Horniman Museum

Horniman Museum

by | Museums & Exhibitions

anthropological collection

Horniman Museum and Gardens

The Horniman Museum and Gardens in London (UK) houses a wonderful anthropology collection. Over 3,000 objects are on display, offering a wide view into how people all over the world experience their life and seek to understand their surroundings. I had the pleasure of visiting the museum and browse its gallery!

The museum was founded by Frederick Horniman, a tea trader who made a fortune with the company his father started. The museum is very clear about the colonial past of the museum and its collections: the collection of ethnographic objects to educate and inform people in Britain about other cultures was only possible in a colonial setting and with a fortune earned by the exploitation of others. The museum actively works with community researchers, artists and creatives on a continuous basis, and it will be interesting to see how this translates into choices and decisions, for example in regard to the Benin bronzes on display.

The central part of the museum, and the part I came to visit in particular, is the World Gallery. Here, showcases form cubicles that each address a continent. Africa, the Americas, Oceania, Asia and Europe are represented by a selection of objects that highlight varying themes. You will find many beautiful examples of ethnographic art, ranging from clothing and adornment to utensils and tools. What I particularly liked is that these are not only aimed at seeing, but at hearing, smelling and touching as well. With the display of Tuareg craftmanship you will find worked leather and a veil weight which are meant to be touched: feeling the patterns below your fingers makes an object come more to life than just by looking at it. The Asian section offers the possibility to smell the medicine of a Bhutan doctor, and throughout the exhibition sounds of song and music are present. These latter can cause somewhat of a drawback though: as they are audible throughout the Gallery, they create permanent more or less noisy surroundings.

The section on Perspectives shows how people aim to understand, control and categorize their world. Lots of amulets and other meaningful objects illustrate the problems and challenges people faced and how they sought to deal with those. I loved the showcase with all sorts of amulets from Great Britain: holed flint as a charm against nosebleeds, ‘hag stones’ to avert witches and pigeon’s feet against cramp are just a few of those. That did bring me to another drawback (well, at least, to me): the museum shop has many lovely and sustainable gift ideas, but nothing relating to the anthropological collection. There are no museum or exhibition catalogues to offer a deeper level of understanding to visitors wanting to learn more. While the museum works hard to engage visitors during their stay, by offering several moments to reflect on one’s own beliefs, values and thoughts in the exhibition, this ends at the door.

Horniman Conservatory

Tuareg objects to touch

Shell ornaments, Oceania

Amulets, Britain

Horniman World Gallery

The museum website does offer more information, though. It has a great and searchable overview of the collections: providing the collections with a more detailed description is a work in progress and will provide a great resource for research. On the website, you will also find information on ongoing collaborations, projects under way and an extensive blog with a wide variety of background stories (found more on those ‘hag-stones’ here!), inviting to keep on reading and exploring.

The museum is surrounded by beautiful gardens, and boasts a really good museum café where I enjoyed a lovely outdoor lunch with a view on the conservatory. It also houses a Butterfly House, an Aquarium and a Natural History Gallery: I did not have a chance to visit those, but I will definitely be back to explore more of this beautiful, colourful and lively museum!

Horniman Museum and Gardens: find out more on the museum website

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Sigrid van Roode

Sigrid van Roode is an archeologist, ethnographer and jewellery historian. She considers jewellery heritage and a historic source. She has authored several books on jewellery from North Africa and Southwest Asia, and on archaeological jewellery. Sigrid has lectured for the Society of Jewellery Historians, the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden and the Sultan Qaboos Cultural Center, among many others. She curates exhibitions and teaches online courses on jewellery from North Africa & Southwest Asia.

Beautiful Bodies

Beautiful Bodies

by | Reviews

gender and corporeal aesthetic in the past

Beautiful Bodies

Body aesthetic is increasingly understood as much more than just ornamentation. How we treat our bodies, dress our hair, inscribe our skin, apply make-up and fragrance as well as how we clothe and adorn ourselves is highly informative about how we see ourselves and how we would like others to see us. But how to approach this sense of self for past societies? Beautiful Bodies explores how archaeological studies may shed light on both beauty and gender, two highly discussed topics.

Beautiful Bodies is a series of articles resulting from a conference session on the same topic. As such, this is an academic read, that will bring you up to speed with current theory and thought about the relation of gender and body aesthetic, explored through archaeological material. Archaeology uses things and how they were found to attempt to explore the past, and this is also very applicable to grasping past notions of concepts like beauty and gender. Because, as the editor Uros Matic explains in the introduction, ‘beauty’ is achieved by doing something: putting your hair up in a certain way, applying make-up, wearing a certain outfit. For doing, you will need materials and tools, and those are what archaeologists ultimately find. The introductory chapter, like the last chapter, serves to provide context for the case studies in this book, and as such covers a few basics. It goes over how the social construct of ‘beauty’ is inevitably indicative of a class society, how it may be achieved in gendered spaces or through gendered acts, and how it can lead to racism and excluding: whoever does not conform to socially accepted beauty standards is often an outsider, and that sadly still holds true today.

