shows elaborate treasures and directs our attention to the fine details of "Klosterarbeiten" and festive headdresses. "Klosterarbeiten", the so-called "beautiful work", started in the 16th century and served not only to decorate relics, but also as decoration for objects of private devotion. They were decorated with gold wire, pearls and precious fabrics and put on show in churches. Bridal crowns, processional wreaths, and coronets for First Mass and saints images also feature in this exhibition. These were worn in the Middle Ages by young unmarried people and rich brides. These head pieces were richly decorated with gold and silver thread. However, young girls and brides in the countryside preferred more tinsel and facetted coloured glass on their heads. Here there were also special hair pins, such as the so-called "mirror" and caps embroidered with metal threads and glass beads. Today, these traditional bridal crowns are worn only on important festive days and processions.
30/03/2014 - 2/11/2014
Bauernmuseum Bamberger Land. Treffpunkt für Volkskultur und Heimatpflege, Hauptstr. 3-5, 96158 Frensdorf, Germany
Pracht, Prunk, Protz. Luxus auf dem Land
Splendour, pomp, ostentation. Luxury in the countryside
In this exhibition different articles of the former rural life will be presented. From decorations on houses to the eating, drinking and smoking habits of the previous festival culture, and more. Of course, everyday things such as mirrors, dishes, and jewellery can not be omitted.
15/06/2014 - 2/11/2014
Bauernmuseum Bamberger Land. Treffpunkt für Volkskultur und Heimatpflege, Hauptstr. 3-5, 96158 Frensdorf, Germany
Patterns of Magnificence: Tradition and Reinvention in Greek Women’s Costume
Abundant in local variety, rich in embroidered and woven decoration and monumental in its completed ensemble, Greek traditional women’s dress has few equals in other countries. This exhibition will bring thirty two of the most splendid examples to London for the first time. They include the richly embroidered costume from Astypalaia in the Dodecanese, the astonishing assembly of fabrics, colours and jewellery from Stefanoviki in Thessaly and the superbly brocaded dress from Jannina in Epirus. The exhibition will also illustrate the interplay of native tradition and western aesthetic by displaying the court dress of the first Queen of the independent Greek state, Amalia of Oldenburg and that of her successor at the end of the nineteenth century, Queen Olga, the Russian-born consort of King George I. These splendid costumes represent a synthesis that is emblematic of nineteenth-century nation building. During the period of the exhibition the Hellenic Centre will arrange guided tours and hold lectures on costume, textiles, the reception of the indigenous tradition and the history and culture of Greece after independence. A fully illustrated catalogue with 10 essays by specialists in the field alongside catalogue entries and images for each costume will be available.
4/02/2014 – 2/03/2014
The Hellenic Centre, 16-18 Paddington Street, London W1U 5AS, UK
Costumes et bijoux traditionnels de Macédoine
In the late 19th and early 20th century, each region of Macedonia had, regardless of its importance, its own traditional costume. The country had no less than seventy different costumes, each with distinct characteristics. This exhibition will be accompanied by costume jewellery, which was a fundamental component of traditional costumes rooted in the heritage of the Macedonian people.
6/09/2013 - 31/10/2013
Maison de l'Artisanat et des Metiers d'Art, 21, Cours d'Estienne d'Orves - 13001 Marseille, France
Young Brides, Old Treasures: Macedonian Embroidered Dress
Until the mid-twentieth century, Macedonian women wove, embroidered, and wore magnificent ensembles of dress that indicated to a knowing eye what village and region they came from and where they were in the cycle of life. Historic ensembles, no longer made but preserved in the museum, also illustrate the tumultuous political history of the region; pan-Slavic, Byzantine, and Ottoman influences can be seen in embroidered motifs, materials, garments, and jewelry. On display will be 27 mannequins in multi-layered ensembles as well as individual garments and pieces of jewelry belonging to Museum of International Folk Art. The exhibition will accompanied by a catalog of the same name.
1/10/2011 - 6/01/2013
Museum of International Folk Art, Museum Hill, 706 Camino Lejo, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87504-2087, USA
Bulgarian folk jewellery
This exhibition is prepared by the National Museum of Bulgaria in cooperation with the Regional Ethnographic Museum Plovdiv. It represents a unique collection from the Balkan region of both museums. The exhibition is based on the historical development of the Bulgarian Folk Jewel and its connection with folk costumes. The exhibition will be divided into two parts. Unique collection of Bulgarian jewelry from Regional Ethnographical Museum Plovdiv and five folk costumes from different regions of the Republic of Bulgaria will be located in a representative lounge in the 1 st floor. There will be a collection of Bulgarian folk jewelry of National Museum on the ground, in so called the Discussion Hall. It will be supplemented by components of folk costumes, embroidery, textiles, shoes and other items.
2/03/2012 - 22/07/2012
National Museum of Ethnography, Kinsky Folly, Kinského zahrada 98, 150 00 Praha 5, Czech Republic
Traditional jewellery and dress from the Balkans
This is a rare chance to enjoy the Museum’s spectacular collections from Bulgaria, the former Yugoslavia, Albania and northern Greece, all dating from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Complete costumes showing how the jewellery was worn, including a wedding couple from Galicnik, Macedonia, will be shown alongside huge belt clasps, coin chains, head ornaments and textiles with elaborate metal thread embroidery.
21/01/2011 – 11/09/2011
The British Museum, London, UK
Der transparente Tod - Glas in der Bestattungskultur
Transparent death - glass in burial culture
This exhibition invites you on a journey through the history of funeral culture. It tells the story of the transformation of funeral customs and their various relationships with glass. Perhaps the most beautiful exhibit is a death crown from the late 18th century, which was provided for an unmarried person. This product of folk art as well as wreaths decorated with beads rejected the cemetery regulations of 100 years ago which were in strict accordance with "Expertenästhetik". In this respect, the Glashütte exhibition has rehabilitated once despised jewellery customs of the grave, proving that even the dead have a right to fashion.
15/03/2014 - 26/06/2014
Museumsverein Glashütte e.V., Hüttenweg 20, 15837 Baruth/Mark OT Glashütte, Germany
Der Totenschmuck der Anne Catherine Françoise de Chevalier
The funerary jewellery of Anne Catherine Françoise de Chevalier
Funeral rites in the 17th and 18th centuries were heavily interspersed with magical and superstitious elements. The burials, especially those of girls and unmarried women, were sometimes richly endowed with funerary jewellery. This exhibition shows the burial of Anne Catherine Françoise de Chevalier, who died in Tholey in 1762 at the age of six years and was buried in the abbey church there. The core of the funerary jewellery is the so-called Totenkrone. This was intended for a wedding in the afterlife, which had been denied the dead in this world. It consists of a circlet, and a small crown. Like the associated bracelet it is made from leonische filigree wire and adorned with real pearls and garnet inlays. A gilded bridal cross and an ensemble of children's jewellery and christening gifts of coral beads complete the remarkable find.
26/10/2013 – 19/01/2014
Saarlandmuseum, Museum in der Schlosskirche, Am Schlossberg 6, 66119 Saarbrücken, Germany
Schmuck zum Gwand. Traditional jewellery from South Germany
Chokers and rosaries, bodice chains and hair pins, watch fobs and rings set with deer's teeth are all part of the traditional jewellery of the south German region since the 17th century. This exhibition shows mainly 19th century pieces from the rich collection of the Bavarian National Museum.
