The Art of the Ring: book review of the Griffin Collection

The Art of the Ring: book review of the Griffin Collection

by | European jewellery, Reviews

Rings from the Griffin Collection

The Art of the Ring: book review

Published on July 31, 2024

Who does not love rings? I think it may be fair to say people have always been obsessed with them, and so they have been both produced ánd collected in large numbers. The Art of the Ring by Diana Scarisbrick presents highlights from one such collection, the privately held Griffin Collection, and offers both a visual and scholarly journey into ring history. In this review, I’ll walk you through its strengths, highlights, and how it compares with other landmark publications on rings.

The Griffin Collection: earlier publications

The Art of the Ring is the third volume in a series devoted to rings from the Griffin Collection. The collection is huge, and the two previous books have zoomed in on one particular category of rings. Take this Ring explored medieval and renaissance rings, and I like my choyce presents the history of posy rings. The Art of the Ring takes another approach: here, the aim is to present a cross-section through the collection. In that way, you could think of this as the prequel to the other volumes: it introduces the collection.

Highlights of the Griffin Collection of rings

Introducing such a vast collection is no easy thing to do! The book presents 100 rings, some of which have been featured in other publications, and some are published here for the first time. This selection is divided into 8 chapters, each focusing on a certain type of ring. There are signet rings, devotional rings, Memento Mori and memorial rings, Love, Marriage and Friendship rings, rings related to daily life, rings set with coloured stones, diamond rings and rings with royal and noble associations. Each chapter sets out with an introduction on the central theme.

Comparing The Art of the Ring with other publications

These sections largely coincide with those of another publication by Diana Scarisbrick, Rings. Jewelry of Power, Love and Loyalty (2007). This book presents the Benjamin Zucker Family Collection, expanded with rings from museum and private collections to form a comprehensive overview of rings. That makes it very easy to read both books in tandem, compare both collections and as such expand your insight in the subject.

Photography and presentation in The Art of the Ring

Each ring in The Art of the Ring has its own ‘passport’: several photos, a description, and an explanation of what we see and how this particular ring fits into a wider context. And for each ring, you will also find an overview of its provenance (how did it end up in this collection?), where it has been exhibited, and where it has been published.

I did wish some of the photos would be larger. As there is a lot of information included per ring, the space allocated to photos of the ring itself sometimes just is not that much. For example, ring no. 20 is an Italian ring with a sardonyx cameo showing the Shroud of Turin: a magnification here would have been helpful, as the image itself is crisp, but on the small side. That is not to say all of them are small! Throughout the book, page-sized details allow the reader to take in splendid details. But where Rings. Jewelry of Power, Love and Loyalty presents large photos overall, the illustrations in The Art of the Ring are notably smaller.

European focus and perspectives in ring collecting

The Art of the Ring focuses on European rings, with Byzantine rings as the most ‘eastern’ representatives. The other two publications dedicated to the Griffin Collection also are firmly focused on the West  – at least, that we know of: perhaps this private collection holds more than has been published yet!

That perspective on European/Western rings appears in other books and other collections, too: there are few collections that include the Islamic world as well. Such as the Benjamin Zucker Family Collection, which holds a large number of Islamic rings, and which have been published in Islamic Rings & Gems. The Zucker Collection.

Why is that perspective important? One example from The Art of the Ring may illustrate this point.

The Italian sapphire ring with Arabic inscription

That is the super stunning Italian inscribed gold ring with a sapphire carrying an Arabic inscription. It is featured in both The Art of the Ring and in Cycles of Life, also drawing from the Zucker collection – jewellery travels, and this ring has moved from one collector to another. See an image of this beautiful ring here.

In Cycles of Life, the discussion of this particular ring is very complete, with a presentation of two parallels. The same ring is also briefly featured in Rings. Jewelry of Power, Love and Loyalty, and now in The Art of the Ring as well – with a most breathtaking photo. In all three books, the sapphire is treated as ‘the odd one out’, a rare stone to be included in an Italian ring. But when browsing through the two volumes of Ruby, Sapphire & Spinel: An Archaeological, Textual and Cultural Study (2016), where sapphires are discussed in their cultural context throughout time, we learn much more about the importance and meaning of sapphire as well as inscribed Islamic gems. Such a wider scope would make this collection even more fascinating.

