JEWELRY

objects of personal adornment prized for the craftsmanship going into their creation and generally for the value of their components as well. Throughout the centuries and from culture to culture, the materials considered rare and beautiful have ranged from shells, bones, pebbles, tusks, claws, and wood to so-called precious metals, precious and semiprecious stones, pearls, corals, enamels, vitreous pastes, and ceramics. In certain eras artist-craftsmen have sometimes placed less emphasis on the intrinsic value of materials than on their aesthetic function as components contributing to the effect of the whole. Thus, they might fashion a brooch out of steel or plastic rather than gold or platinum. Furthermore, in addition to its decorative function, during much of its history jewelry has also been worn as a sign of social rankforbidden by sumptuary laws to all but the ruling classesand as a talisman to avert evil and bring good luck. During the Middle Ages, for example, a ruby ring was thought to bring its owner lands and titles, to bestow virtue, to protect against seduction, and to prevent effervescence in waterbut only if worn on the left hand. decorative objects made for the adornment of the body, usually, but not always, of materials such as gold and precious stones that have a high intrinsic value. The art of jewelry-making originated in prehistoric times when primitive people used objects from the animal worldsuch as horn, shell, and feathersto adorn themselves. Cave paintings and carvings show figures decorated with bracelets, necklaces, and headdresses. Since then many forms of jewelry have evolved, so that there is hardly a part of the body for which an ornamental form has not been created. Arms and legs have been festooned variously with bracelets, rings, shoe buckles, and ankle bracelets; the head with tiaras, earrings, and combs; and the chest and neck with brooches, necklaces, belts, and breastplates. Traditionally jewelry has been a sign of social rank and a symbol, often of luck or good fortune. During pagan times, jewelry was often buried with the deadthe Egyptian tomb of King Tutankhamen yielded a rich treasure of jewelry when it was opened. During Roman times, jewelry, which had been worn exclusively by the nobility, began to be worn by people of lower social classes. With the rise of Christianity, the custom of burying the dead with jewelry was ended. Though little jewelry was made during the Middle Ages, by the 12th century the art of making things of gold was developing, and by the Renaissance, especially in Florence in the 15th century, jewelry-making reached the status of a fine art. Many of the major Florentine sculptors and architects trained first as goldsmiths. Probably the most widely used and highly prized material for jewelry-making is gold. Its malleability, value, and colour make it ideal for a wide range of uses. Gold sheets can be embossed, engraved, pressed, or pierced into decorative forms, and gold wire can be used to join jewels together or to make chains. Other metals commonly used for jewelry-making are silver, also very malleable and less expensive than gold, and platinum, which began to be widely used in the 19th century. Nonprecious metals such as copper and steel have also been used, especially by 20th-century modern craftsmen. Precious and semiprecious stones are the other most commonly used components of jewelry. Diamonds have traditionally been the most highly prized of such gems, varying in colour from yellow to bluish white and sometimes reaching enormous size. The brilliant cut, which with its myriad facets best shows the characteristic sparkle of a diamond, was invented in the 17th century. By the 18th century diamonds had become so popular that imitation stones began to appear. Rubies, emeralds, and sapphires are other precious stones used for jewelry, as are the less costly chrysoberyl, topaz, and zircon. Semiprecious stones include amethyst, garnet, opal, aquamarine, jade, turquoise, lapis lazuli, and malachite. Amber, a fossil tree resin, is a highly valued stone. Pearls and coral, though animal in origin rather than mineral, are also usually considered gemstones. Both range in colour from black to pink to white. Common techniques used to decorate pieces of jewelry include enamelling and stone-cutting. Stones may be cut to create intaglio (engraved or incised) designs on the stones themselves (the scarab is an example), or they may be cut to make cameos. Cameos are cut from stones, such as onyx or agate, where different colours occur in layers. The background material is cut away, leaving the cameo design in relief. From the 17th century onward the decorative qualities of jewelry gained importance over its symbolic, social, or religious significance. The nobility and the more affluent among the middle classes bought and wore jewelry. By the 19th century, industrialization put jewelry within the reach of even greater numbers. New techniques were developed to make cheaper materialssuch as gold-plated metals, cultured pearls, and imitation gemsavailable. A number of large commercial firmsincluding Faberg in Russia, Cartier in Paris, and Tiffany in New York Cityrose to prominence by making and selling fine jewelry for the wealthier classes. Jewelry has been important in other cultures as well. The gold objects of pre-Columbian civilization and the turquoise and silver