The Stories Pages describe the inspiration for certain pieces
Ancient Jewelry Collections and Hoards
I love to visit and study ancient jewelry collections. For many ancient cultures, 24K gold, which comes straight from the earth, was considered divine precisely because man didn’t have to manipulate it to make it beautiful. I am fascinated by what ancient pieces tell us about how people lived, their values, aesthetics, social structures, customs, and belief systems. First and foremost, I am struck by how many of the items in these collections are still thought to be so beautiful and wearable by today’s aesthetic.
The Nimrud Bracelet
On the eastern bank of the Tigris River, southwest of what is today Mosul, Iraq, lay the 2nd capital of the Assyrian Empire (883-859BCE). Today it is known as Nimrud, in antiquity it was known as Kalhu. Beginning in 1949 and running all the way until 2001, archaeologists uncovered a series of tombs. These tombs followed the Mesopotamian tradition of being constructed under the homes in which the deceased people lived. A series of "queen's tombs" have produced an amazing collection of ancient gold jewelry, which show the wealth and social importance of those buried there. This bracelet was inspired by a series of three pairs of bracelets found in Tomb III in 1989.
While we can't determine the exact identity of the woman buried with these bracelets, a neighboring body in Tomb III has been identified as a queen. Given that the unidentified body was surrounded by even more jewelry and other sumptuous objects than the queen, it is likely that this woman was of even more social importance.
In an extraordinary clash of ancient and modern histories, much of the treasure that was found in these tombs wound up in a local Mosul museum with the probable intention of being moved to Bagddad eventually. But the Kuwait crisis of 1990 and the invasion of Iraq in 2003, led to the plundering of the museum by local people. Some objects were taken so that they could be protected for posterity, some were taken to be melted down or sold. Incredibly, the archeologists engaged in this years' long effort had recorded their work so well that the book, Nimrud: The Queen's Tombs, by Mazahim Hussein was at least able to capture the story and richness of these treasures.
The Hippocampus pin
This hippocampus brooch was inspired by a piece from the Lydian Hoard. With the head of a horse, the tail of a fish, and the wings of a bird it calls to mind earth, sea, and sky. The Lydian Hoard was discovered in a 6th Century BCE burial site in what is today Turkey. It held 363 precious artifacts. First found by looters in 1966, it was purchased by the Metropolitan Museum in NYC and kept locked up for 20 years. Not long after it was put on display, Turkey requested that it be returned. Turkey had to sue, and finally in 1993, the Met, red faced, returned the hoard to Turkey only to have some of the pieces stolen from a Turkish museum and replaced by fakes around 2005! Sometimes the history of what happens to ancient hoards AFTER they are discovered is more convoluted than its original history.
There is a great article in the Smithsonian Magazine by Sharon Waxman called- "Chasing the Lydian Hoard" that can be found here.
THE Byzantine Bracelet
The inspiration for this bracelet appears in many books on Byzantine jewelry. While taking a course in Madrid, I had the good fortune to see it in person at the National Archeology Museum. The piece was made as a "votive crown" that would have been suspended over a statue, likely in a basilica. Its design reveals many clues to its history. The patron is recorded by the letters hanging below the crown: King Reccesvinth. Reccesvinth was a Visigothic local king of an area in Toledo Province, Spain from 649-672. This gift to the church would have demonstrated the King's piety and his submission to the church. The arrival of Islam in Spain in 711 put pressure on Christianity and is likely why this and other votive crowns and precious artifacts were buried. Together they are referred to as the Guarrazar Hoard. The hoard was discovered in an orchard between 1858 and 1861. Today it resides in three different museums in Madrid and Paris and represents a high point in Visigothic or Byzantine goldsmith's work.
The original crown was made with sapphires from Ceylon. Imagine the journey they made from Ceylon, or modern day Sri Lanka, to northwestern Spain in the 7th century! I have made this bracelet with tanzanites and diamonds.
THE Cheapside Hoard Necklace
The Cheapside Hoard is a collection of jewelry that was buried at 30-32 Cheapside Lane in London in the 1640's. It was discovered in 1912 when excavators were working in the basement of the building. The hoard includes hundreds of extraordinary and rare jewels from the Elizabethan and early Stuart periods. Because the jewels included in the hoard contained stones that would have been sourced from as far away as India, it sheds light on the international jewelry trade in London at the time. It also provides a unique glimpse into the fashion, wealth, and craftsmanship of the period. London in the 1640s was a place of both plague and civil unrest and war. Certainly, whoever buried these pieces was hoping to come back for them.