The Art of the Ring in context of other ring books

As I said above, this volume is dedicated to the Griffin Collection. As with all collections, the choices of the collector determine what the scope of the collection is, and so I enjoyed comparing The Art of the Ring with a few other collections that live on my bookshelves. This is, incidentally, why you would want to own not just one book on rings: it’s when they all get together that you’ll start learning!

By the same author, there is the book I already mentioned, Rings. Jewelry of Power, Love and Loyalty (2007), with the Benjamin Zucker Family Collection as its core. This collection starts earlier, timewise: where the Griffin Collection seems to start out with Greek and Roman rings, the Zucker Collection also holds Egyptian rings (that’s another 3,000 years of rings).

That same collection is also published in Cycles of Life which uses a different approach in linking rings to stages in our lives: birth, marriage, death, eternity, and everyday life. This book adds more descriptive detail to its 41 rings, and discusses parallels for each piece as well, something that The Art of the Ring does not.

And where The Art of the Ring is organised thematically, the V&A publication on its ring collection Rings is built chronologically. Both books are still quite comparable, with many examples from the same timeframes featuring in both books.

Although this brief comparison is clearly far from exhaustive, it hopefully gives you some idea of the nature of The Art of the Ring in relation to other books on European ring collections.

Conclusion: why The Art of the Ring is a beautiful book

Whether you are working as a curator, collector, or simply adore rings, The Art of the Ring is a book you will want to own.

It is expertly written and presents an engaging introduction in the beautiful ring collection of the Griffin Collection. It complements the previous two volumes wonderfully, and is also a great companion volume to Rings. Jewelry of Power, Love and Loyalty. But even without its sibling books, The Art of the Ring is a volume that very well holds its own – it’s a wonderful overview of rings.

The only drawback is the size of some photos, notably for the rings that have not been published before, but I really enjoyed this book as a valuable introduction into a collection of which I hope many more volumes will be published!

More about The Art of the Ring

The Art of the Ring. Highlights from The Griffin Collection.

By Diana Scarisbrick (2024). 240 pages, full-colour, in English. Published by AD ILISSVM/Paul Holberton Publishing.

I received the book as review copy.

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Bibliography

Church, R. 2017. Rings. Thames & Hudson/V&A

Content, D.J. 2016. Ruby, Sapphire & Spinel: An Archaeological, Textual and Cultural Study, Brepols

Content, D.J. (ed) 1987. Islamic Rings & Gems. The Zucker Collection. Philip Wilson Publishers

Hindman, S. 2014. Cycles of Life. Rings from the Benjamin Zucker Family Collection. Les Enluminures

Hindman, S. 2015. Take this Ring. Medieval and Renaissance Rings from the Griffin Collection. Les Enluminures

Scarisbrick, D. 2007. Rings. Jewelry of Power, Love and Loyalty. Thames & Hudson

Scarisbrick, D. 2021. I like my Choyce. Posy Rings from the Griffin Collection. AD ILISSVM/Paul Holberton Publishing

Would you like to quote this article? Please do! Here’s how:

S. van Roode, [write the title as you see it above this post], published on the Bedouin Silver website [paste the exact link to this article], accessed on [the date you are reading this article and decided it was useful for you].

Sigrid van Roode

Sigrid van Roode is an archeologist, ethnographer and jewellery historian. Her main field of expertise is jewellery from North Africa and Southwest Asia, as well as archaeological and archaeological revival jewellery. She has authored several books on jewellery, and obtained her PhD at Leiden University on the jewellery of the Egyptian zar-ritual. Sigrid has lectured for the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden, Turquoise Mountain Jordan, and many others. She provides consultancy and research on jewellery collections for both museums and private collections, teaches courses and curates exhibitions. She is not involved in the business of buying and selling jewellery, and focuses on research, knowledge production, and education only.

