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Museums
Not just ornaments: the Gallery offers also fundamental keys to decipher the metaphorical and appealing power of jewels
presenting the excellent craftsmanship necessary to create these masterpieces. Symbols: jewels are not just an ornament. Next to the entrance of the gallery, the case “From Cradle to Grave - Jewellery Adorns and Protects the Wearer on the Journey through Life” shows how jewels have always been linked to the most relevant moments and events in people’s lives. Symbol of love and birth, amulets for protection in childhood and motherhood, signs of faith, wealth and status, jewels can express as well death and mourning; the collection offers visitors some fundamental keys to decode these powerful metaphorical meanings. Craftsmanship: three short and silent films (each of which lasts about three and half minutes) show the making-of of jewellery presenting some of the time-honored, rare manufacturing techniques, necessary to create a precious piece of high jewellery. The young British jeweller Shaun Leane explains the way a diamond ring is made, thus shedding light on one of the most popular pieces of jewellery ever. The famous enameller Jane Short, one of the best artisans in Britain, shows the difficulties and the gestures necessary to create a brilliant enamel brooch. And Martin Matthews, whose family has been making cases for watches for about 200 years, shows the pre-automated craft of watch-case making, inclunding the creation of tiny hinges and fine mouldings using a bow lathe and other techniques.This attention to fine craftsmanship is a typical trait of the Victoria & Albert Museum, where the “how to” is always investigated in an innovative and interlocutory way: an approach which gives back an insight into the world of the métiers d’art, still extremely alive and relevant for the creation of high jewellery. To name but some of the most precious pieces showcased in the gallery, the Shannongrove Gorget is a gold ornament realized in the sixth century BC in Ireland. The Heneage Jewel, about 1595, has a locket with a portrait of queen Elizabeth I, who gave it to Sir Thomas Heneage for his outstanding services; in the back of the pendant there is ship in the storm, symbolising the power of the monarch even in difficult times, while inside of the pendant there is a miniature of the queen by Nicholas Hilliard, one of the best English goldsmiths. Beautiful ornaments for Catherine the Great, commissioned to Leopold Pfisterer and created in 1764, are studded with diamonds.The Empire style is epytomized by an emerald and diamond parure presented by Napoleon to his adopted daughter Hortense de Beauharnais in 1806. And of course tiaras are some of the most spectacular pieces: like the one made by Cartier for Consuelo Duchess of Manchester in 1903. For the creation of this piece, the Duchess supplied to the French jeweller over fifteen hundred diamonds. The treasures of the gallery include as well works signed by the most prestigious names in the world: Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, René Lalique, Fabergé, Tiffany, Boucheron, Chaumet, as well as contemporary works by Giampaolo Babetto, Wendy Ramshaw, Gerda Flockinger... Back to the the lower gallery, some tools are displayed as well: a gift of Alan Rabey, who worked for some great jewellery houses in London. Next to them can be admired the collection of gemstones set in gold rings donated by collector reverend Chauncy Hare Townshend, who bequeathed 154 gems to the V&A in 1869. The visit thus symbolically finishes with an accent on the human passions behind these treasures of high jewellery: intelligent manual work, enthusiast love for beauty, a constant research for excellence, as senior curator Mr. Richard Edgcumbe fascinatingly underlines.
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The Heneage Jewel Locket open, painting by Nicholas Hilliard (England, about 1595). Given by the Art Fund through the generosity of Lord Wakefield.
Ring by Philip Sajet (London, 1992-3). Royal College of Art Visiting Artists Collection.
Bracelet with sapphires and diamonds (France, about 1925-30). Lent through the generosity of William and Judith Bollinger.
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