Current Jewellery Exhibitions
This list of current and forthcoming jewellery exhibitions is provided as a service to our members. We have no means of checking the accuracy of the information, and cannot take responsibility for any mistakes. Please check in advance before visiting an exhibition to avoid disappointment.
Please tell us here if there are any other jewellery exhibitions which we should add to this list, or if anything needs correcting. You can see lists of past exhibitions here.
UK
Cambridge
Designers and Jewellery 1850-1940: Jewellery and Metalwork from the Fitzwilliam Museum
Showcasing little-known treasures from the Fitzwilliam Museum’s outstanding collection, this exhibition will celebrate exquisitely-designed and often hand-crafted jewellery and metalwork from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Encompassing a wide range of styles, from the complex and intricate historicist and Neo-Gothic, the naturalistic Arts & Crafts, the sinuous curves influenced by the European Art Nouveau movement to the structural modernity of the 1920s and 1930s, the exhibition will feature over 70 pieces by 20 designers. The sparkling display will include jewellery by some of the finest jewellers of the time including Castellani, Giuliano, Robert Phillips and John Brogden, as well as a spectacular decanter by William Burges. There are important pieces of jewellery and silver by the most famous of Arts & Crafts designers, including C.R. Ashbee, Henry Wilson, Gilbert Marks and John Paul Cooper, and unique jewellery designed by the artist Charles Ricketts, which holds a special place in the history of queer art in Britain, having been designed for the couple Katharine Bradley and Edith Cooper, known collectively as the author, Michael Field. Modern silver is represented by leaders of the field, Omar Ramsden and H. G. Murphy.
31/07/2018 – 11/11/2018
The Fitzwilliam Museum
Trumpington Street, Cambridge CB2 1R
Tuesday – Saturday: 10.00 - 17.00, Sundays and Bank Holiday Mondays: 12.00 – 17.00
Edinburgh
ModernistJewellery
closing soon
nms.ac.ukDiscover a generation of designers and makers who embraced innovative and diverse influences, from the natural environment to non-precious materials. This small display will highlight pieces from British and Nordic designers, that would go on to influence a new wave of jewellery production.
1/12/2017 – 29/04/2018
National Museum of Scotland
Chambers Street, Edinburgh EH1 1JF
Daily: 10:00-17:00
Admission free
Southport
Viking: Rediscover the Legend
visitsouthport.comWe are delighted to be the only North West venue to be hosting the Viking: Rediscover the Legend exhibition in 2018. The most significant Viking treasure hoards ever discovered in Britain will be on display together for the first time in Southport this April! Star objects from the British Museum will feature alongside the Yorkshire Museum’s world-class collections and will be interpreted in new ways to give a fresh perspective on how Vikings shaped every aspect of their lives in Britain. Also included will be one of the most famous Viking collections in the UK, including the Vale of York Viking Hoard, Cuerdale Hoard and the Bedale Hoard. The exhibition features groundbreaking research by archaeologists and exciting new discoveries by metal-detectorists that will challenge your perceptions on what it would have been like to live as a Viking.
31/03/2018 – 3/06/2018
The Atkinson
Lord Street, Southport, Merseyside, PR8 1DB
Monday to Saturday: 10am – 5pm
Adults £5, Children £3
EUROPE EX-UK
BELGIUM
Brussels
Horta & Wolfers. Reopening of the Wolfers Frères jewellery store, 1912
kmkg-mrah.be/expositions/horta-wolfers105 years after the official inauguration of the Wolfers Frères jewellery store in 1912, visitors will once again be able to admire the shop in its original form. To do this, the Cinquantenaire museum has cleared a room of approximately the same shape and area as that originally foreseen by Victor Horta in the building in rue d’Arenberg in Brussels. On the basis of a thorough historical study, the showcases and the counters will be reinstalled as Horta designed them in his time. First, it was necessary to take down the provisional arrangement of a part of the furniture in the museum and then obtain from storage the remaining interior elements. Even the original entrance doors will be reintegrated. Visitors will be able to walk around an identical reconstruction of the room, like elite customers of the past. The interior layout of the shop has been restored to the highest standards. The Cuban mahogany furniture has been cleaned and the original layer of varnish refurbished. The velvet interior furnishing of the showcases has been re-woven based on the original material. The patina of the bronze decorations has been refreshed. The harmony of the colours desired by Horta emerges once again: a sublime combination of the deep red polished mahogany, the dark green velvet, and the golden accents of the bronze decorations, all in total accord with the mauve colour of the walls. Thanks to this detailed restoration and refinishing, visitors will have the illusion of crossing once again the threshold into a Brussels shop for luxury goods.