French Hallmarks

French Hallmarks

by | European jewellery, Reviews

A definitive guide

French Hallmarks

Published on March 15, 2024

After the beautiful first volume of French Regional Jewellery, a new book by Michael Fieggen has appeared that is sure to fill a gap in your library! French hallmarks, in detail, with just about everything you’d want to know.

French hallmarks: a practical book

For this book, let’s start at the very end of it: with the indexes. On the last pages you will find indexes of hallmarks, described visually: bees, amphoras, crabs, sphinxes, bulls….even if you have not read a single line in the book, it is immediately of very practical use. Look at the hallmark, identify the shape you see, look it up in the index.

There’s even a chapter with advice on magnifying glasses you’ll need to see the hallmarks: how to buy one, how to use one, and how to properly look at a piece of jewellery. And that’s just the end of the book: there is, of course, so much more!

French hallmarks: a completely new study

This is a book born out of one those ideas that seemed like a really good plan when you first thought of them, and that turn out to lead you straight into another rabbit hole of research. While working on his first book on regional jewellery (see more about it here), the author thought it would be useful to include an overview of hallmarks on jewellery.

When he started looking into them, he soon found that listing an overview of hallmarks was way more complicated than previously thought. Contradicting sources, no sources, erroneously copied marks that continued to be reproduced….there was a lot to tackle. And so, starting from scratch all over again, it took another two years to complete this book.

The result is a study which offers a very detailed overview of platinum, gold and silver hallmarks. It includes hallmarks that have never been published before, and shows a detailed history of hallmarks as they vary over time and per region.

French hallmarks and ethnic jewellery

For jewellery from North Africa and Southwest Asia, I rely on the formidable book World Hallmarks Vol. II by the Hallmark Research Institute. From 1859 to 1967, Algeria used the same hallmarks as those in France – that was because France regarded colonized Algeria as an integral part of their country. The only way to see if a piece of jewellery has been hallmarked in Algeria, is through the mark of the assay office.

The new book by Michael Fieggen includes all those assay offices, not just for Algeria (those are in the World Hallmarks book, too) but also for other regions that were once part of France. Like my own country, The Netherlands: there have been several assay offices located throughout The Netherlands in the early 1800’s.

With the wealth of information in this book, I will be able to date French-marked jewellery all the more precise!

French Hallmarks: a book you’ll need

This book is very well illustrated with clear drawings, schematics and close-up photos. I always find that very helpful, as a stamped mark may look just a little different from the drawing, and seeing them side by side helps in determining what I’m looking at.

It also contains schematics of the placement of hallmarks on different types of jewellery (so you’ll know where to look for it). There is detailed information on import marks, export marks, counterstamps, methods to test for silver and gold content, a bibliography, and a glossary.

And what I really liked, are the small sections with a single anecdote dispersed throughout the book: little bits of additional info that help to understand the hallmarks in their context.

The hardcopy of the book is in French, as you see above in the photo, but for foreign orders an English pdf is available: check the website for more details.

If you are working with French hallmarked jewellery in any capacity, you will greatly benefit from this book!

 

More about French Hallmarks

Les poinçons français des métaux précieux, de 1789 á ce jour.

By Michael C.W. Fieggen (2024). 190 pages, full-colour, available in French (hardcopy) and English (pdf). Published by Michael Fieggen.

Available with the author via this link

The book was gifted as review copy by the author.

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Would you like to quote this article? Please do! Here’s how:

S. van Roode, [write the title as you see it above this post], published on the Bedouin Silver website [paste the exact link to this article], accessed on [the date you are reading this article and decided it was useful for you].

Sigrid van Roode

Sigrid van Roode is an archeologist, ethnographer and jewellery historian. Her main field of expertise is jewellery from North Africa and Southwest Asia, as well as archaeological and archaeological revival jewellery. She has authored several books on jewellery. Sigrid has lectured for the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden, Turquoise Mountain Jordan, and many others. She provides consultancy and research on jewellery collections for both museums and private collections, teaches courses and curates exhibitions. She is not involved in the business of buying and selling jewellery, and focuses on research, knowledge production, and education only.