11/06/2010 – 05/09/2010
Schmuckmuseum Pforzheim, Pforzheim, Germany
2/09/2010 - 5/11/2010
Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, München, Germany
Brüechli
The Brüechli of the Innerrhoder women's costumes is a highly decorative item, smothered in silver jewellery. This specific part of the costume emerged at the beginning of the 19th century. when it took over the function of shoulder and neck-cloths. Looking back at the 200-year history of costume, one finds that in the 19th Century the individual costume pieces and thus the Brüechli developed with fashion. So until about 1865 Brüechli were of fashionable white linen or muslin , often supplemented with a pleated collar. Parallel to this were single colour silks, rarely patterned Brüechli with fine tucks and colourful inserts of strands and smocking. As the fashion colour black prevailed in 1880, women wore Brüechli costumes made of fine black silk taffeta and damask. At the same time the embroidery was embellished with fashionable beads, sequins and gold thread. The coloured and richly embroidered Brüechli which is still worn today originated in 1900 and has since changed little. This exhibition shows a rich variety of Brüechli. In addition, there are selected oil paintings, engravings, postcards and photos about Brüechli.
14/07/2012 – 31/08/2013
Appenzell Museum, Hauptgasse 4, CH-9050 Appenzell, Switzerland
L'Oro e la memoria
This exhibition contains around 200 pieces of jewellery, mostly coming from the Valle del Cervo and a fair number from Biella itself, the steady accumulation of "small hoards" passed from one generation to another within families. Their collection is the result of a methodical research process that takes its cue from that set up in the territory of Biella by Alessandro Roccavilla more than a century ago. The whole is a complete and documented - by types, shapes, materials and techniques - account of the use of precious ornaments by women from the early nineteenth century until the First World War. The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue, published in Biella, of about 270 pages, richly illustrated in colour and accompanied by essays by the curator, Lia Lenti, as well as Patrizia Bellardone, Danilo Craveia, Alessandra Montanera.
2/12/2012 – 6/01/2013
Museo del Territorio Biellese, Chiostro di San Sebastiano, Via Quintino Sella, Biella, Italy
Dalla donna alla Madonna. I gioielli di Rutigliano tra culto e devozione
From Woman to Madonna. The Jewellery of Rutigliano between Worship and Devotion
From 8 March, to coincide with International Women's Day, Palazzo Settanni and the MuDiAS (Museum of Sacred Art) in Rutigliano will become a precious casket for an unusual exhibition of jewellery that first adorned the dress of Rutigliano women and then the sacred images of Madonnas and Saints. This evocative temporary exhibition, promoted in collaboration with local ecclesiastical bodies, aims to raise awareness of the custom of offering precious jewellery to the divinity as a gift, either as a request for grace or for grace received and, even more, to rediscover jewellery as a true work of art. The votive jewellery, or ex-voto, on display in the museum tells us about the cultural context chronologically placed between the 18th century and the first half of the 20th century, testifying to the changes that took place in society in the 19th and 20th centuries.
8/03/2022 – 10/04/2022
Palazzo Settanni - MuDiAS, Corso Mazzini, n.37, Rutigliano (BA), Italy
Jewels and ritual. Treasures from the Perusini collection.
27/6/2008 – 30/11/2008
Il Museo Etnografico del Friuli, Friuli, Italy
Gold Rush: Treasures of the Ukraine
On loan from the National Museum of the History of Ukraine and the Museum of Historical Treasures of Ukraine, this collection of 260 pieces of jewellery, weapons, coins, and household and religious artefacts, dating from 8th century BCE to 19th century CE, explores the significance of gold as used by the nomadic Scythians through to the golden age of Kievan Rus’ and as crafted in the decorative arts tradition of Ukraine. Accompanying the Ukrainian display is a showcase of gold from Southeast Asia and Singapore. Selected from the National Heritage Board collection, this set of 14th to 20th century jewellery illustrates gold as a symbol of wealth, status and power, and serves as an entry point to appreciating the development of goldsmithing and the flourishing of goldsmith shops in 20th century Singapore.
29/05/2011 - 26/08/2012
National Museum of Singapore, 93 Stamford Road Singapore 178897, Singapore
Royalty
En Dronnings Smykkeskrin – 50 år på tronen fortalt i smykker
A Queen’s Jewellery Box: 50 Years on the Throne Told in Jewellery
This special exhibition will mark the 50th anniversary in 2022 of Her Majesty the Queen's reign.
The Queen has a very large jewellery collection, which she uses very consciously and actively - and with care and consideration. For Her Majesty, jewels are not just jewellery. They are symbols and bearers of memories, friendships, and continuity, of life as Denmark's monarch through 50 years and 50 years of Danish history.
For the first time ever, the exhibition presents over 200 well-known and lesser-known pieces of jewellery from The Queen's collection. Each jewel in the exhibition carries a story and refers to one or more private or official events during The Queen's 50-year reign.
As a very special experience in the exhibition, The Queen herself has agreed to provide a voice for the audio guide that visitors are given. With the audio guide in hand, visitors can hear The Queen herself talk about selected jewellery and events throughout the exhibition.
14/01/2022 - 23/10/2022
Amalienborg Palace, Christian VIII's Palace, 1257 Copenhagen K, Denmark
Frauen. Kunst und Macht. Drei Frauen aus dem Hause Habsburg
The Art of Power. Habsburg Women in the Renaissance
The Art of Power focuses on three remarkable women who set standards in courtly culture within the Habsburg dynasty: Archduchess Margaret, governor of the Burgundian Netherlands (1480– 1530), Archduchess Mary, Queen of Hungary (1505– 1558) and Archduchess Catherine, Queen of Portugal (1507– 1578). The exhibition presents around one hundred works from important European collections from Austria, Hungary, Portugal, Switzerland and Germany: Kunstkammer objects, tapestries, portraits, sculptures, illuminated manuscripts, valuable gemstone jewellery, and objects from new foreign lands. Such treasures and luxury articles were important for courtly representation in the Renaissance and reflected the social status, rank and wealth of the ruling families in the 16th century.
14/07/2018 - 7/10/2018
Schloss Ambras Innsbruck, Schlossstraße 20, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria
Crowned! - Dress to impress with Royal designs
For many, a crown is a piece of jewellery that royal people wear on their heads. About the history and background of the crown much less is known. That a crown is made of gold and precious stones seems obvious but it is not. This exhibition, on show jointly with the Zilvermuseum Schoonhoven, introduces visitors to the fascinating world of crowns. The exhibition at Museum Rijswijk acquaints the visitor with a rich variety of crowns, not only from Europe but also from other parts of the world. In terms of form and materials the crowns sometimes diverge very strongly from the traditional image we have. A diversity of cultures also provides a wide variety of crown patterns. The material can be (precious) metal and (precious) stones but in many cases organic materials (textiles, fur, feathers, shells) are used, as these are considered in many cultures as a special and costly material. The wearing of a crown distinguishes one from the rest of a group or the population. The coronation ritual that goes with this is the first major theme of the exhibition. The use of crowns within the major world religions (Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism and Buddhism) is discussed in the second theme of the exhibition. The third and last theme shows how the crown, although still an exclusive object, at the same time has been taken over by large sections of the population and is used in numerous ways. Worldwide, the crown plays a significant role in wedding ceremonies and other festive events such as the transition from childhood to adulthood, harvest rituals or traditional dance performances and theatre.
13/10/2016 – 2/04/2017
Museum Rijswijk, Herenstraat 67, 2282 BR Rijswijk, Netherlands
13/10/2016 – 2/04/2017
Nederlands Zilvermuseum, Kazerneplein 4, 2871 CZ Schoonhoven, Netherlands
The Glitter and the Gold. Jewellery in the Royal Armoury
For a long time jewellery was reserved for men and women in the upper classes of society. Precious stones, pearls and precious metals are historic symbols of power and wealth. This social marker was erased from Western society only in the early 19th century. Everyone who could afford it could now wear jewellery. At the same time wearing jewellery increasingly became a privilege for women. This exhibition shows jewellery related to Swedish kings and queens, princes and princesses from the 16th century until now. The objects are from the Royal Armoury, Skokloster Castle and the Hallwyl Museum’s collections and some are in private ownership.