29/11/2017 - 30/12/2018
Cinquantenaire Museum
Parc du Cinquantenaire 10, 1000 Brussels
Tuesdays to Fridays: 9.30 a.m. to 5 p.m; Saturdays and Sundays: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Adults €10, 65 + €8, Students €4.
DENMARK
Kolding
Magtens Smykker
The Splendour of Power
koldinghus.dk
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
Daily, 10 - 17
Adults 125 kr, Students 65 kr.
FRANCE
Paris
De Calder à Koons, bijoux d’artistes. La collection idéale de Diane Venet
madparis.fr/en/exhibitionsThe Musée des Arts Décoratifs is presenting some of the most beautiful jewellery designed by famous artists such as Picasso and Jeff Koons. Named after jewellery collector Diane Venet’s book and featuring pieces on loan from her, this unusual exhibition displays some 250 items of jewellery including necklaces, earrings and brooches designed by the likes of Alexander Calder, Max Ernst, Salvador Dali, Niki de Saint-Phalle, Roy Lichtenstein, Louise Bourgeois and Anish Kapoor. These miniature masterpieces are arranged thematically, and in chronological order.
7/03/2018 - 3/07/2018
MAD - Musée des Arts Décoratifs
107 rue de Rivoli - 75001 Paris
Tuesdays to Sundays 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Adults €11, Concessions €8.50
GERMANY
Braunschweig
Eva's Beauty Case:Schmuck und Styling im Spiegel der Zeiten
Jewellery and styling Through the Ages
3landesmuseen.de
What is beauty? People have been asking this question since ancient times. This special exhibition picks up this epoch-and cross-cultural theme and shows, based on various treasures from "Eva's Beauty Case", how diverse a definition of beauty can be. Objects from the Stone Age are juxtaposed with testimonies of the present and illustrate on the one hand the change of ideals of beauty and on the other hand the continuity of certain ideas. Jewellery of all kinds, but also the most diverse utensils and applications, which should help our bodies to become more beautiful, are in the centre of the exhibition conceived by the LVR-Landesmuseum Bonn. Visitors can experience precious jewellery, exciting hairstyles or extravagant perfumes. At media and hands-on stations, for example, they can turn themselves virtually into Nefertiti, a 19th-century nobleman, or a Neanderthal.
22/02/2018 - 12/08/2018
Braunschweigisches Landesmuseum
Burgplatz 1, 38100 Braunschweig
Tue - Sun: 10:00 - 17:00
Adults €7, Concessions €3-5
Munich
Jablonec '68
dnstdm.de/en/2018 marks the 50th anniversary of the 1st International Silver Smithing Symposium Jablonec ’68. Thanks to the Prague Spring in 1968, at the invitation of the Czechoslovak Artists’ Association, European jewellery artists from East and West converged on Jablonec nad Nisou in northern Bohemia for a European summit of jewellery artists. Now, half a century after Jablonec ’68, the 70 jewellery items will be presented again for the first time, having been preserved to this day in the Muzeum skla a bižuterie (Museum of Glass and Jewellery) in Jablonec nad Nisou. The exhibition will be accompanied by a publication in German/English by Arnoldsche Art Publishers, including a reprint of the original catalogue (printed in only a few copies in 1969) on the jewellery and artists of the Jablonec ’68 symposium.