In Death Lamented

In Death Lamented

by | European jewellery, Reviews

The Tradition of Anglo-American mourning jewelry

In Death Lamented

Updated August 08, 2024

Jewellery serves many more purposes than just being pretty, and that is what I love about it. One of those purposes is to accompany its wearers through major events – like dealing with the death of a loved one. In Death Lamented by Sarah Nehama presents an overview of mourning jewellery in the Anglo-American world.

In Death Lamented: the exhibition and the book

In Death Lamented is the companion volume with the exhibition of the same name, held in 2012 in Massachusetts. And oh, would I have loved to see that! Instead, I am super lucky to now own the book, and I love it. Because, as Sarah writes in her introduction, she approaches this jewellery from a historical perspective – and you know that is what makes me tick, too!

The book showcases the collection of the Massachusetts Historical Society alongside the private collection of Sarah herself. Together, they illustrate the development of mourning jewellery over time.

Mourning jewellery across centuries

In Death Lamented presents an overview of mourning jewellery from the 17th century to the late 19th century. As the title says, its focus is on Anglo-American jewellery, and as such this is the historical perspective as well.

That overview starts out in the 15th and 16th centuries. In this timeframe, jewellery with a memento mori-theme (‘remember you must die’) was created to remind the wearer of their own mortality. Actual mourning jewellery, so in remembrance of a loved one, also existed during this period.

The popularity of mourning jewellery took off when the English King Charles I was executed – mourning his death became an act of resistance among his supporters and jewellery became a secret token of allyship. The book shows a few of these pieces, and describes how these customs crossed the Atlantic to continue to flourish there.

Mourning jewellery in colonial America

The next chapter explores mourning jewellery in 17th and 18th century, mostly in the New World. A completely new practice, at least for me, was handing out mourning rings at funerals – apparently, attending as many funerals as possible and collecting these almost like souvenirs [p. 23] was quite the rage!

This chapter discusses the evolving stylistic elements of mourning jewellery, including the incorporation of hair. That is a topic I particularly love, as hair has very strong personal and ritual capacities in so many cultures. The catalogue with this chapter illustrates those evolving styles: with each piece of jewellery, an elaborate description places the jewel in its cultural context and presents what is known about the persons they commemorate: I loved reading this little personal histories.

Mourning jewellery of the New Republic

The story of mourning jewellery then continues in the late 18th and 19th century. Here, we see the imagery change, reflecting changes in funerary customs as well. [p. 42] I found it fascinating to read how the visual language of the Classical world made an appearance in mourning women, silent urns and weeping willows [p. 42] and how the visual codes changed from skulls and bones to more hopeful symbols.

This transition is also abundantly shown in the catalogue with this part: here as well, personal histories of the persons remembered intertwine with political history. I learned that the death of George Washington spurred another flurry of mourning jewellery, illustrated by a locket holding a few of his hairs.

Mourning jewellery before the Civil War

In the 19th century, archaeological revival styles became fashionable and left their mark on mourning jewellery as well. Increasingly, medieval (notably Gothic) and Etruscan styles became popular. The language of particular materials such as pearls or diamonds was reinforced by the language of flowers, a development I also read about in this book on Lover’s Eyes jewellery.

Following the death of Prince Albert, Queen Victoria famously went into heavy mourning that set off an entire industry of jet jewellery. This was picked up upon on the other side of the Atlantic as well, and jet and hair jewellery became very, very popular. And of course, there was a new invention that added another layer to the intensity of mourning jewellery: photography.

Mourning jewellery from the Civil War to the end of the 19th century

The book concludes with the surge in mourning jewellery as a result of the Civil War, the death of Prince Albert and the murder of Abraham Lincoln. It also discusses how mourning jewellery came to an end: hairworks became to be perceived as ‘unsanitary’, life circumstances improved in general, and ostentatiously showing loss and grief became less socially acceptable.