28/11/2014 – 16/08/2015
The Royal Palace, Slottsbacken 3 111 30 Stockholm, Sweden
Mary Queen of Scots
Mary Queen of Scots was one of a number of female rulers in Renaissance Europe and she will be considered in this context, examining her power and influence, making comparisons with her peers. She was an important figure dynastically and key in the religious struggles provoked by the Reformation. Through her son she is the direct ancestor of the present royal family. Mary brought many splendid pieces of jewellery from France when she returned to Scotland in 1561. She continued to patronise Scottish goldsmiths and jewellers throughout her reign in Scotland. However, few examples survive, but the remarkable pieces which will be displayed include the Penicuik jewels incorporating two portrait lockets believed to be of herself and her son James, a heart jewel and a cameo ring. An intriguing item is the silver ryal or 30 shillings coin which commemorated the marriage of Mary, Queen of Scots and Henry, Lord Darnley. This was struck in Scotland in 1565 and then quickly withdrawn from circulation. It was then redesigned in 1566 with Mary’s image and name appearing before that of her husband. This fascinating exhibition, exploring the life and times of Mary, will bring together an array of treasures never before seen together.
28/06/2013 - 17/11/2013
The National Museum of Scotland, Chambers Street, Edinburgh EH1 1JF, UK
'A declaration of our hopes for the future': Coronations from the middle ages to the twentieth century
To mark the coronation of King Charles III, this exhibition will show material from the Lambeth Palace Library collections relating to previous coronations, from the coronation of Henry I in 1100 to that of Elizabeth II in 1953. Highlights include the Coronation Charter of Henry I, the manuscript coronation service prepared for William III and Mary II, Archbishop Wake’s notes for the coronation of George II, a letter from George VI thanking Archbishop Lang for his part in the coronation ceremony, and the Bible upon which Elizabeth II swore her coronation oath.
In conjunction with this exhibition, until 14 June, there will also be a display of artefacts associated with previous coronations, including the cope and mitre worn by Archbishop Fisher in 1953 and the large banners from the 1902 coronation from which Archbishop Frederick Temple had to read the service because of his failing eyesight.
12/04/2023 - 13/07/2023
Lambeth Palace Library, 15 Lambeth Palace Road, London, SE1 7JT, UK
Coronations and Anointing of Russian Tsars and Emperors at the Moscow Kremlin
For the first time in its history the Moscow Kremlin Museums host such a large-scale exposition arranged in the exhibition halls of the Assumption Belfry, One-Pillar Chamber and Cross Chamber of the Patriarch's Palace, the Patriarch's Palace's refectory and front anteroom. The grandiose project, supported by the famous Russian museums and archives, incorporates precious relics related to the Russian traditional coronation ceremonies and festivities carried out in the Moscow Kremlin. The exposition is divided into two sections, those of the first one is dedicated to the consecrations of Russian tsars in the Moscow Rus in the XVIth-XVIIth centuries and the second - to coronations in Russia during the XVIIIth–XIXth centuries. Composed of almost 400 items, from pieces of state regalia to rarely seen archival documents, photographs and etchings, the exhibition traces the history of coronation ceremonies in Russia throughout several centuries and explores peculiarities of solemn celebrations accompanying the Russian sovereigns' accession to the throne.
27/09/2013 – 22/01/2014
Moscow Kremlin, Moscow, Russia
Jewels!
The Hermitage’s fabulous jewellery collection is one of its greatest treasures. Over the centuries it has become the repository of thousands of precious pieces. In the autumn of 2019, hundreds of them will travel to the Netherlands to feature in Jewels! Visitors will encounter flamboyant female rulers like Elizabeth of Russia and Catherine the Great, but also grand dukes and noble families of the nineteenth and early twentieth century. They had their portraits painted by leading artists and on special occasions they wore dazzling gowns and ensembles set off by carefully selected bijoux. Jewels were a statement of identity and a demonstration of taste, breeding and wealth. Occasionally, they might also be designed to provoke or contain hidden symbolism. They were ordered from European jewellery firms like Boucheron or Cartier, master goldsmiths like Claude Ballin or, of course, from Fabergé, Goldsmith by Special Appointment to the Imperial Crown. The exhibits will reflect the fashions of four centuries: baroque, rococo, neoclassical, empire, art nouveau and modern, also from the 21st century.
14/09/2019 - 15/03/2020
Hermitage Amsterdam, Amstel 51, Amsterdam, Nertherlands
Treasures from the Hermitage: Russia’s Crown Jewels
Opening delayed for legal reasons - never took place
Houston will be the only venue for this fascinating and exclusive exhibition, which includes more than 150 stunning objects selected from The Treasure Gallery of The State Hermitage Museum. Many of these objects have never before left Russia – and all may never leave again. Marvel at gold, silver and jewels, including gemstone carvings, suites of jewelry and jeweled objects created over the last thousand years and acquired by Peter the Great, Catherine the Great, Alexander I and Nicholas II among others who collected only the best of the best.
20/05/2011 – 27/11/2011
Houston Museum of Natural Science, 555 Hermann Park Drive, Houston Texas 77030, USA
Catherine the Great: an Enlightened Empress
Sharp, funny, generous, iron-willed and passionate, Catherine the Great was one of Russia’s most successful rulers and one of the greatest art collectors of all time. Presented in partnership with the State Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg, this unique exhibition is showing only in Edinburgh. The exhibition features more than 600 priceless works collected by the Empress. See spectacular paintings, outstanding costumes and uniforms, dazzling cameos, snuffboxes and jewellery, hunting weapons and exquisite works of art seldom seen outside Russia.
13/07/2012 – 21/10/2012
The National Museum of Scotland (Exhibition Gallery 1, Level 3), Chambers Street, Edinburgh EH1 1JF, UK
Platinum Jubilee: The Queen’s Coronation
In celebration of The Queen's historic Platinum Jubilee in 2022, Windsor Castle is hosting a special display commemorating Her Majesty's Coronation at Westminster Abbey on 2 June 1953.
On display is the Coronation Dress and Robe of Estate worn by The Queen that day, and an elegant collection of Her Majesty's jewellery worn for the historic occasion.
7/07/2022 - 26/09/2023 Closed early due to the death of HM Queen Elizabeth II
Windsor Castle, Windsor SL4 1NJ, UK
Diamonds: A Jubilee Celebration
Diamond, the hardest natural material known, carries associations of endurance and longevity. These qualities, allied to the purity, magnificence and value of the stones, have for centuries led rulers to deploy diamonds in regalia, jewellery and precious objects. Individual diamonds have achieved great renown, passing down the generations and between enemies or allies as potent symbols of sovereignty and as precious gifts. This spectacular exhibition at Buckingham Palace will show the many ways in which diamonds have been used by British monarchs over the last 200 years. The exhibition includes an unprecedented display of a number of The Queen’s personal jewels – those inherited by Her Majesty or acquired during her reign. The exhibition will reveal how many of these extraordinary stones have undergone a number of transformations, having been re-cut or incorporated into new settings during their fascinating history.
30/06/2012 – 7/10/2012 (closed 9-30/07/2012)
Buckingham Palace, London SW1A 1AA, UK
Treasures from The Queen's Palaces
An exhibition of some of the finest treasures from the Royal Collection which reflects the tastes of monarchs and other members of the royal family who have shaped one of the world’s great art collections. The selection of 100 outstanding works has been made across the entire breadth of the Royal Collection, from eight royal residences and over five centuries of collecting, and includes paintings, drawings, miniatures, watercolours, manuscripts, furniture, sculpture, ceramics and jewellery. Highlights include Imperial Easter Eggs by Fabergé. Most of the works will be shown in Scotland for the first time.