10/03/2018 - 3/06/2018
Die Neue Sammlung – The Design Museum
Türkenstraße 15, 80333 München
Tue - Sun: 10:00 - 18:00, Thu: 10:00 - 20:00
Adults €10, Concessions €7
Pforzheim
East Meets West — Exquisite Treasures from the Aga Khan Collection
schmuckmuseum.deSince classical antiquity, the mutual fascination between the Orient and the Occident has repeatedly brought about new art forms. In the Art Deco period, for example, exotic ornamental designs and calligraphies from China, Japan or the Middle East lent themselves perfectly to fulfilling people’s desire for decorative and unusual luxury. Also, the 1920s were characterized by technological progress and rapid societal changes, both of which were reflected in the jewellery and the arts of that era in the shape of exuberantly exotic ornamentation and colours, wedded to clearcut shapes and austere materials. The vanity and cigarette cases, clocks and watches, plus the pieces of jewellery, from the Prince and Princess Sadruddin Aga Khan Collection bear eloquent witness to this. The collection originated when, one Christmas, the Prince gave his wife a superbly ornamented case by Cartier as a gift. This was the beginning of what evolved into a comprehensive collection comprising creations by Van Cleef & Arpels, Bulgari, Boucheron, Lacloche Frères and the selfsame Cartier company, all of which evoke associations with glamorous dinner parties in exotically decorated apartments or smoky night clubs.
5/05/2018 - 6/01/2019
Schmuckmuseum Pforzheim
Jahnstraße 42, 75173 Pforzheim
Tuesday - Sunday 10.00 - 17.00 p.m.
Adults €3, Concessions €1.50
IRELAND
Kilkenny
Rudolf Heltzel in Precious Metal
closing soon
ndcg.ie/exhibitions/rudolf-heltzelMaster goldsmith and an icon of Irish craft and design, Rudolf Heltzel presents a solo exhibition of his exceptional sculptural pendants. Heltzel has gained an international reputation for the originality, quality and timeless aesthetic of his craftsmanship with each piece created meticulously by hand using some of the world’s oldest jewellery techniques. This exhibition, In Precious Metal, will showcase many of Heltzel’s most ambitious and technically complex designs, selected from his personal archive together with newly produced work. Three of his most significant collections of scultptural pendants will be presented; Rock Crystal Treasure Cave, Tourmaline Butterflies and his brand new Druze Collection. Originally from Berlin, Germany, Rudolf Heltzel was invited to Ireland in 1966 by An Córas Tráchtála, the Irish Export Board. He set up and led the trail-blazing gold and silver studio-workshops at the Kilkenny Design Workshops. In 1968, he established his own workshop in Kilkenny where he, his son Christopher, their employees and apprentices still work today. Heltzel has won countless accolades throughout his 50 years in the business, including ‘One of the World’s Greatest Gem Houses’ by the Franklin Mint. He has exhibited widely and sold through establishments such as Nieman Marcus. He is a consultant to the jewellery industry, having worked and mentored across the globe, and has directly trained many goldsmiths working in the field today. He has also been instrumental in establishing training opportunities for jewellery makers, keeping ancient traditional skills alive.
2/02/2018 - 18/04/2018
National Design & Craft Gallery
Castle Yard, Kilkenny, Ireland
Tuesday - Saturday 10am - 5.30pm, Sunday + Bank Holidays 11am - 5.30pm
Free Admission
ITALY
Vicenza
Jewellery by Gio’ Pomodoro. The sign and the Ornament
museodelgioiello.it/en/temporary-exhibitions/From his first jewellery items in the 1950s, with which he took part at the Venice Bienniele in 1956, Maestro Gio’ Pomodoro (Orciano di Pesaro 1930 - Milan 2002) developed his gold art production autonomously and constantly over the decades, often in preparation of the results of his sculptures, for which he is universally famous. Exploring the potential of shape and material, even as far back as 1953, Gio’ was already applying the extremely ancient technique of casting gold in cuttlebones, carved in the negative, thus obtaining particular textures on the surfaces, enhancing an extraordinary decorative element. The various types of gold, pink and white, the purposefully moderated inclusion of precious stones, the white gold edging and upside-down border settings characterized his jewellery, which proclaimed a strong organic component and expressed a shift from the figurative to the informal.