In Death Lamented: a wonderful overview of mourning jewellery

It’s safe to say I have learned again a great deal in reading this book. I loved how the author places jewellery against its historical and cultural background and explains how styles evolved, symbolism changed and mourning jewellery continued to take on new meanings. The many photographs are large, clear and very insightful.

The descriptions of the jewellery are also consistent and precise. Especially with objects that carry text, it really helps to know what the original, surviving text is, and where individual letters or numbers have been reconstructed. This, along with the guidelines for measurements given, is explained in the editorial note at the beginning of the book.

This is absolutely a book you will love – whether you’re studying, selling or just are interested in this particular type of jewellery!

More about In Death Lamented

In Death Lamented. The Tradition of Anglo-American Mourning Jewelry. By Sarah Nehama (2012). 128 pages, full-colour, in English. Published by University of Virginia Press.

Available with the publisher and the Massachusetts Historical Society

See more about Sarah’s research on mourning jewellery here!

I purchased the book directly from Sarah.

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Would you like to quote this article? Please do! Here’s how:

S. van Roode, [write the title as you see it above this post], published on the Bedouin Silver website [paste the exact link to this article], accessed on [the date you are reading this article and decided it was useful for you].

Sigrid van Roode

Sigrid van Roode is an archeologist, ethnographer and jewellery historian. Her main field of expertise is jewellery from North Africa and Southwest Asia, as well as archaeological and archaeological revival jewellery. She has authored several books on jewellery, and obtained her PhD at Leiden University on the jewellery of the Egyptian zar-ritual. Sigrid has lectured for the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden, Turquoise Mountain Jordan, and many others. She provides consultancy and research on jewellery collections for both museums and private collections, teaches courses and curates exhibitions. She is not involved in the business of buying and selling jewellery, and focuses on research, knowledge production, and education only.

Traditional French jewellery

Traditional French jewellery

by | European jewellery, Reviews

Rural jewels of 18th and 19th century France

French Regional Jewellery

Published on Jan 24, 2024

Apart from traditional jewellery from North Africa and the Middle East, I am also very interested in European traditional jewellery. And I love books! So when I came across Traditional French Jewellery in the bookshop of the MAD in Paris, it took me all of 2 seconds flipping through its pages to decide this was a must-have. Let me tell you why.

French regional jewellery: the website

This book does not appear out of thin air. The author, Michael Fieggen, set out to research traditional jewellery from all regions of France almost 30 years ago. Those decades of research were aimed at providing a reliable reference work on French jewellery. A reference work is obviously useless when you can’t refer to it, so Michael created a wonderful website back in 2010. You’ll find it here.

This is one of the things I absolutely love: sharing one’s knowledge with whomever wants to learn. It’s all there, sorted regionally and thematically, with an abundance of jewellery examples.

But even more wonderful, at least in my view, is that collectors of jewellery wanted to have an actual, tangible book [p. 5]. It makes me so happy that books are not dead, and that there are people who actually want to read them! Especially when it is a book as lavish as this one.

French regional jewellery: the book

The main body of this book is composed of chapters devoted to the regions of France and their jewellery. And wow, what stunning jewellery this is!

Each region is represented by numerous pieces of jewellery, and I really appreciate seeing various executions within one single type. There are jewels in silver and gold, but also glass, beads, ivory, fabrics, enameling, early celluloid…The range of jewellery is huge: you’ll find earrings, necklaces, pendants, rings and bracelets, but also clasps, hooks, pins, buttons, belt hooks, and much more.

The research behind it is extensive. Just one example is on p. 103, where a postcard image of a young woman wearing a Narbonne cross in a particular fashion is shown. The caption calls out attention the fact that it is not known if this was indeed how it was supposed to be worn, or that this is staged by the publisher issuing the postcard.

This level of source criticism is seen throughout the book. It makes one read the information presented with confidence. And that is enhanced by the references throughout. The reference numbers indicate the corresponding number in the bibliography (so there is no separate section with notes – but this works well, too).