16/03/2012 – 16/09/2012
Palace of Holyroodhouse, Canongate, The Royal Mile, EH8 8DX, Edinbugh, UK
Im Glanz der Zaren. Die Romanows, Württemberg und Europa
The glory of the Tsars. The Romanovs, Württemberg and Europe
Five marriages, four generations, one story. No other dynasty has maintained as close a family relationship with the Romanovs as the house of Württemberg. For the first time the five women, whose marriages laid the basis for the extraordinary common history, are at the centre of a major national exhibition. At the same time, their impact on the European power stages is illuminated. This exhibition tells of pomp, splendour and glory, but also of homesickness and everyday life, of faith and myth, and the exchange between Russia and Württemberg in education, science and economy. Outstanding exhibits, some shown outside Russia for the first time, bring the richness of the Tsars' court back to Stuttgart. High-profile Russian museums, such as the Kremlin, the State Historical Museum and the Pavlovsk Reserve have contributed magnificent objects.
5/10/2013 – 23/03/2014
Landesmuseum Württemberg, Altes Schloss, Schillerplatz 6, 70173 Stuttgart
The Treasure of the Kremlin
The Kremlin Palace in Moscow, the political heart of ancient Russia, houses the Armoury of the Grand Princes and the Tsars containing precious objects that belonged to the Emperors and mementoes connected with famous governors and statesmen. This exhibition, part of the celebrations for the Italy–Russia Year, will contain a fine selection from the collections. Other objects on display from the twelfth and thirteenth centuries come from the Cathedral of the Annunciation of the Kremlin and an extraordinary collection of Byzantine gems, which arrived in Moscow as a result of the close and constant relations with Constantinople, since the Moscow court was considered the legitimate heir of the Byzantine empire. Other treasures include works by the Russian masters from the fourteenth to the seventeenth century.
27/05/2011 – 11/09/2011
Museo degli Argenti, Florence, Italy
Royal Fabergé Exhibition
The exhibition at the annual Summer Opening of Buckingham Palace brings together masterpieces by Carl Fabergé, from Imperial Easter Eggs and dazzling jewel-encrusted boxes to miniature carvings of favourite royal pets. Royal Fabergé reveals how the world’s finest collection of work by the great Russian goldsmith and jeweller has been created by successive generations of the British Royal Family.
1/08/2011 – 25/09/2011
The State Rooms, Buckingham Palace, London, UK
Imperial orders. Diplomatic splendours of the Second Empire
All the decorations received by Napoleon III, the Prince Imperial and Empress Eugenie, miraculously saved from the burning of the Tuileries in 1871, are presented to the public for the first time in their entirety. Each piece tells a story, a friendship, a victory, an economic or political accord. The whole collection offers a unique journey into the world of the 19th century.
19/01/2011 – 29/05/2011
Musée national de la Légion d’honneur et des ordres de chevalerie, Paris, France
Moravian-Silesian Frontier in the Time of John of Luxembourg
A major exhibition to celebrate the 700th anniversary of the accession of the Luxembourg dynasty to the Czech throne. Highlights of the exhibition will include part of the Bohemian royal treasure that was discovered in the Polish Silesian town of Sroda Slaska in the 1980s, and the crown of Blanche of Valois.
15/12/2010 - 31/03/2011
Ostrava Museum, Ostrava, Czech Republic
Glanz der Macht – kaiserliche Pretiosen aus der Wiener Kunstkammer In Kooperation mit dem Kunsthistorischen Museum Wien
The Splendour of Power - Hapsburg imperial Jewellery from the Kunstkammer in Vienna
Beauty, distinctiveness and glamour distinguish these imperial jewels from the Kunstkammer in Vienna, itself a jewel among Kunstkammers. These were status-enhancing qualities intended to illuminate their wearers. The exhibition will show precious and exquisite pieces of jewellery, State insignia, and objets d'art made from precious hardstones.
03/12/2010 – 13/02/2011
Schmuckmuseum, Pforzheim, Germany
17/04/2011 – 24/07/2011
Stiftung Moritzburg - Kunstmuseum des Landes Sachsen-Anhalt, Halle (Saale), Germany
Royal Marriage – Elizabeth Premyslid and John of Luxembourg 1310.
A major exhibition to celebrate the 700th anniversary of the accession of the Luxembourg dynasty to the Czech throne. A highlight of the exhibition will be a large part of the Bohemian royal treasure that was discovered in the Polish Silesian town of Sroda Slaska in the 1980s. Prominent among the precious objects will be a lady's crown that almost certainly was worn by one of the Bohemian queens from the end of the 13th or first half of the 14th centuries and might even have adorned the head of Queen Elizabeth Premyslid herself.
4/11/2010 - 6/02/2011
The Stone Bell House, Prague, Czech Republic
For honour and glory: jewellery from the Napoleonic era
2010 will see the 200th anniversary of Napoleon's visit to Antwerp with his second wife Marie-Louise. The Diamond Museum has taken advantage of this opportunity to mount an exhibition celebrating the splendour and ostentation of the jewellery and military decorations of the Napoleonic era.
30/09/2010 – 31/12/2010
Diamantmuseum Provincie Antwerpen, Antwerp, Belgium
Victoria & Albert: Art & Love
This major exhibition is the first ever to focus on Queen Victoria and Prince Albert’s shared enthusiasm for art. Bringing together over 400 items from the Royal Collection, it celebrates the royal couple’s mutual delight in collecting and displaying works of art, from the time of their engagement in 1839 to the Prince’s untimely death in 1861. It will incude a good selection of ‘state’ jewellery (the diamond collet necklace, the engagement brooch, the Oriental tiara, etc), a quantity of insignia belonging to both Queen and Prince, and a selection of ‘personal’ jewellery (such as pebble bracelets, stag’s teeth parures, images of the children, etc).
19/03/2010 – 5/12/2010
Buckingham Palace, London, UK
1810, the politics of love - Napoleon I and Marie-Louise in Compiègne
This first exhibition in France to evoke Marie-Louise, Empress of the French, intends to celebrate the two hundredth anniversary of the second marriage of Napoleon I to the young Archduchess of Austria, Marie-Antoinette’s grand-niece. It describes the extraordinary preparations for the arrival of the new Empress at the Palace of Compiègne, the splendours of the wedding ceremonies in Paris and the subsequent honeymoon in Compiègne. More than 200 works, wedding gifts, commissions for the sovereign’s trousseau and items of furniture, have been brought together: paintings, drawings, prints, sculptures, objets d’art, clothes, silks and jewellery
28/03/2010 – 19/07/2010
Château de Compiègne Museum, Compiègne, France
The King's Blood: relics of King Charles I
An exhibition drawing on public and private collections to show a small group of relics associated with King Charles I, whose death over three hundred and fifty years ago still polarises opinion. Venerated as a saint by some, his relics took on a huge significance for royalists. Exhibits include the chalice from which he took his last communion, his pearl earring, and a fascinating gem-set reliquary. Admission is free, but catalogues will be sold in aid of The Down’s Syndrome Association.
11/05/2010 – 21/05/2010
Wartski, London, UK
Power & Image: Royal & Aristocratic Tiaras
Representing a rare and historic gathering of fine jewels, this exhibition draws together over 40 outstanding tiaras including examples with British and European royal provenance. Most of the assembled exemplars have been handed down through families for generations and seldom loaned for public display. Their range reflects successive design evolutions in the format, prompted by monarchic taste, societal shifts and the influence from other art forms, through to contemporary jewellers redefining tiaras today.
28/05/2022 - 28/06/2022
Sotheby’s London, 34-35 New Bond Street, London W1A 2AA, UK
Royal diadems and jewellery: Masterpieces of Italian goldsmiths' art of the Court of Savoy
This exhibition displays the court jewellery of Savoy, created by the best Italian goldsmiths of the 19th century, preserved intact in the Sanctuary of Oropa, with splendid works of 17th and 18th century. There are also “civil” jewels – representing the devotion during centuries of the common people, aristocracy and royal family to the Madonna d’Oropa, a major sanctuary in the mountains of Biella that dominates physically and spiritually all other parts of the Piedmont region.
26/07/2009 – 10/01/2010
Reggia di Venaria, Turin, Italy
Lo Spirito delle Cose. The silver and everyday treasures of the counts of Arco
On display for the first time the core of the collection is on display, showing the family silver as well as the charming objects of the ladies, those for writing and smoking.