22/03/2018 - 2/09/2018
Museo del Gioiello
Piazza dei Signori, 36100 Vicenza
Tuesday - Friday 15.00 – 19.00, Saturday & Sunday 11.00 – 19.00
Adults €6, Concessions €4
NETHERLANDS
Leiden
JEWELLERY: Made By, Worn By
volkenkunde.nl/en/In its forthcoming winter exhibition, Museum Volkenkunde will be presenting the largest collection of jewellery ever to be displayed in a Dutch museum. Almost 1,000 items of jewellery by designers from all over the world will guarantee a feast for the eye, as well as plenty of surprises and no small measure of wonder. As well as exploring how people around the world adorn themselves, the exhibition will also zoom in on the makers, the techniques they use, and the extraordinary stories of some of those who wear the jewellery. Besides jewellery from its own collection, which spans several centuries, the museum will also be showing recent pieces by designers from all over the world. Their work demonstrates their love of traditional techniques, motifs and materials, which they use as inspiration for new applications, occasionally combining them with new techniques. This produces some exciting and impressive pieces, like the rings designed by Johanna Dahm, who learnt the Asante gold casting method from a master goldsmith in Ghana, West Africa. One unique element of this exhibition is the five designers who have been invited to take a new look at the collection. In a workshop specially set up for them in the exhibition, they will make an item of jewellery inspired by the museum’s collection. Visitors will also have the opportunity to make a piece of jewellery to take home.
13/12/17 - 3/06/2018
Museum Volkenkunde
Steenstraat 1, 2312 BS Leiden
Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00 am - 5:00 pm.
Adults €14, Concessions €6
Leiden
Fibulae
rmo.nl/english/exhibitions/fibulaeThis is a small exhibition about the clothing accessories that turn up most frequently in archaeologists’ finds: brooches known as fibulae. These brooches were used to fasten items of clothing, especially cloaks. Nearly four hundred fibulae are on view in the display cases. They were skilfully made and many are splendid objects. They tell us a great deal about life and fashion in antiquity and the Middle Ages.
28/01/2017 – 3/06/2018
Rijksmuseum van Oudheden
Rapenburg 28, 2311 EW Leiden
Tuesday – Sunday 10.00 - 17.00
Adults €12.50, Children under 6 Free
RUSSIA
Moscow
Jewellery Art of BVLGARI
kreml.ru/en-Us/exhibitions/For the first time in Russia the Moscow Kremlin Museums will hold a retrospective exhibition, presenting pieces of high jewellery art by world-known Italian Maison BVLGARI, which history dates back more than a hundred and thirty years. Over four hundred unique pieces of high-end jewellery from the BVLGARI Heritage Collection as well as pieces from the private collections from around the globe will be on display at two exhibition halls of the Kremlin museums — the Exhibition Hall of the Assumption Belfry and the Exhibition Hall of the Patriarch’s Palace.
7/09/2018 – 13/01/2019
The Moscow Kremlin Museums
103132 Russia, Moscow, Kremlin
Friday - Wednesday 10.00 - 17.00
Adults ₽ 500, Children under 16 Free
AMERICAS
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USA
Albuquerque, NM
American Jewelry from New Mexico
closing soon
albuquerquemuseum.orgJewellery making in New Mexico has always been about innovation, with artists celebrating new materials and techniques which, in the hands of master craftspeople, become instant traditions. For millennia, startlingly new materials including abalone shell, turquoise, silver, mother of pearl, gold, glass, Bakelite, Lucite, apatite, tungsten, bottle caps, and diamonds have been introduced, adopted, and elevated to idiosyncratic modes of exemplary expression. This major travelling exhibition with accompanying book published by the Museum of New Mexico Press, surveys, through approximately 300 spectacular objects, all aspects of jewellery adornment from prehistory to the present. Rather than focus on a single culture group, individual artist, time period, or medium as have most jewellery exhibitions and publications, American Jewelry from New Mexico tells the stories of diverse heritages simultaneously, as artists live, in concert, trade, and adaptation with their neighbours.