French regional jewellery: the details

This book has been painstakingly compiled, with a lot of attention to details. For example, all the images in the book are at their actual size, except rings: those have been enlarged to 150 to 200% [p. 11]. That is incredibly useful, eliminates the guessing game of how large something actually is, and makes for stunning illustrations throughout.

Those photographs are simply gorgeous. They are crisp, clear, and every single piece has been cut out and placed against the white of the page. Enlargements of jewels bleeding off the page make for a playful touch every now and then. Where possible, enlargements of the hallmarks have been added in small insets next to a jewel.

Besides jewellery images, you will find plenty of other reference material. Old photos, paintings and drawings of people wearing jewellery, old illustrations from jewellery catalogues, a poem from 1887…there is so much information strewn across these pages.

French regional jewellery: and there is more!

But that’s not all! The book also contains a detailed overview of French hallmarks (seriously, it’s clear to see this is 3 decades of work right here), and every single illustration is included in a detailed list of illustrations. That list gives you details of each piece of jewellery such as its dimensions (to complement the image itself, which is already true to size, as I mentioned), weight and hallmark (if any), but also its provenance.

There is an extensive bibliography, a glossary (just in case you are a little rusty in French, as I am – this is a fantastic overview of terms), and my favourite: a rapid guide for identifying regional crosses. France being France, there are a lot of different types of crosses, and these are all sorted for you in this chapter.

This is truly an amazing reference book for French regional jewellery. It also sets a high standard for future reference works: its clarity of illustration and level of detail and variety is super helpful. It will make you fall in love with French rural jewellery, as this book absolutely presents it as the treasure it is.

And there is more to come…! The author wrote me and mentioned he’s currently writing the second volume of traditional French jewellery that is not regional in origin (honestly, I cannot wait). This will explore the jewellery associated with life transitions and events such as baptism, marriage etc. And….there’s a complete book on French hallmarks scheduled to appear very, very soon!

Long story short: if you are collecting European regional jewellery or working with European regional jewellery in any capacity, you really will want to own this book.

More about Traditional French Jewellery

Traditional French Jewellery. Volume 1. Regional jewellery: treasured witnesses of rural life in the 18th and 19th century. By Michael C.W. Fieggen (2021). 304 pages, full-colour, available in French and English. Published by Michael Fieggen

Available with the author via this link, where you will also find details on his upcoming book on hallmarks

I purchased the book in the museum shop of the Musee des Arts Decoratifs in Paris.

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Would you like to quote this article? Please do! Here’s how:

S. van Roode, [write the title as you see it above this post], published on the Bedouin Silver website [paste the exact link to this article], accessed on [the date you are reading this article and decided it was useful for you].

Sigrid van Roode

Sigrid van Roode is an archeologist, ethnographer and jewellery historian. Her main field of expertise is jewellery from North Africa and Southwest Asia, as well as archaeological and archaeological revival jewellery. She has authored several books on jewellery. Sigrid has lectured for the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden, Turquoise Mountain Jordan, and many others. She provides consultancy and research on jewellery collections for both museums and private collections, teaches courses and curates exhibitions. She is not involved in the business of buying and selling jewellery, and focuses on research, knowledge production, and education only.

Jewellery clasps

Jewellery clasps

by | European jewellery, Reviews

A reference work on jewellery design

Clasps: 4,000 years of fasteners in jewellery

Every now and then I come across a book of which I think ‘How did I not know of this book before?!’ and this little book is one of those. Le Fermoir en Bijouterie, or in English, Clasps, devotes almost 300 pages to one of the most overlooked parts of jewellery: the way it closes.

Silver bracelet made by Tuful Ramadan, in the exhibition 'Making their Mark: women silversmiths from Oman' in the British Museum

Clasps in jewellery: 4,000 years of history

This book covers the use of clasps and other ways of fastening jewellery from the distant past to our times. From the Bronze Age to jewellery designs of our time, the author covers a multitude of ways to close necklaces, bracelets and anklets. You will see how torcs work, how anklets hinge, illustrated by a dazzling variety of jewellery. That includes a necklace worn by Marjorie Merriwather Post for example, but also a few examples of regional jewellery from Europe and the rest of the world.