30/03/2019 - 30/11/2019
Museo di Palazzo d’Arco, Piazza Carlo d'Arco n°4, 46100 Mantova, Italy
The jewels of Marie Louise
Annual one-week exhibition celebrating the birth and death dates of Marie Louise of Hapsburg, the second wife of Napoleon. The exhibition will feature two major recent acquisitions as well as loans from private collections. It is accompanied by a book, number 11 in the museum's series, “I gioielli di Maria Luigia”
12/12/2009 – 20/12/2009
Museo Glauco Lombardi, Parma , Italy
Os anos de exílio da Rainha D. Amélia: Colecção Rémi Fénérol
Queen D. Amélia’s personal belongings are for the first time exhibited in Lisbon. All the objects have been travelling for over a century and part of them belong to the Rémi Fénérol’s royalty objects collection. The collector followed the steps of the Queen’s former servants to whom she offered jewels and personal objects throughout the life notwithstanding with the order «only to part with them after the 1980’s decade», according to the Museum’s director, José Alberto Ribeiro.
20/11/2008 – 30/04/2009
Casa-Museu Anastácio Gonçalves, Lisbon, Portugal
Treasures of the Esterházy Princes
13/12/06 – 31/12/08
Museum of Applied Arts, Budapest, Hungary
Famous owners
Sarah Bernhardt. And the woman created the star
Sarah Bernhardt, (1844-1923), was an emblematic figure who spanned the 19th and 20th centuries. The “Divine Sarah”, who was an artist as well as an actress, takes centre stage at the Petit Palais in an exceptional exhibition to mark the centenary of her death. The museum holds important collections of works linked to the actress, including the spectacular portrait of her that was painted in 1876 by her friend Georges Clairin and donated by her son Maurice. The exhibition, of over 400 works, evokes her greatest roles through the costumes she wore on stage, theatrical crowns and other jewellery, photographs, paintings, posters, and other memorabilia. Her “golden voice” and her tall, slender figure – unusual in those days – held the public in thrall, as well as the artistic and literary world, who simply venerated her. Sarah Bernhardt can be regarded as a genuine star before her time, constantly on the look-out for new trends and using her image for her own publicity. The frenzy of popular emotion that greeted her death in 1923, at the age of 79, anticipated the cult following of the great film stars of the 20th century.
14/04/2023 - 27/08/2023
Petit Palais, Musée des Beaux Arts de la Ville de Paris, Avenue Winston-Churchill 75008 Paris, France
Silver Tales. Karen Blixen told in Silver, Pearls and Diamonds
The exhibition “Silver Tales” explores Karen Blixen’s work, life and persona as a story told in silver, pearls and diamonds, which were her preferred choice of jewellery. Goldsmiths, silversmiths, and jewellery designers, inspired by a portrait, an object in the museum, or one of Karen Blixen’s tales, are exhibiting 42 pieces of jewellery and silverware in five separate sections. These refer to five of Karen Blixen’s tales: 'The Pearls', 'The Ring', 'The Immortal Story', 'The Diver', and 'The Ghost Horses', in which jewels play a central part, relating to experiences of loss, sensuality, art and eternity.
Karen Blixen’s own jewellery box was limited, but the few pieces she wore throughout her life had a special story, based on love. She also used deliberately eye-catching pieces, which were both exclusive, for everyday wear or even borrowed. It was the effect that counted, and with an artist’s eye Karen Blixen created her own unique style.
6/10/2022 - 30/04/2023
Karen Blixen Museum
Rungsted Strandvej 111, 2960 Rungsted Kyst, Denmark
Gulbenkian par lui-même : dans l’intimité d’un collectionneur
Gulbenkian Revealed: In the Collector’s Private Realm
This exhibition is presented in association with the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and showcases treasures from the museum in Lisbon which houses the private collection of its eponymous founder, one of the most celebrated art collectors of the early 20th century. The exhibition is organised as part of the Saison France-Portugal 2022. This is the second in a series of biannual temporary loan exhibitions to be shown at The Al Thani Collection at the Hôtel de la Marine, alongside Treasures of The Al Thani Collection.
'Gulbenkian Revealed: In the Collector’s Private Realm' presents a carefully selected group of 90 works of art, principally small in scale and made to be carefully handled and privately cherished by the connoisseur-collector. Through these objects, the exhibition explores five key principles which guided Calouste Gulbenkian (1869-1955) as a collector: preciousness, intimate scale, craftsmanship, provenance and rarity. Reflecting the diversity of artworks which appealed to Gulbenkian, the exhibition also highlights his fascination with the material quality of the objects that the collected.
10/06/2022 - 2/10/2022
Hôtel de la Marine, 2 Pl. de la Concorde, 75008 Paris, France
Read My Pins: The Madeleine Albright Collection
Organized by the Museum of Arts and Design, this exhibition highlights over 200 pins from the unique collection of the former Secretary of State. The Madeleine Albright collection includes pins of every description, many with fascinating stories attached. Some of the pieces are associated with important world events, others were gifts from international leaders or valued friends. A select number of the pins are fine antiques, most are costume jewelry, chosen for the symbolic messages they might convey. As the fame of Albright's pins has grown, so has their variety and number. Distinctive as it is democratic, this often whimsical collection spans more than a century of jewelry design and includes pieces from across the globe.
30/09/2009 - 31/01/2010
Museum of Arts and Design, New York, NY, USA
7/11/2010 – 30/01/2011
Indianapolis Museum of Art IMA, IN, USA
3/09/2011 – 27/11/2011
Jimmy Carter Library & Museum, Atlanta, Georgia 30307-1498, USA
13/12/2011 - 4/03/2012
Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
15/04/2012 - 17/06/2012
Denver Art Museum, W 14th Ave Pkwy, Denver, CO 80204, USA
30/06/2012 - 23/09/2012
Mint Museum UPTOWN, Levine Center for the Arts, 500 South Tryon Street, Charlotte, NC 28202, USA
20/10/2012 - 13/01/2013
Bowers Museum, 2002 N. Main Street, Santa Ana, CA 92706, USA
9/06/2014 - 20/07/2014
Davis Museum and Cultural Center, Wellesley College, 106 Central Street – Wellesley, MA 02481, USA
9/08/2014 – 2/11/2014
Franklin D. Roosevelt Library and Museum, 4079 Albany Post Rd, Hyde Park , NY 12538
13/03/2015 - 7/06/2015
Bellevue Arts Museum, 510 Bellevue Way NE, Bellevue, WA 98004, USA
Grace Kelly: Style Icon
The spectacular wardrobe of Grace Kelly will be on display at the V&A. Tracing the evolution of her style from her days as one of Hollywoods most popular actresses in the 1950s and as Princess Grace of Monaco, the display will present over 50 of Grace Kelly's outfits together with hats, jewellery and the original Hermès Kelly bag.
17/04/2010 – 26/09/2010
Victoria & Albert Museum/V&A South Kensington, London, UK
Notorious and Notable: 20th Century Women of Style
Co-presented with the National Jewelry Institute, Notorious and Notable: 20th Century Women of Style highlights 80 prominent New York women who used their style, talent, or wealth to capture the attention of society and the media. The exhibition features a runway of original attire—much of it created by the most important designers of their times—and an impressive selection of jewelry crafted from the dawn of the 20th century to its close. The exhibition features such celebrated New York women as Mrs. Cornelius Whitney Vanderbilt, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Babe Paley, and Barbara Walters, as well as women from the arts world, including Isadora Duncan, Marian Anderson, Lena Horne, and Lauren Bacall. The exhibition offers an opportunity to encounter many of New York’s leading ladies past and present through their fashion and jewelry.