The nine chapters that follow are in chronological order, starting out with an examination of aesthetic leadership by Queen Puabi in ancient Mesopotamia. Its author Helga Vogel considers not only the materials and colours of her jewellery and dress, but also their weight, as presented by Kim Benzel in her PhD-thesis. That weight (imagine up to 4 kg of jewellery) might have had ‘a significant impact on the physical embodiment of queenhood and her self-perception of being queen’. (p. 38) There is much to ponder about Puabi’s physical appearance and the significance attributed to her dress and adornment, which reminded me of the essay by Josephine Verduci in the Routledge Handbook of the Senses of the Ancient Near East: she points out how ‘multiple modes of experience can be working in unison’ (p. 137), and I imagine the sensory overload of Queen Puabi’s presence to do just that.

Pharaonic Egypt is presented in two chapters. Uros Matic considers how grooming activities for men were carried out in public places, for all to see, while women seem to have preferred their body-care to be carried out in private. While that points to a gender system behind beauty treatments (p. 62) and the use of gendered spaces, it got me thinking about what else this gender-defined time was used for: grooming, obviously, but how did that activity set the scene for others? What did women talk about in private, what was the point of men grooming in public? Could a point be made that female grooming acts might not just be beautification, but constituted a transformation, a rite de passage of sorts in themselves? His observation that Egyptology tends to create an image of ancient Egypt, populated by beautiful people (p. 58) is particularly noteworthy, as this adds another layer to our view of gender and beauty in the past: our own filters. The next chapter by Kira Zumkley focuses on a mystery grooming tool found in burials of both men and women, in elaborate and simpler contexts. She proposes this to be a tool for wig maintenance, and that is fascinating to me in relation to recent research on hair in ancient Egypt: excavations in Amarna have revealed the dressing of the hair of the dead by means of extensions and with head cones. Could bringing such a tool along with you have a particular agency in the context of an afterlife?

Hairstyles also are discussed in the chapter on the Aegean, where Filip Frankovic demonstrates that during the Bronze Age, social affiliation was based on age, before it shifted to gender: changes in hairstyle reveal a changing self-perception. Another layer of identification is explored for ancient Athens by Isabelle Algrain, which I found to be intriguing. Besides heteronormativity, she argues, politonormativity was a determining factor: status associated with male or female values mattered first and foremost in the context of citizenship (p. 173). Here, society defines who we are, before gender does.

Wanting to belong to a different social group is reflected in the use of mirrors, found in burials in the Roman province of Moesia Superior. Vladimir Mihajlovic argues that mirrors have been found with both male and female individuals, who were not necessarily Roman citizens. In self-fashioning themselves as such though, they attempted to perform their desired status into being: an ancient equivalent of ‘fake it ‘till you make it’. Exactly the opposite seems to have been the case in Viking-age Scandinavia. Bo Jensen makes the interesting point that ‘beauty’ was not something to achieve or generate: beauty was something everyone apparently possessed as long as there were no flaws, such as scars or marks. The last chapter deals with beauty ideals in Qajar Iran, where Maryam Dezkhamkooy takes us through the varying beauty ideals from genderless beauty to notably gender-differentiated preferences: an enriching read.

Beautiful Bodies is an exploration in both objects and ideas in the context of past gender norms. Not all chapters include all elements, but this entire book provides plenty of food for thought on how we might approach the past by carefully going over some of the most personal objects that have survived: those with which we create who we are and that in turn shape our world. It will get you thinking about how fashioning the self is related to the gendered structures of any given society, sometimes even shaping those, to manifesting our wishes and aspirations, and even to creating a particular afterlife – definitely a recommended read!

Beautiful Bodies. Gender and Corporeal Aesthetics in the Past. by Uros Matic (ed). Oxbow Books, 2022

305 pages, with B/W illustrations, in English. Available with the publisher and online.

The book was received as review copy by the publisher.

More books on personal adornment, jewellery & archaeology? See my picks for you here, or join the Jewellery List to get new book tips in your inbox. You could also dive right in and take the e-course on 5,000 years of jewellery: bringing the past to life on your screen!

Sigrid van Roode

Sigrid van Roode is an archeologist, ethnographer and jewellery historian. She considers jewellery heritage and a historic source. She has authored several books on jewellery from North Africa and Southwest Asia, and on archaeological jewellery. Sigrid has lectured for the Society of Jewellery Historians, the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden and the Sultan Qaboos Cultural Center, among many others. She curates exhibitions and teaches online courses on jewellery from North Africa & Southwest Asia.

