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PAST EXHIBITIONS

All the City Feels

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All the City Feels

PAST EXHIBITIONS

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Published on

23.01.2022

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The Feel of the City

Asenbaum Collection

Galerie bei der Albertina Zetter

Tilman Bohm

Hancocks London

Why does Art Deco Jewelry matter?

Exhibtion Catalogue
City Feel — Jewelry from the Centres of the World
Cornelie Holzach, Julia Kleinbeck, Johannes Rauser

Published by Schmuckmuseum Pforzheim, 2015
Including an article by Dieter Bartetzko
German and English, 105 pages
ISBN 978-3-933924-20-9

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Exquisite and exhilarating, jewelry creations from the major metropolises of the world all have that endearing je ne sais quoi. Jewelry created in large cities dating back to classical antiquity and advancing well into the 20th century were on display as part of Schmuckmuseum Pforzheim’s exhibition entitled “The Feel of the City – Jewelry from the Centres of the World.”

Ladies of society only wore pearls before five o’clock and diamonds were the choice de rigueur for the late evening hours.

“Pieces like these need the relevant environment and social occasions,” explains Cornelie Holzach, Schmuckmuseum Pforzheim’s director and exhibition curator. The preview, exclusively held for members of the museum’s International Society of Friends of Schmuckmuseum Pforzheim (ISSP), took place in collaboration with the Tiffany & Co. archivist Annamarie Sandeckie, who flew in as a special guest from New York.

 

“The Feel of the City – Jewelry from the Centres of the World” showcased about 100 specimens from Schmuckmuseum Pforzheim’s own collection, as well as lenders such as the Asenbaum Collection and Galerie bei der Albertina Zetter in Vienna, Tilman Bohm in Paris, Siegelson, Hancocks and Wartski in London and the Tiffany & Co. Archives in New York.

Urban living reflected the fashion and Zeitgeist of a specific era and a vibrant social life was fertile breeding ground for a richly varied jewelry culture.

The exhibition spotlighted the centers of bygone epochs, such as Pompeii, Rome, Byzantium and Constantinople, as well as the big trading cities of early modern times, beginning with Florence via Paris and Augsburg to 1920s Hamburg. Urban living reflected the fashion and Zeitgeist of a specific era and a vibrant social life was fertile breeding ground for a richly varied jewelry culture.

 

Just a few centuries ago, those who were invited for tea were expected to don the appropriate jewelry. Ladies of society only wore pearls before five o’clock and diamonds were the choice de rigueur for the late evening hours. It was not only in London that women adorned their décolletés, arms or fingers with spectacular pieces, but also in Paris. Some jewelry could only be created and worn in big cities, which was the central message conveyed through the exhibition.

Cartier clip brooches
Gold, topaz
London, about 1935 – 1940
Schmuckmuseum Pforzheim
Photography Rüdiger Flöter

Whether timelessly elegant, elaborately crafted, opulent or understated, all the exhibits testified to a superlative virtuosity and creativity that could only have evolved in a pulsatingly vibrant metropolis.

One example of such precious urban jewelry is a bracelet that was delicately crafted from solid gold in Pompeii in the 1st century CE, a unique piece whose considerable material value and exquisite craftsmanship can easily be discerned. Competition in the metropolises was fierce, as many skilled artisans settled in cities where the upper classes were able to afford expensive jewelry.

 

The Middle Ages saw the development of free cities, where wealthy burghers accounted for the majority of the population and created a solid demand for jewelry. Young artisans set out on their journeyman years, and serfs liberated themselves from their landlords under the “urban air makes you free” law. An impressive example of jewelry created across the big trading cities in the Renaissance is a precious parrot pendant crafted presumptively in Augsburg. Lavishly enhanced with gold, pearls, gemstones and enamel, the pendant served as a wedding relic.

In the Baroque period, entire cities were designed with a focus on their palaces, such as Versailles, Schönbrunn in Vienna, Nymphenburg in Munich or the Karlsruhe Palace, all centers of politics and society, as well as court life. Jewelry in the monarchy era was akin to an admissions ticket that opened the doors to life at royal courts.

 

In the early 20th century, avant-garde Art Nouveau jewelry was flaunted at a variety of shows and theaters. The exhibits from that era include, among others, a floral “Chrysanthemums” brooch, whose cast glass blossoms were created by the famous jewelry designer René Lalique, and another brooch from Paris that featured a large and lustrous greenish-blue fish with splayed fins, big purple eyes and natural pearls dangling from its mouth representing its prey. It was designed by Georges Fouquet, who used a very large mother-of-pearl element in the shape of a fish’s body to craft this exceptional corsage adornment entitled “Poisson.”

Rock crystal was very much en vogue in the Art Deco period and was commonly combined with sapphires and diamonds set in platinum. Georges Fouquet’s son Jean created exquisite and harmoniously designed brooches. One of them, crafted from rock crystal, gold and high-quality tourmaline and pearls, is characterized by a formal technoid expression. The circles evoke associations with gear wheels while the cultured pearls bear witness to the emergence of a new industry. This was the first piece of jewelry to display a deliberate contrast between matte and gleaming geometrical surfaces and represented a newfound attitude towards life, with the New Objectivity movement finding its way into many artistic genres.

 

Famous goldsmiths and jewelrs, working in metropolises and travelling from Florence to London or Naples, were inspired by the cities’ atmospheres and shared their ideas and experiences. The jewelry they created included extravagantly shaped pendants crafted from gold, rubies and diamonds, belt buckles enhanced with shimmering moonstones and highly symbolic rings.

 

Years ago, people loved flaunting flamboyant jewelry and a lot of it, with some creations becoming the talk of the town at Parisian salons. Whether necklaces or brooches, bracelets or rings, jewelry wearers exhausted the entire spectrum of available jewelry. Around the middle 20th century, the jewelry worn in the world’s metropolises turned unobtrusive once again.

Two clip brooches made of gold and topaz by Cartier in London are perfect examples of highly precious materials used to convey sleek elegance. One of the exhibition’s highlights was the gleaming fine cut orange-red Tiffany brooch complemented with small diamonds from Schmuckmuseum Pforzheim’s collection.

 

Whether timelessly elegant, elaborately crafted, opulent or understated, all the exhibits testified to a superlative virtuosity and creativity that could only have evolved in a pulsatingly vibrant metropolis. Visitors enjoyed an exciting journey through the eras and key centers of the world that went down in jewelry history in big ways.

 

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The Melting Pot is a conglomeration of all jewelry making facets today and in the yesteryears before us.

A publication by Qompendium in collaboration with Schmuckmuseum Pforzheim.

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10 am to 5 am
Jahnstraße 42, 75173 Pforzheim

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© 2019 — 2023 Qompendium

The Melting Pot is a conglomeration of all jewelry making facets today and in the yesteryears before us.

A publication by Qompendium in collaboration with Schmuckmuseum Pforzheim.

Visit Museum

Tuesday to Sunday
10 am to 5 am
Jahnstraße 42, 75173 Pforzheim

  • +49 (0) 7231 39 2126

Information

Social Media

© 2019 — 2023 Qompendium

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