{"id":331379,"date":"2019-04-05T12:00:46","date_gmt":"2019-04-05T16:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.1stdibs.com\/blogs\/the-study\/?p=331379"},"modified":"2021-12-15T06:54:45","modified_gmt":"2021-12-15T11:54:45","slug":"a-view-from-the-jewelers-bench-bgc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.1stdibs.com\/blogs\/the-study\/a-view-from-the-jewelers-bench-bgc\/","title":{"rendered":"A Jewelry Exhibit Reveals the Thread Line between Antique and Modern Creations"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Antler
Gabriella Kiss’s Antler tiara is made of oxidized bronze with a faceted Tahitian pearl, kyanites, smoky quartz and champagne diamonds. Photo by Bruce White
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Jewelry is far more than an fashion accessory to those who study it at the Bard Graduate Center, on Manhattan\u2019s Upper West Side. It is instead a material symbol of culture. Bard alumna Sasha Nixon expresses her own take on the subject in the show \u201cA View from the Jeweler\u2019s Bench: Ancient Treasures, Contemporary Statements<\/a>,\u201d at the BGC Gallery through July 7, which she curated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The exhibition features 60 jewels \u2014 half historic designs, half contemporary<\/a> \u2014 through which it explores traditions of hand-craftsmanship and eternal motifs. A jeweler\u2019s bench is at the center of the show, to emphasize the continuity between ancient and contemporary gem making. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bench holds an eclectic mix of items. There are tools, like an ancient dapping block (a sort of die used for bending metal into smooth curves); a page from Denis Diderot\u2019s 16th-century encyclopedia containing illustrations of metalworking techniques; and new works in progress. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Rock
Mary Hallam Pearse gold and silver Rock On ring<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Nixon conceived the exhibition as part of her qualifying paper for the master\u2019s degree she received last May. \u201cThere are a lot of contemporary jewelers whose work is inspired by and resonates with ancient jewelry,\u201d she explains. \u201cSince the styles are so often exhibited separately, I wanted to bring them together.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among the examples of gold work are a pair of ancient Etruscan disc earrings<\/a>, on loan from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and a 19th-century archeological revival piece by Castellani. \u201cThe reason why we have a Castellani brooch in the show is because the firm was at the forefront of trying to figure out how the Etruscans made amazingly complex granulation,\u201d Nixon says.
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Such historic pieces are accompanied by contemporary jewels that demonstrate how tody’s designers carry on the traditions of the past. \u201cJeanette Caines uses a gold fringe in her interlocking technique that she found in ancient gold jewelry discovered at Troy by Heinrich Schliemann in 1870,\u201d Nixon explains. \u201cMary Lee Hu weaves metal in designs similar in style to Celtic torques\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Gold
A 1st-century gold ring with a glass cameo portrait of the Roman emperor Augustus
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Another theme the show explores is cameos<\/a> as memory keepers. Nixon’s exhibition text explains that cameo production dates back to the time of Alexander the Great, continuing through the Renaissance<\/a> and the 19th century<\/a>. Depicted on these carved stones, shells and glass are ancient myths, political figures and religious iconography.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A 1st-century cameo of the Roman emperor Augustus and a 15th-century one of the Madonna and child in a silver-gilt setting, both on loan from the Met, are among the exhibition’s historic examples. These are placed adjacent to contemporary brooches by Nicole Jacquard. Jacquard uses a laser to engrave vintage photos of her family onto ovals of mica, silver, enamel and copper, producing pieces that are both personal and nostalgic.
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\"Nicole
Nicole Jacquard’s The Graduate<\/em> is laser-engraved mica, acrylic, silver, enamel and copper. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

“A View from the Jeweler\u2019s Bench” contains many other playful juxtapositions and fresh spins on classics. Two ancient Egyptian pendants, for instance, are paired with the Little Egypt necklace by contemporary jeweler Kiff Slemmons, who echoes the silhouettes of the earlier pieces using wooden rulers, to reflect his experience in school. Shown alongside a diamond ring and a De Beers<\/a> advertisement with the slogan \u201cA Diamond Is Forever\u201d is Mary Hallam Pearse’s silver signet ring, which has the words \u201cRock On\u201d engraved where the gem in classic diamond solitaire ring<\/a> would be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The power and prestige conveyed by a traditional diamond tiara is transformed into an artistic statement in Gabriella Kiss’s gem-set bronze antler headpiece. Elizabeth Taylor\u2019s famous La Peregrina pearl necklace becomes a bit of kitsch in Emiko Oye\u2019s rendition composed of Legos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By juxtaposing jewels made thousands of years apart, “A View from the Jeweler\u2019s Bench” creates a dynamic call-and-response between ancient and modern designers. Nixon’s hope for the show, she says, is \u201cthat everyone takes away how relevant the past is in our contemporary society and how important jewelry is and has been.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\t

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