14/09/2010 - 3/01/2011
Museum of the City of New York, NY, USA
Other
Bejewelled: Badges, Brotherhood and Identity
By wearing badges we can connect with one another and reveal something about ourselves. With their unique symbols and hidden meanings, this exhibition features over 150 stunning examples of masonic badges referred to as ‘jewels’. It is the largest public display of its kind ever staged in the UK. Including jewels from around the world, the exhibition sheds light on a long and celebrated tradition. Examples like the Egyptian-inspired Authors’ Lodge jewel and delightful Barraclough Plate jewel tell the story of freemasonry over three centuries. Whether made by Prisoners of War or for future kings, the beautiful craftsmanship that the jewels display is only matched by the story behind each one.
20/09/2018 - 24/08/2019
The Library and Museum of Freemasonry, Freemasons’ Hall, 60 Great Queen Street, London, WC2B 5AZ, UK
A Return to the Grand Tour: Micromosaic Jewels from the Collection of Elizabeth Locke
Diminutive forms of ancient Roman, Greek, and Byzantine mosaics, “micromosaics” — a term coined in the 1970s by collector Sir Arthur Gilbert — are made using a painstaking technique that involves tesserae, small pieces of opaque enamel glass. The tiny mosaics were first developed with regularity in the second half of the 18th century by the Vatican Mosaic Workshop. By the 19th century, numerous independent studios devoted to the production of these small keepsakes were established to meet travellers’ demands and to capitalise on the increasing popularity of micromosaics as symbols of status, sophistication, and social polish. For an English traveller to Rome, Venice, or Milan, for example, a micromosaic of an Italian Renaissance painting or ancient architectural monument captured the journey and today reflects that era’s fascination with the classics and societal requisite travel to the “cradle of western civilization.” The works of art on view in this exhibition, which are predominantly stunning pieces of jewellery, are dazzling in their exquisite detail and craftsmanship. In addition to the tiny enamelled glass that forms the mosaic, eye-catching designs include gold, precious stones, and diamonds. VMFA is pleased to present this decorative arts exhibition and to share these fine works of art from the Elizabeth Locke Collection of Micromosaics.
29/01/2019 - 27/05/2019
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, 200 N. Boulevard, Richmond, VA 23220-4007, USA
Elegantly meaningful – Signs and symbols in jewellery, graphic and printed works. Exhibition to mark the anniversary of Johannes Reuchlin’s death
When we think of language, jewellery is not the first thing that comes to mind. However, jewellery is a precious manifestation of many and varied systems of signs and symbols – as precious as the message itself. Jewellery serves as a means of communication, and hence is quite literally a "carrier of meaning". The Jewellery Museum has been inspired by this aspect to mark the 500th anniversary of Johannes Reuchlin’s death with an exhibition of calligraphy to highlight the humanist’s appreciation of languages and, concomitantly, of tolerance and peaceful understanding. In addition, video installations in several rooms will be showing texts from various eras of human history, and the theme of "language in jewellery" will be running like a leitmotif throughout the permanent exhibition. After all, jewellery has been playing an important role across different epochs and cultures as one of the many ways to express ourselves. Not least due to its high symbolic value, it is also a precious gift, for example for the birth of a child or on a wedding day. Quite often, jewellery accompanies its owner to their grave and thus even after death.
25/06/2022 - 6/11/2022
Schmuckmuseum Pforzheim, Jahnstraße 42, 75173 Pforzheim, Germany
Les gouachés : un art unique et ignoré
In jewellery, the creation of a jewel is a collective work whose sketch is the first step. Gouaches are to high jewellery what patrons are to haute couture: a technical drawing that will guide all the hands involved in the creation of the jewel. It prefigures the jewel in volume and colour; the veritable basis of the work, on which, as on a plaque, the craftsman sets the stones and builds the frames. Rarely seen, often kept secret, these little works of art tell in themselves an alternative story of high jewellery, which begins like many others with a piece of paper, a pencil and a little gouache. This exhibition, made possible thanks to the private collection of the northern jewellers Dael & Grau, shows precious and sumptuous preparatory drawings of jewels created between 1900 and 1950. It takes you into the little-known world of high jewellery via 700 rare and fragile drawings.
3/02/2018 - 1/04/2018
Le musée La Piscine – Musée d’art et d’industrie André Diligent, 23 rue de l’espérance, 59100 Roubaix, France
Exquisite Artistry: Victorian jewellery designs by the firm of John Brogden
Among the V&A’s rich collection of design drawings are over 1500 designs for jewellery and goldsmiths’ work by the celebrated firm of John Brogden. Renowned for their outstanding goldwork, the firm produced pieces in an eclectic range of styles using highly sophisticated techniques to satisfy the demanding and discerning 19th-century consumer market.
19/02/2019 - 17/11/2019
Victoria and Albert Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 2RL, UK
Jewellery: Designs in Print and Drawing
From a cursory sketch to a detailed drawing, designing jewellery usually begins on paper. In addition to paintings, prints and drawings often constitute the only source of information about jewellery: over the centuries many pieces have been altered or melted down for their value. Designs for fashionable jewels from the 16th to the 19th century are on view in this exhibition in the Rijksprentenkabinet.
31/07/2017 – 26/11/2017
Rijksmuseum, Museumstraat 1 Amsterdam, Netherlands
Private Confession - Die Zeichnungen der Schmuckkünstler
Private Confession - The drawings of jewellery artists
For the first time, a "jewellery exhibition" is devoted to jewellery drawings, bringing a multi-faceted, hitherto underestimated topic to the forefront. 36 contemporary jewellery makers from all over the world present a selection of drawings that accompany their object work. The spectrum extends from the sketch, which is oriented to the concrete execution of the piece of jewellery, to the drawing as an independent artistic manifestation. In addition to about 400 drawings, selected jewels as well as installations and sketchbooks can be seen. The panorama of the exhibited works ranges from the minimalist to the extreme reduced gesture to written confessions to Baroque narrative opulence and fusion with jewellery sculpture. The exhibition presents a new chapter for the reception and reflection of contemporary makers' jewellery, which has become particularly important in Munich, attracting thousands of visitors every year to the Bavarian capital. The exhibition is accompanied by a book by Michael Buhrs and Ellen Maurer Zilioli.
10/03/2017 - 7/05/2017
Museum Villa Stuck, Prinzregentenstr. 60, D-81675 München, Germany
Designing for a New Century: Works on Paper by Lalique and his Contemporaries
In the late 19th century and early 20th century, René Lalique’s jewelry, and then his beautifully designed glass objects and vessels, made him an influential figure in the Art Nouveau and Art Deco movements. His work was acclaimed at the international industrial expositions, particularly the 1900 and 1925 Paris Expositions. This exhibition surveys the extraordinary glass art created by Lalique and his European contemporaries, including Maurice Marinot, Auguste Herbst, Emile Gallé,and Val St. Lambert, through design drawings, trade catalogs, period photographs, and rare books from the Rakow Library’s special collections.
17/05/2014 – 4/01/2015
Rakow Research Library, The Corning Museum of Glass, One Museum Way - Corning, NY, USA
Himmlisch — Sonne, Mond und Sterne im Schmuck
Heavenly Bodies — the Sun, Moon and Stars in Jewellery
The myths surrounding precious metals are closely linked to our celestial bodies. Symbolizing the sun, spheres were widespread motifs back in the Bronze Age, and the glowing star has always been epitomized by the warm gleam of gold. Lunulae — crescent-shaped collars — are common types of Celtic, as well as Byzantine jewellery. Motifs connoting celestial bodies can be found in all cultures and eras. Also, the firmament is the favoured realm of the gods — starting from the Egyptian sun god Ra to Apollo riding his chariot across the sky. By wearing cult objects made of gold, people sought to win their favour and to share in their glory. Twinkling stars in hair ornaments or slender crescents worn on the lapel are examples of "celestial" jewellery created in the 18th to 20th centuries.