Cartier and Islamic Art

Cartier and Islamic Art

by | European jewellery, Reviews

in search of modernity

Cartier and Islamic Art

Jewellery exchange between the Islamic world and the Christian world has existed for millennia. Byzantine jewellery is at times indistinguishable from early Islamic jewellery, and cross-cultural influences still exist in the traditional jewellery worn around the Mediterranean. These are all evidence of a long, shared history. But what happens when a high-end European jeweller feels ‘stuck’ in his repertoire, and actively seeks inspiration in another culture? The book Cartier and Islamic Art is a lavish publication exploring how eastern designs formed a source of inspiration for the work of one of the most famous jewellery houses of the West.

This book accompanies the exhibition of the same name, that was held in Paris and will be on view in in the Dallas Museum of Art from May 14, 2022 to September 18, 2022. A point to note in advance is that this is a book about aesthetics and forms, not about cultural meaning or significance: it is an art historian exploration of the creations of Cartier. The terminology used reflects a Western point of view entirely, such as the definition of what ‘Islamic arts’ actually are. You will find not just pieces created by Islamic cultures, but also jewellery from the Hindu world, and the ‘arts’ themselves exclude for example calligraphy. Let me elaborate on that a little. As for example Charlotte Huygens explains in her essay ‘On the History of Art in the Islamic World’ in the 2018 publication Splendour & Bliss, the term Islamic Art was coined in the colonial era, when the Islamic world was viewed as a monolithic entity, the counterpart of the West – the era in which Cartier started out to look for inspiration. That world view shines through, amongst other things, in the imprecise way the Cartier archives label both their creations and its inspiration: ‘Persian’, ‘Arab’, ‘Oriental’ are regularly used interchangeably. Nowadays, the denominator ‘Islamic Art’ is still used, but with the connotation of its cultural pluriformity, and it is to be understood as such in this book as well. The many essays in this book however do much more than simply illustrate how Cartier jewellery was inspired by Islamic art. They show us how to what extent abstract Western arts, notably Art Déco, are indebted to the Islamic world, and that is a great deal.

The essay on ‘Islamic Art “revealed”: a path toward modern design’ is one of the most powerful contributions in this publication. I am usually wary of wording like ‘revealing’ in the context of the Islamic world, but the use of quotation marks here reflects the sentiment of the essay itself. Its authors unpick how the Islamic arts were introduced to a European audience: through wars, displacement and colonial greed (p. 40). The success of world exhibitions and the subsequent adaptations of Islamic art forms lead to new experiments in the design field, moving away from Orientalist interpretations (p. 46) to the first attempts at abstract expression. This historical context is pivotal for understanding the jewellery created. The private collection of Louis Cartier is central in the next essay, where stunning manuscripts and inlaid works were not just collected to satisfy a personal curiosity, but also to be shared and loaned to exhibitions that in turn furthered European interest in the Islamic arts.

The arts from the Islamic world and beyond did not just form design inspiration, but brought new techniques to Europe as well. The essays on India explore how wealthy clientele from India brought their jewellery and gemstones to Cartier in order to have them updated or set in new jewels. These latter however had to conform to Indian tastes, and so the technique of stone setting known as kundan found its way to the Cartier ateliers, along with other ways of looking at forms and types of jewellery. The essay on Cartier’s Lexicon of Forms, although it uses terms like ‘Arab’ and ‘Persian’ loosely, showcases how forms derived from Islamic art and architecture were translated into design elements: not as mere copies though, but adapted and transformed into a new visual language. Even the graphic arts of Cartier were transformed based on the structures and patterns learned: the influence of Islamic art is profound and stretches well beyond jewellery design.

As the timeframe in which the ‘Lexicon of Forms’ came into existence, with all its imprecise denominators as I pointed out above, was at the apex of colonialism, it will not come as a surprise that the origin of some designs is not always clearly identified. An example is the necklace featured on p. 218, designed in 1971. It is described as inspired by Berber (which we now would indicate as Amazigh, following the people’s wish to be named in their own language) fibulae from Kabylia in Algeria (p. 187). While that may certainly hold true for the necklace itself, the pendant seems to me to be based in Tuareg tereout tan idmarden pendants as worn in the Hoggar mountains of Algeria. I was pleasantly surprised to see jewellery of ordinary people (instead of the possessions of shahs and Mughal elite) serve as inspiration for these high-end creations as well, and wonder if other contemporary jewellery examples that form part of North Africa’s and Southwest Asia’s heritage might still go unidentified.