This is 4,000 years of history, but apart from ancient Egypt and a lovely excursion to jewellery types of other areas, the focus is firmly on European jewellery: clasps like those of Maghrebi fibulas, or sliding knots from Indian jewellery are not included. That is not criticism, as this book covers an incredible amount of material – I think I’m just really hoping for a Part 2!

Clasps in close-up: photography and drawings

Another thing which makes this a great reference book are the detailed photographs of clasps. The beautiful pieces of jewellery are not only shown in their entirety, but also with focus on the details of the clasp. That means that you’ll see a lot of images of jewellery pieces both closed and open, and with details of that part you never see when worn: its reverse side.

Detailed schematic drawings throughout the book highlight closing mechanisms where necessary. The last part, the glossary of clasps, presents an overview of 25 types of closing mechanisms in chronological order. Each type is accompanied by a schematic drawing of its function. And all of these are shown in use, too, as part of a jewel.

The book features hundreds of pieces of jewellery, dating from prehistory to high-end jewellery of our day and age. You will see museum pieces from archaeological museums as well as contemporary designs and everything in between: think Etruscan gold to Van Cleef and Arpels.

I loved to see the intricacy and clever design of jewellery closing devices throughout history. And because they are presented in such a wide time range, this book allows you to appreciate the originality and creativity that jewellery designers managed to come up with, time and again. A clasp can be part of the design itself, the eye-catching element in the centre or the invisible, innovative solution to wearing a jewel safely and securely.

Clasps to study and understand

This is a wonderfully illustrated book which both jewellery historians and jewellery designers will love. It presents a wide overview of types of clasps and it offers a gorgeous selection of jewellery to admire. Many of which you will see photographed in this detail of their closing mechanism for the first time! This really helps in understanding how a jewel is constructed, or, when you’re admiring a painting or an old photograph, to get some idea on how a jewel is worn. A lot of work went into compiling this book, and I am sure you will appreciate this encyclopaedic overview. For me, this is definitely a reference book that I will pull out often!

More information on Le Fermoir en Bijouterie/Clasps

French title: Le Fermoir en Bijouterie. 4000 ans d’histoires.

English title: Clasps. 4,000 years of fasteners in jewellery.

By Anna Tabakhova, 2019. 283 pages, full colour, in either French or English.

Published by Editions Terracol: click here for the English version, and click here for the French version.

Available with the publisher, online and in well-sorted bookstores.

I purchased the French book in the museum shop of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris.

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Where can I find more on traditional jewellery from Southwest Asia and North Africa?

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Looking for background information on your jewellery? Have a look at the courses – there’s so much available on the world of the jewellery from North Africa and the Middle East!

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Sigrid van Roode

Sigrid van Roode is an archeologist, ethnographer and jewellery historian. Her main field of expertise is jewellery from North Africa and Southwest Asia, as well as archaeological and archaeological revival jewellery. She has authored several books on jewellery. Sigrid has lectured for the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden, Turquoise Mountain Jordan, and many others. She provides consultancy and research on jewellery collections for both museums and private collections, teaches courses and curates exhibitions. She is not involved in the business of buying and selling jewellery, and focuses on research, knowledge production, and education only.

A Life In Jewels

A Life In Jewels

by | European jewellery, Reviews

Liber Amicorum for Diana Scarisbrick

A Life in Jewels

What do you get a world-renowned jewellery historian for her birthday? The gift of knowledge: a gorgeous book with essays on a wide variety of jewellery topics by her friends! That is what A Life in Jewels is: a book to honour Diana Scarisbrick on her 94th birthday.

Book cover of A Life In Jewels. Liber Amicorum in honour of Diana Scarisbrick.