12/11/2017 – 27/05/2018
Albuquerque Museum
2000 Mountain Rd NW, Albuquerque, NM 87104
Tuesday - Sunday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
General admission is free
Baltimore, MD
Fabergé and the Russian Crafts Tradition: An Empire’s Legacy
closing soon
thewalters.orgThis exhibition explores the Russian crafts tradition that culminated with the world-renowned House of Fabergé. Between 1885 and the revolution of 1917, Peter Carl Fabergé’s workshop created exquisite jewelled and enamelled Easter eggs for the Russian tsars. The exhibition includes over 70 stunning objects that highlight the extraordinary artistry of Russian jewellers and enamel-workers, including the Walters’ two Fabergé Easter eggs. A concurrent exhibition, After Fabergé, by contemporary artist Jonathan Monaghan, reinvents the famous Easter eggs for the 21st century in a series of five prints that comment on consumer culture and changing definitions of luxury.
12/11/2017 – 27/05/2018
The Walters Art Museum
600 N. Charles Street, Baltimore, MD
Wednesday–Sunday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m., Thursdays 10 a.m.–9 p.m.
General admission is free
Boston, MA
Past Is Present: Revival Jewelry
mfa.orgWhether by directly copying or selectively choosing motifs to reinterpret, jewellers have a long-standing tradition of looking to the past for inspiration. The practice became popular in the 19th century, as designers like Castellani, Giacinto Melillo and Eugène Fontenay began reviving examples of ancient ornaments, newly unearthed in archaeological excavations. This exhibition examines more than 4,000 years of jewellery history through about 70 objects, including both ancient and revival examples. The revival movement is traced from the 19th to the 21st century, focusing on four types — archaeological, Classical, Egyptian and Renaissance. Highlights include an 1850s embellished gold brooch by Castellani; a Renaissance revival neck ornament (1900–04) designed for Tiffany & Co.; a 1980s Bulgari necklace adorned with Macedonian coins; and a 2002 Akelo pendant that emulates an ancient Etruscan granulation technique.
14/02/2017 – 19/08/2019
Museum of Fine Arts
Avenue of the Arts, 465 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115
Saturday – Tuesday, 10:00 am – 4:45 pm; Wednesday - Friday, 10:00am - 9:45 pm
$25 - Adult, $23 Concessions, Free Children 17 and under
Carlsbad, CA
Centuries of Opulence: Jewels of India
gia.edu/gia-museum-exhibit-centuries-opulence-jewels-indiaThis exhibit features 50 exquisite gemstone jewellery pieces and objects from India on loan from a private collection. Never seen in public, these pieces - including several from the magnificent Mughal Empire (1526–1857) - showcase more than 300 years of adornment from the 17th to the 20th centuries. The exhibit explores the distant sources of the diamonds, rubies, emeralds, sapphires and other gems decorating these pieces, their religious and cultural symbolism, the wars fought for them and the historical tradition of gemology in India.
13/10/2017 – 10/10/2018
GIA Museum
World Headquarters and The Robert Mouawad Campus, 5345 Armada Drive, Carlsbad, CA 92008
Cincinnati, OH
Louis Comfort Tiffany: Treasures from the Driehaus Collection
taftmuseum.orgOpulently coloured stained glass, intricately patterned surfaces, and inventive metallic frameworks — these and other traits characterize the brilliant creations of Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848–1933). A highly original craftsman and artist, Tiffany took natural forms as the primary inspiration for his lush decorative creations. His aesthetic, reinforced and extended by his team of designers, decisively shaped American tastes from the 1880s through the 1920s. This exhibition presents more than 60 stunning examples of Tiffany’s decorative genius, including vases, lamps, windows, furniture, and ornamental objects. They include such iconic objects as his stained glass plant-form lamps, iridescent blown-glass vases, and illusionistic landscape windows. The exhibition comes from the Richard H. Driehaus Collection in Chicago, one of the country’s preeminent collections of American and European decorative arts. After the exhibition tour, the objects will return to the recently founded Driehaus Museum, opened in 2008 in a splendidly restored Gilded Age mansion.