The design and photography of this book are simply fabulous. Both original pieces and Cartier creations are photographed in crisp clarity. The large format allows for endless comparing and admiring, and what I particularly loved are the blow-ups of tiny details at the beginning of each chapter and even the cover: the cover image is a detail of a cigarette case, only 8,7 cm in height! Short intermezzo’s, like a brief essay on the pen boxes of the shah, Mughal jewellery from India or book bindings, provide informative examples on how details traveled to other designs. Each chapter is well referenced: don’t skip the endnotes, they feature many more details and discussions!

Cartier and Islamic Art is a detailed journey into the creative process of this famed jewellery house, placed in the context of its time. From inspirational exhibitions, visits and experiences, via drawings and designs to the breathtaking jewellery creations, this book places western designs and its teachers from the Islamic world side by side. For me, this book was an eye-opener in how deeply rooted abstract jewellery of the early 20th century is in Islamic art: a development in the field of jewellery that has been explored in depth for the first time in this publication. It is a visual feast of stunning, elegant Cartier designs and a wealth of superb original artworks from Southwest Asia, North Africa and India, accompanied by in-depth essays: I am sure you will thoroughly enjoy both!

Cartier and Islamic Art. In Search of Modernity. by Heather Ecker et. al. (eds). Thames & Hudson, 2021

315 pages, full-colour, in English. Available with the publisher, in bookstores and online.

The book was received as review copy by the publisher.

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Sigrid van Roode

Sigrid van Roode is an archeologist, ethnographer and jewellery historian. She considers jewellery heritage and a historic source. She has authored several books on jewellery from North Africa and Southwest Asia, and on archaeological jewellery. Sigrid has lectured for the Society of Jewellery Historians, the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden and the Sultan Qaboos Cultural Center, among many others. She curates exhibitions and teaches online courses on jewellery from North Africa & Southwest Asia.

DIVA Library

DIVA Library

by | Reviews

jewellery research

DIVA Library

Jewellery research is not just looking at beautiful jewellery, but involves a lot of desk study, too: looking for parallels, tracing provenance, finding out more about cultural context and meaning…Which is why I love books about jewellery just as much as jewellery itself, and so I was thrilled to visit the library of DIVA Antwerp: with 23,000 titles on jewellery, this is an incredibly important resource!

Antwerp has been a center of the diamond trade and expertise for centuries, as well as a major hub for silversmithing and jewellery creation. The DIVA museum showcases that history, serves as knowledge center and is a springboard for young designers. A visit to the museum is a treat in itself: each room is carefully designed with its own look & feel and focuses on one aspect of the diamond and jewellery history. From ancient Egyptian objects and their Art Déco counterparts, Moghul splendor from India and religious objects in silver and gold to shining tableware and dazzling parures, each of the six rooms in the museum has its own theme and stories to share.

And behind it all is an even larger treasure: the library. Here, you will find books on everything jewellery related, from archaeological works to modern designers, cultural significance of jewellery, art historian approaches, and related fields in the applied arts. Special care is given to auction house catalogues and even newspaper clippings that will help identify the provenance of jewellery items. Through these becomes possible to trace the journey of a certain piece through repeated auctions and sales. The emphasis of the collection is on Belgian jewellery, notably silver and diamond, but you will find plenty of books on other jewellery fields and geographical areas, too.

The library does not only house books, but other materials as well. Glass negatives, complete archives of designers and traders, model books, sales registers…the antique design drawings I was shown are works of art on their own. A special treat are the antiquarian volumes on jewellery making, which somehow survived the centuries and contain recipes for soldering, technique descriptions and overviews of gem cutting. All of these are carefully stored in custom made boxes, old drawings and prints are carefully restored, so as to survive the next few centuries as well.

The library is more than a static space filled with books, but is a vibrant knowledge hub. Design students come to find inspiration in the collection, regular talks share the many stories in this library with a larger audience, the reading room offers an airy, bright space to sit and enjoy the volumes of your choice. Whether that is to work on your school project or your dissertation, the librarians are happy to help. I definitely will be spending more time here to discover more!

See more about the museum itself here, and more about the library can be found here. The Instagram account of the library @DIVALibrary is a joy to follow, too!

I was shown around the library as a personal gesture by the librarian, with no obligation to write a blog. I am just enthousiastic about this large research library and wanted to share this treasure with you.

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Sigrid van Roode

Sigrid van Roode is an archeologist, ethnographer and jewellery historian. She considers jewellery heritage and a historic source. She has authored several books on jewellery from North Africa and Southwest Asia, and on archaeological jewellery. Sigrid has lectured for the Society of Jewellery Historians, the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden and the Sultan Qaboos Cultural Center, among many others. She curates exhibitions and teaches online courses on jewellery from North Africa & Southwest Asia.