Bedouin Silver | Life In Jewels

And it is a treasure! Nineteen chapters deal with European jewellery studies in all timeframes and from a variety of angles. As these are all essays from a jewellery historian point of view, instead of an art historian perspective, each contribution is an inspiring example of the stories that can be told when jewellery is placed in context. The oldest period included is the Roman period, where we read about the power of the gaze on Roman imperial gems. Staring is impolite pretty much all over the world, and in this essay you’ll read more about what the Romans thought of those staring eyes of tiny carved portraits. Added bonus for me is that several of the gems shown are now in the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden, The Netherlands, so I can walk over and see them in person! The next essay zooms in on classical (and neoclassical) gems as well, but from a collectors’ point of view: what can we learn about a collector by studying both their collections and the way they assembled them?

A late Medieval type of jewel is addressed in the essay on heart-shaped brooches from the 15th century, a category of jewellery that has received little coherent attention. I really appreciated how this chapter outlines possibilities for further research on these beautiful pieces: if anyone is looking for a research topic, this is your cue! One of my favourite chapters is the essay on jewellery theft in early modern London: this reads like nothing short of a crime novel – and also presents several examples of how difficult it is to identify jewels based on a description from a different timeframe: what on earth is ‘a gem like a pigeon’? (p. 63)

Closer to home for me was the essay on jewellery in two portraits of Sophia de Vervou: these are located in The Netherlands, and I wished I had read this essay back when I first saw them! Every bejeweled detail is unpicked, explained and placed in the context of other information surviving about Sophia’s life, down to the collar of her dog – this essay brings the woman on the portraits to life. Claims to power are expressed in jewellery in the chapter on the Stuart court in Rome, where medallions with portraits of throne pretenders James and Charles (yes, that’s the Bonnie Prince) were created by Italian craftsmen and sold to supporters.

Jewellery also serves as memory of notable events, as the essay on commemorative rings illustrates: rings commemorating the storming of the Bastille, which launched the French Revolution, or patriotic rings from Poland and Hungary, are just a few examples that carry world history and tell us more about the allegiances of its wearers. And there is so much more in this book: a portrait of Lord Petersham wearing a bat pendant, the gorgeous rings in the Musee Carnavalet, the sapphires of Queen Victoria, the close relation between illuminated manuscripts and the enameled jewellery by Falize, down to modern design and gardens in jewellery, via the French crown jewels and a splendid Chaumet tiara…in every essay, you’ll find a new angle to place jewellery in context. The only chapters that were difficult to read for me are the two contributions in Italian – but for a glimpse on unpublished gems and cameos, I’ll happily whisk out my dictionary!

Obviously, there is much to be learned from the individual chapters, but its real power to me is the joy of researching jewellery and sharing findings that is almost palpable on every single page. All contributions breathe enthusiasm for both the topic at hand and the person this book is dedicated to. And indeed, we owe Diana Scarisbrick a great debt for her never-ending passion for jewellery research – she still has yet another book in the works, and I can only hope to be blessed with that same energy should I ever be reaching her age. The book contains her impressive bibliography as well, which I’m sure will get you looking for several titles to add to your library! The volume is beautifully illustrated throughout with large, full-colour photographs.

If you are involved with European jewellery in any way, as a curator, collector, scholar or dealer, you will want to own this fabulous birthday present: this gift of knowledge to the woman who inspired so many scholars of jewellery is a beautiful gift to yourself.

A Life In Jewels. Liber Amicorum in honour of Diana Scarisbrick. Edited by Beatriz Chadour-Sampson, Sandra Hindman and Carla van de Puttelaar, 2022.

Full colour, 279 pages, in English, with contributions in French and Italian. Published by Ad Ilissum/Paul Holberton, with the gracious assistance of Les Enluminures.

Available with the publisher.

The book was received as review copy from the publisher.

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Sigrid van Roode

Sigrid van Roode is an archeologist, ethnographer and jewellery historian. Her main field of expertise is jewellery from North Africa and Southwest Asia, as well as archaeological and archaeological revival jewellery. She has authored several books on jewellery. Sigrid has lectured for the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden, Turquoise Mountain Jordan, and many others. She provides consultancy and research on jewellery collections for both museums and private collections, teaches courses and curates exhibitions. She is not involved in the business of buying and selling jewellery, and focuses on research, knowledge production, and education only.