13/10/2017 – 10/10/2018
The Taft Museum of Art
316 Pike Street, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202
Wednesday - Friday, 11 a.m.—4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m.—5 p.m.
Adults : $12, Concessions : $10
New York, NY
The thing of mine I have loved the best - Meaningful Jewels
closing soon
medieval-rings.com/exhibitions/The engaging title “The thing of mine I have loved the best” comes from the medieval will of a English duchess who bequeaths a reliquary jewel to her son. It expresses the sentiment that jewels appealed (then, as well as now) to the truest and strongest emotions. “I have bought these pieces one by one over a period of fifteen years (and put them aside with this project in mind), and to my knowledge no such collection has been assembled, studied, and exhibited in modern times,” states Founder and President of Les Enluminures Sandra Hindman. She goes on to say “Not at all unlike the medieval manuscripts I also present, they are some of the most intimate of art objects from the Middle Ages.”
5/04/2018 - 20/04/2018
Les Enluminures
23 East 73rd Street • 7th Floor, Penthouse, New York, NY 10021
Tuesday to Saturday, 10 AM - 6 PM.
New York, NY
Jewelry of Ideas: Gifts from the Susan Grant Lewin Collection
closing soon
cooperhewitt.orgAn exhibition of avant-garde jewelry design from the late 20th century up through the present day. Featuring nearly 150 brooches, necklaces, bracelets, and rings created by designers from Europe, Asia, Australia, and North America, Jewelry of Ideas will illuminate the radical conceptual and material developments in jewelry design that have transformed the field.
17/11/2017 - 28/05/2018
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
2 East 91st Street, New York NY 10128
Weekdays and Sundays, 10:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m. Saturdays, 10:00 a.m.–9:00 p.m.
Adults: $5. Concessions: $5. Children under 19 free
New York, NY
Crowns of the Vajra Masters: Ritual Art of Nepal
metmuseum.orgThe single most potent symbol of Buddhist ritual as performed in Nepal is the Vajracarya priest's crown. Five examples presented in this exhibition will create a cosmic field into which viewers will enter, encircled by paintings of ritual performance. The exhibition is occasioned by the recent acquisition of a superb early Vajracarya crown dating to the 13th or early 14th century; this will be joined by an 18th-century crown already in the collection and two others recently discovered in the Department of Arms and Armor. Bronze and wooden ritual utensils, Nepalese cloth paintings, and archival photographs of ritual enactment will complete the exhibition.
16/12/2017 - 16/12/2018
The Met Fifth Avenue
1000 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10028
Sunday–Thursday: 10 am–5:30 pm; Friday and Saturday: 10 am–9 pm
Adults: $25. Seniors: $17. Children under 12 free
New York, NY
Golden Kingdoms: Luxury and Legacy in the Ancient Americas
closing soon
metmuseum.orgThis landmark exhibition of luxury arts of the Incas, the Aztecs, and their predecessors will trace the emergence and florescence of goldworking in the ancient Americas, from its earliest appearance in the Andes to its later developments farther north in Central America and Mexico. In the ancient Americas, metalworking developed in the context of ritual and regalia, rather than for tools, weapons, or currency. Golden Kingdoms will reveal the distinctive ways ancient Americans used not only metals, but also jade, shell, and feathers—materials often considered more valuable than gold. Bringing together newly discovered archaeological finds and masterpieces from major museums in Latin America, Europe, and the United States, this exhibition will cast new light on these ancient civilizations and their place within world history. Golden Kingdoms will focus on specific places and times—crucibles of innovation, moments of exceptional achievement in the arts—to explore how materials were selected and transformed, imbued with meaning, and deployed in the most important rituals of their time. This unprecedented exhibition will feature more than 300 works from 53 lenders in 12 countries.