8/07/2016 - 30/10/2016
Schmuckmuseum Pforzheim, Jahnstraße 42, 75173 Pforzheim, Germany
Gioielli per la pace. Jewellery for Peace
From John Lennon to Mahatma Gandhi, Albert Schweitzer to Alfred Nobel, Peace has been sung, invoked, defended or rewarded in many areas and disciplines apart from jewellery. Jewellery has always remained distant from any ideological or political involvement, perhaps to avoid tainting its precious allure with daily life. This exhibition presents Peace interpreted by young international designers who invest jewellery with a social and educational function.
5/09/2015 - 7/01/2016
Museo del Gioiello, Basilica Palladiana, Piazza dei Signori 44, 36100 Vicenza, Italy
Gioielli di Gusto
Jewels of Taste
For centuries, the table has inspired a wealth of rare jewels and outstanding fashion jewellery. Form and color in nutritional products are a major contributor in developing the at times serious, at times surreal, at times fantastic, and long-cherished relationship between food and ornament. Through a combination of historic items and contemporary works by Italian and international jewellers and designers, this exhibition signifies how dishes and foods have long been sources of creativity and inspiration, and emphasises the aesthetic and cultural value of food.
18/09/2015 - 8/12/2015
Palazzo Morando, Costume Moda Immagin, Via Sant’Andrea 6, Milan, Italy
Beautiful Creatures
Beautiful Creatures presents more than 100 animal-themed precious jewels created by the world's great jewellery houses and artisans, from Cartier's iconic panthers to Suzanne Belperron's butterflies. This exhibition was postponed from last year, due to covid, but the catalogue was published, and is reviewed in the latest issue of Jewellery History Today
12/06/2021 - 19/09/2021
American Museum of Natural History, 200 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024-5102, USA
Beauty of the Beast
Exhibition of jewellery from the 19th century to the present day based on taxidermy.
24/01/2015 - 24/05/2015
Museum Arnhem
Utrechtseweg 87 6812 AA Arnhem, Netherlands
Wild Domain: The Natural History of Jane Dodd Jewellery
Representing the first major survey of Ōtepoti Dunedin-based jeweller Jane Dodd’s expanding family of works; this exhibition delves into her examination of humankind’s impact on the natural world. Featuring over 100 pieces from museum and private collections, this is a whirlwind tour of Dodd’s critical, humorous and touching journey to help us recognise our intrinsic relationship to nature and the planet we all share. Each work takes on a life of its own, that when combined with a wearer’s memories and associations, builds a story and a system of interconnected links. Together, these many components form, what has become, The Natural History of Jane Dodd Jewellery.
20/02/2021 - 27/06/2021
The Dowse Art Museum, 45 Laings Road, Lower Hutt, PO Box 30396, 5040, New Zealand
Natural Beauties: Jewelry From Art Nouveau to Now
From time immemorial, mankind has found the beauty and complexity of nature to be a fertile source for personal adornment. This exhibition explores the concept of nature in jewelry design as a reflection of our culture’s evolving relationship with our biological surroundings, from the fetishization of the Art Nouveau movement to the current politicization of environmental activism.
15/11/2014 – 8/03/2015
Shelburne Museum, Pizzagalli Center for Art and Education, 6000 Shelburne Road, PO Box 10, Shelburne, VT, USA
Végétal – L’École de la Beauté
The exhibition Végétal – L’École de la Beauté affirms the beauty of nature and celebrates the timeless characteristics of plants in an intersection of visions, eras and media, inviting the visitor to look at nature anew through the universal prism of art and beauty. As the project initiator, Maison Chaumet has drawn on its vast heritage, one of the most important in the history of jewellery in Europe, to spotlight its naturalist identity and botanist perspective in parallel with artistic forms that are also based on the botanical. Nearly 400 works offer an enlightening exploration of 7,000 years of art and science related through the dialogue between painting, sculpture, textiles, photography and furniture, along with nearly 80 jewellery objects from Chaumet and other houses. This unprecedented and ambitious exhibition will take place with the support of the Beaux-Arts de Paris and with the exceptional support of the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle de Paris, the Musée d’Orsay and the Musée du Louvre.
16/06/2022 - 4/09/2022
Palais des Beaux-Arts, 13 quai Malaquais, 75006 Paris, France
The Ivory Mirror: The Art of Mortality in Renaissance Europe
This exhibition represents a significant contribution to our understanding of the rich visual culture of mortality in Renaissance Europe. The appeal of the “memento mori,” featuring macabre imagery urging us to “remember death,” reached the apex of its popularity around 1500, when artists treated the theme in innovative and compelling ways. Exquisite artworks—from ivory prayer beads to gem-encrusted jewelry—evoke life’s preciousness and the tension between pleasure and responsibility, then and now.
24/06/2017 – 26/11/2017
Bowdoin College Museum of Art, 9400 College Station, Brunswick ME 04011, USA
Makabre Mesterværker
Macabre Masterpieces
Makabre Mesterværker tackles an often taboo but eternally topical subject, namely the staging and artistic treatment of death.
The exhibition presents a selection of exclusive jewellery created by leading Danish and foreign goldsmiths, silversmiths and jewellery designers in a surprising encounter with prehistoric and historic objects from the museum's own collection and on loan from museums at home and abroad.
The works on display together form a journey into the dimensions of death, with narratives that begin violently and with the triumph of death. The journey moves around many cultures and different times, following its own trail where time inevitably runs out, the body perishes, and where grief and ritual find a place alongside notions of an afterlife and resurrection. Join us on a thought-provoking journey studded with chains, body parts, skulls, crosses and precious objects.
The exhibition is the result of a collaboration between Museum Sønderjylland, jewellery writer Nina Hald, who has curated the exhibition, and jeweller Bodil Binner. Most of the modern jewellery was created especially for the exhibition.
8/04/2022 - 23/10/2022
Museum Sønderjylland, Sønderborg Slot, Sønderbro 1, 6400 Sønderborg, Denmark
Der transparente Tod - Glas in der Bestattungskultur
Transparent death - glass in burial culture
This exhibition invites you on a journey through the history of funeral culture. It tells the story of the transformation of funeral customs and their various relationships with glass. Perhaps the most beautiful exhibit is a death crown from the late 18th century, which was provided for an unmarried person. This product of folk art as well as wreaths decorated with beads rejected the cemetery regulations of 100 years ago which were in strict accordance with "Expertenästhetik". In this respect, the Glashütte exhibition has rehabilitated once despised jewellery customs of the grave, proving that even the dead have a right to fashion.
15/03/2014 - 26/06/2014
Museumsverein Glashütte e.V., Hüttenweg 20, 15837 Baruth/Mark OT Glashütte, Germany
Höllenhund und Liebestaube - 5.000 Jahre Tiermythen im Schmuck
Hellhounds and Doves of Love - 5,000 years of animal myths in jewellery
Some of the earliest designs of jewellery include animals. They occur in almost every era in different forms and meanings. They range from the head of a wildcat in a Persian bracelet from 2,700 years ago, love birds in the form of earrings in antiquity, a hunting dog pendant from the Renaissance and an insect brooch in the Art Nouveau style, to contemporary works, such as a Koi bangle by David Bielander or beetle brooches by Georg Dobler. The exhibition shows the variety of animal motifs in jewellery from the past 5,000 years.
21/03/2014 – 22/06/2014
Schmuckmuseum Pforzheim, Jahnstrasse 42, D-75173, Pforzheim, Germany
Art of the Curious. An exhibition of the rare, the bizarre and the beautiful
This exhibition represents an intriguing collaborative recreation of the concept of the Kunstkammer. Colnaghi’s paintings and drawings departments will join forces with Kunstkammer Georg Laue of Munich, the leading gallery specialising in Kunst- and Wunderkammer objects of the Renaissance and Baroque, to show a selection of extraordinary natural and artistic marvels celebrating the rare, the bizarre and the beautiful.