26/02/2018 - 28/05/2018
The Met Fifth Avenue
1000 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10028
Sunday–Thursday: 10 am–5:30 pm; Friday and Saturday: 10 am–9 pm
Adults: $25. Seniors: $17. Children under 12 free
Philadelphia, PA
Woven Strands: The Art of Human Hair Work
muttermuseum.orgA favoured folk art of the 18th and 19th century, hair art was a sentimental expression of grief and love, usually created by women whose identities have become anonymous over time. Human hair (from both living and deceased persons) was used to form flower bouquets, wreaths, braided jewellery chains, weeping willows, and painted scenes of mourning. Considered to be a form of portraiture, these were cherished tokens to preserve the memory of a deceased loved one, chart a vibrant family tree of the living, or to be traded as friendship keepsakes. It is rare to view such pieces publicly as they were created in domestic settings, for home display. From six private collections, the Mütter Museum along with John Whitenight and Evan Michelson have assembled an exquisite group of hair art and jewellery as well as accompanying materials that discuss the social expectations of Victorian-era mourning rituals that ruled 19th century society with strict standards.
19/01/2018 - 12/07/2018
Mütter Museum
19 S 22nd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103
Daily 10am–5pm
Adults: $18. Seniors: $16. Students $13
San Francisco, CA
East Meets West: Jewels of the Maharajas from the Al Thani Collection
legionofhonor.famsf.org/This exhibition will explore themes of influence and exchange between India and Europe through jewellery, jewel-encrusted jades, famous gemstones, enameled gold and other precious works of art. East Meets West will feature over one hundred and fifty objects made in India or inspired by India, ranging in date from the seventeenth century to the 1930s. Under successive rulers, Indian jewellery and works of art developed different characters, the Mughals arriving in the sixteenth century brought Persian and Muslim influences, the British raj in the nineteenth century imported European styles and craftsmanship, but in the twentieth century influences flowed in the opposite direction with Indian jewelry inspiring great European jewellery houses, such as Cartier, to make pieces in the Indian style.
3/11/2018 - 24/02/2019
Legion of Honor Museum
Lincoln Park, 100 34th Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94121
Tuesday–Sunday 9:30 am–5:15 pm
Adults: $15, Seniors (65+): $10, Students (w/ valid ID): $6
Santa Fe, NM
Beadwork Adorns the World
internationalfolkart.orgExtraordinary how a small glass bead from the island of Murano (Venice, Italy) or the mountains of Bohemia (Czech Republic) can travel around the world, entering into the cultural life of people far distant. Glass beads are the ultimate migrants. Where they start out is seldom where they end up. No matter where they originate, the locale that uses them makes them into something specific to their own world view. This exhibition is about what happens to these beads when they arrive at their final destination, whether it be the African continent (Botswana, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa), to Borneo, to Burma, to India, Native North America to Latin America (Mexico, Bolivia to Ecuador). However, this exhibition is not actually about beads, rather it is about the working beads resulting in Beadwork, and what a collective of beads in a garment or an object reveals about the intentions of its makers or users.
22/04/2018 - 3/02/2019
Museum of International Folk Art
706 Camino Lejo, on Museum Hill, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87505
Tuesday - Sunday: 10 am – 5 pm
Adults $12
Utica, NY
Jewels of Time: Watches from the Proctor Collection
closing soon
mwpai.orgThe aesthetic brilliance and exquisite craftsmanship of beautifully ornamented historical timepieces will featured in this exhibition. The exhibition will feature important examples of all the decorative techniques used in watchmaking. Gold and silver repoussé work, jewel-encrusted cases, and fine enamel paintings will be highlighted in Jewels of Time. The intricate scenes depicted on gold watchcases illustrate the height of European metalsmithing techniques. The exquisite enamel watches feature highly detailed miniature portraits and still lifes framed in pearls. Semi-precious stones were a favored ornamental element and examples in Jewels in Time range from diamond highlights on a bug-form watch to a jewel-encrusted watchcase and chatelaine. The collection also includes Renaissance-style watches with rock crystal cases, watches made for the Turkish and Chinese markets, and clever automatons with intricately moving figures. Novelty watches vary from an enameled mandolin to a tulip to a miniature silver skull with a watch enclosed within its jaw.