2/10/2013 - 25/10/2013
Colnaghi Ltd, 15 Old Bond Street, London, W1S 4AX, UK
Gold gab ich für Eisen. Der Erste Weltkrieg im Medium der Medaille
I Gave Gold for Iron - The Great War through the Medium of the Medal
Medals and coins provide a direct, flowing commentary on WWI - the first great German and European catastrophe of the 20th century. The phenomenon of Notgeld (emergency currency) was particular to Germany and Austria, when many municipalities and even companies started printing ersatz notes to make up for the lack of small-denomination coins. While the printing of Notgeld was a reflection of serious metal shortages, the artist editions of Great War medals and the elaborate designs on the scores of Notgeld notes were a sign of 'patriotic luxury'. The change in values also found expression in the new choice of subjects adopted in the medium of the medal. Never before in the history of medallic art was such an exceptional array of fine-art medals produced (including many by young modern artists) as in these four years. The edition initiated by the numismatic society 'Freunde der Deutschen Schaumünze' (featured in a 1998 research publication) is going on display for the first time, along with other selected fine-art medals from the period. The exhibition also includes a view from outside the German Empire and features examples of medals from the Allies.
21/03/2014 - 1/03/2015
Bode-Museum, Am Kupfergraben, 10117 Berlin, Germany
Le grand collier de la Légion d’honneur, de Vincent Auriol à François Hollande
The Museum of the Legion of Honour pays tribute to the President of the Republic, Grand Master of the Order, in an exhibition on the Grand Collar. The public can learn about the history and symbolism of this universal badge presented to the President at his inauguration. Jewellers' designs, details of allegorical medallions, films of investiture ceremonies under the Fourth and Fifth Republics, magazines and vintage photos, and official portraits, bring to life the Grand Collar of the Legion of Honour which in the contemporary version echos models of the First Empire and the Third Republic, also exhibited in the museum.
14/07/2012 - 29/09/2013
Musée national de la Légion d’honneur et des ordres de chevalerie, 2, rue de la Légion-d’Honneur, 75007 Paris, France
Keepsakes, Key rings and Kiss Me Quick
Whether as a reminder of a special event, holiday, moment in history or a connection to a special place or person, people have always collected keepsakes and souvenirs. Illustrated by a wealth of objects as diverse as Egyptian grave goods, Victorian mourning jewellery and Royal wedding ceramics, this exhibition takes a look the history of souvenirs; from the Grand Tour to the Diamond Jubilee.
2/06/2012 – 1/09/2012
Hertford Museum, 18 Bull Plain, Hertford SG14 1DT, UK
Le goût de la parure. Portraits du château de Versailles
An exhibition of 28 paintings from the château de Versailles dedicated to the depiction of jewellery in portraiture of the time of Louis XIV. These works show the taste for jewellery among the aristocracy, featuring necklaces, rings, and earrings but also waist and shoe buckles, medallions and dress appliqués. The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue.
15/10/2016 - 15/01/2017
Château d'Angers, 2, promenade du Bout du Monde, Angers, France
The Look of Love - Eye Miniatures from the Skier Collection
This exhibition explores the little-known subject of "lover’s eyes," hand-painted miniatures of single human eyes set in jewellery and given as tokens of affection or remembrance, with over 75 examples drawn from the private collection of Dr. and Mrs. David A. Skier
7/02/2012 – 10/07/2012
Birmingham Museum of Art, 2000 Rev. Abraham Woods, Jr. Blvd, (formerly 2000 8th Ave. N.), Birmingham, Alabama 35203, USA
De l'Utopie a la Connaissance
The first special exhibition of the Belgian Museum of Freemasonry will be devoted to jewellery from Rosicrucian period (1760-1890), from the collection of Daniel Guégen, for example, the Sovereign Prince Rose Croix is the 18th of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite (AASR). Also included is the table of Oswald Wirth owned by the Museum of Freemasonry in Paris.
1/06/2011 - 31/10/2011
Belgian Museum of Freemasonry, Brussels
Wives and Sweethearts
Wives and Sweethearts explores soldiers' relationships from the 18th century to the present day through a deeply-moving selection of letters and photographs. Displayed alongside are sweetheart brooches, jewellery and other touching love-tokens.
10/02/2011 – 30/07/2011
National Army Museum, London SW3 4HT, UK
SERPENTIform. Art Jewelry Design
SERPENTIform is an exhibition that explores the many facets of the snake motif that has embodied across time and space and how this versatile motif has inspired the world of jewels, arts, design, fashion, decorative arts and photography. Epitomizing seduction, rebirth and transformation, the serpent as a symbol has been intertwined for centuries with the story of mankind, capturing the imagination from East to West. Ever since antiquity, the creature’s ability to renew itself by changing skin, to remain in contact with the earth and at the same time rise above it, to sinuously coil itself up, or to defeat threatening predators, has fed myths and legends, stimulating a wide range of artistic practices. Bulgari Serpenti creations from the Maison archives and private collections - ranging from the more stylised early models made with the Tubogas technique to more realistic ones with gold scales or enamelled in many colours –convey the fascinating evolution of this sign in the pioneering creativity of the Maison.
19/08/2017 – 15/10/2017
ArtScience Museum, Marina Bay Sands hotel, Singapore
Serpentina – die Schlange im Schmuck
Serpentine - the snake in Jewellery
In almost all of the world's cultures, the snake is a special symbol, in particular because its symbolism is very complex and multifaceted. On the one hand it stands for eternity and renewal because it sheds its skin, and on the other hand it represents death and destruction. The ›Serpentina‹ exhibition will present remarkable pieces of jewellery featuring the snake. Originating not only from Europe but also from America, Africa and Asia, these pieces were crafted in the most different epochs. They cover the whole gamut from the Uraeus snake of Ancient Egypt as well as examples from Ancient Greece and Rome via exquisite specimens from the 19th century such as those by Castellani, Cartier and Fabergé to some extravagant creations from the Art Nouveau period by Lalique, Mucha or Cranach and finally those designed by jewellery artists of the 20th century. The exhibits from non-European cultures will mainly be from Mexico, the Naga people in India and the Baoulé people in Africa.
26/11/2011 – 26/02/2012
Schmuckmuseum Pforzheim, Germany
The Treasure of San Gennaro
For the first time in history, the most prestigious works of the legendary Treasure of San Gennaro will be exhibited to the public at the same time in the beautiful sites of six different museums in Naples. The Treasure contains seven centuries of donations of popes, emperors, kings, rulers, famous people and ordinary people. Thanks to the ancient institution of the Deputation of the Royal Chapel of San Gennaro, the treasure is intact since 1527, having never suffered spoliation or theft or financed wars. Napoleon himself, who plundered everywhere he went, not only took nothing, but had to give San Gennaro a monstrance of gold, silver and precious stones of superb beauty and refinement. For the privilege of being considered worthy of being part of the Treasure of San Gennaro all the donated works correspond to high quality artistic and cultural value and were made by the great artisans of the time.
9/04/2011 – 12/06/2011
Museo del Tesoro di San Gennaro, Royal Chapel of San Gennaro, Duomo di Napoli, Complex Girolamini, Historical archives of the Banco di Napoli, Diocesan Museum, Naples, Italy
Articles of Hope, Adornments for Justice
Supported by the Arts Council England, this unique exhibition takes a fresh look at the concept of “Campaign Jewellery.” Jewellery is not solely worn for the decoration and adornment of the wearer but deliberately carries symbolic significance to show marks of allegiance, political, religious or ethical persuasions to challenge the viewer. Through the unusual medium of art jewellery, MJN have grasped the right to freedom of expression, educating, challenging and provoking the viewer’s responsibility to a fairer world. The jewellery is supported by a photography exhibition by Jonathan Keenan, showing shots of the work worn on the body. The Manchester Jewellers Network (MJN) was established in 2002 and is a regional group of the Association for Contemporary Jewellery (ACJ).
1/07/2009 – 21/08/2009
The Royal Exchange Theatre - The Mezzanine Gallery, Manchester, UK