16/12/2017 - 29/04/2018
Museum of Art, Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute
310 Genesee Street, Utica, New York 13502
Tuesday – Saturday, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Sunday, 1 p.m. – 5 p.m.
General admission is Free. Special exhibitions may have a fee.
Washington, DC
Fabergé Rediscovered
hillwoodmuseum.orgDesigned to delight and surprise, the treasures created by the firm of Carl Fabergé have inspired admiration and intrigue for over a century, both for their remarkable craftsmanship and the fascinating histories that surround them. Now, a special exhibition at Hillwood will unveil new discoveries relating to its own collection of Fabergé imperial Easter eggs and other famed works.
9/06/2018 - 31/12/2018
Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens
4155 Linnean Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20008
Tuesday through Sunday, 10 am to 5 pm.
Adults $18, Seniors $15, Students $10, Children 6 and under free
AUSTRALIA & PACIFIC
AUSTRALIA
Canberra
Cartier: The exhibition
nga.gov.au/cartier/Never before have so many incredible diamonds, emeralds and other precious stones been seen in Australia. 'Cartier: The exhibition' showcases more than 300 spectacular items, with loans from royal families, celebrities and the astonishing Cartier Collection itself, in exquisite settings such as royal tiaras, necklaces, brooches and earrings. The exhibition explores Cartier’s glittering international clientele that included royalty, aristocrats, socialites, and stars of the stage, cinema and music. Highlights include Dame Nellie Melba’s diamond stomacher brooch, the Queen’s “Halo” tiara, worn by Kate Middleton at her wedding to Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, Daisy Fellowes’ Tutti-Frutti Hindu necklace, Barbara Hutton’s imperial jadeite necklace, Princess Grace of Monaco’s 10.48-carat diamond engagement ring, Dame Elizabeth Taylor’s diamond and ruby necklace (a gift from her third husband Mike Todd which also doubles as a tiara) and a selection from the NGA’s exceptional Ballets Russes costumes. As well as an intriguing array of Cartier jewellery, timepieces and precious objects, the immersive exhibition will include a selection of original preparatory drawings, as well as portraits, historic photographs, film, advertising material, jewellery-making tools and equipment to provide insight into the history of Cartier.
30/03/2018 – 22/07/2018
NGA | National Gallery of Australia
Parkes Place, Parkes, Canberra
Open daily 10.00am – 5.00pm
Adults: $27.00, Comcessions: $25
Canberra
Lustre: Pearling & Australia
nma.gov.auThis exhibition delves into the gritty human story of pearling, weaving together Aboriginal and European histories to reveal insights into one of Australia's oldest industries.
23/02/2018 – 22/07/2018
National Museum of Australia
Lawson Crescent, Acton Peninsula, Canberra ACT 2601
Open daily 9.00am – 5.00pm
Free admission
NEW ZEALAND
Lower Hutt
The Language of Things: Meaning and Value in Contemporary Jewellery
dowse.org.nz/exhibitions/Precious things aren’t always made from precious materials—and jewellery is no exception. The intimacy of jewellery worn on the body gives us a unique way of showing who we are and what’s important to us. This exhibition expands on our associations with adornment: drawing out how ideas of value have changed in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. It features over 100 artists from Europe, America, Asia, Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand whose work reveals how personal meaning develops from the often unusual materials and processes used in the field of contemporary jewellery.
24/02/2018 – 24/06/2018
The Dowse Art Museum
45 Laings Road, Lower Hutt, New Zealand
Open Daily 10am–5pm
Free admission