jewelry of the Navajo and Pueblo Indians in the southwestern United States are two notable examples. Since early times in India, jewelry-making has been a dazzling art. The use of coloured stones was widespread, no doubt because of the great natural deposits of such stones in India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Myanmar. Additional reading Broad surveys include J. Anderson Black, A History of Jewels, rev. ed. (1981; also published as The Story of Jewelry); Guido Gregorietti, Jewelry Through the Ages (1969; originally published in Italian, 1969); Erich Steingrber, Antique Jewelry: Its History in Europe from 800 to 1900 (1957); Joan Evans, A History of Jewellery, 11001870, 2nd ed., rev. (1970), and Magical Jewels of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, Particularly in England (1922, reprinted 1976); Anne Ward et al., The Ring: From Antiquity to the Twentieth Century (1981; also published as Rings Through the Ages); Ernle Bradford, Four Centuries of European Jewellery (1953, reissued 1967); Fritz Falk, European Jewellery: From Historism to Modern Style (1985); and G. Mourey and A. Vallance, European Art Nouveau Jewelry (1969).Materials of the art are studied in C.H.V. Sutherland, Gold: Its Beauty, Power, and Allure, 2nd rev. ed. (1969); Robert Webster, Gems, Their Sources, Descriptions, and Identification, 4th ed., rev. by B.W. Anderson (1983); John Sinkankas, Gemstones of North America, 2 vol. (195976); and Graham Hughes, The Art of Jewelry: A Survey of Craft and Creation (1972, reissued 1984).Particular styles and periods are discussed in Cyril Aldred, Jewels of the Pharaohs: Egyptian Jewelry of the Dynastic Period (1971); Reynold Higgins, Greek and Roman Jewellery, 2nd ed. (1980); Jamila Brij Bhushan, Indian Jewellery, Ornaments, and Decorative Designs, 2nd rev. ed. (1964); Ronald Jessup, Anglo-Saxon Jewellery (1950, reissued 1974); Priscilla E. Muller, Jewels in Spain, 15001800 (1972); Margaret Flower, Victorian Jewellery, new and rev. ed. (1973); John Haycraft, Finnish Jewellery and Silverware (1962); and Mary L. Davis and Greta Pack, Mexican Jewelry (1963, reprinted 1982).Books devoted to individual practitioners or describing particular museum collections and exhibitions include A. Kenneth Snowman, The Art of Carl Faberg, 2nd ed. (1962, reissued 1972); Herbert Hoffmann and Patricia F. Davidson, Greek Gold: Jewelry from the Age of Alexander (1965); Christine Alexander, Jewelry: The Art of the Goldsmith in Classical Times as Illustrated in the Museum Collection (1928); Edward F. Twining, A History of the Crown Jewels of Europe (1960); Martin Holmes, The Crown Jewels at the Tower of London, 4th ed. (1974); Hugh Tait, The Waddesdon Bequest: The Legacy of Baron Ferdinand Rothschild to the British Museum (1981); and Hugh Tait (ed.), Jewelry, 7000 Years: An International History and Illustrated Survey from the Collections of the British Museum (1987; also published as Seven Thousand Years of Jewellery). Guido Gregorietti The history of jewelry design The possibility of tracing jewelry's historic itinerary derives primarily from the custom, beginning with the most remote civilizations, of burying the dead with their richest garments and ornaments. Plastic and pictorial iconographypainting, sculpture, mosaicalso offer abundant testimony to the jewelry worn in various eras. It is probable that prehistoric humans thought of decorating the body before they thought of making use of anything that could suggest clothing. Before precious metals were discovered, people who lived along the seashore decorated themselves with a great variety of shells, fishbones, fish teeth, and coloured pebbles. People who lived inland used as ornaments materials from the animals they had killed for food: reindeer antlers, mammoth tusks, and all kinds of animal bones. After they had been transformed from their natural state into various elaborate forms, these materials, together with animal skins and bird feathers, provided sufficient decoration. This era was followed by one that saw a transition from a nomadic life to a settled social order and the subsequent birth of the most ancient civilizations. Most peoples settled along the banks of large rivers, which facilitated the development of agriculture and animal husbandry. Indirectly, this also led to the discovery of virginal alluvial deposits of minerals, first among which were gold and precious stones. Over the years the limited jewelry forms of prehistoric times multiplied until they included ornaments for every part of the body. For the head there were crowns, diadems, tiaras, hairpins, combs, earrings, nose rings, lip rings, and earplugs. For the neck and torso there were necklaces, fibulae (the ancient safety pin), brooches, pectorals (breastplates), stomachers, belts, and watch fobs. For the arms and hands armlets, bracelets, and rings were fashioned. For the thighs, legs, and feet craftsmen designed thigh bracelets, ankle bracelets, toe rings, and shoe buckles. Middle Eastern and Western antiquity Sumerian Sumerian gold and faience diadems from Queen Pu-abi's tomb, Ur, c. 2500 BC. In the British The most ancient examples of jewelry are probably those found in Queen Pu-abi's tomb at Ur in Sumeria (now called Tall al-Muqayyar), dating from the 3rd millennium BC. In the crypt the upper part of the queen's body was covered with a sort of robe made of gold, silver, lapis lazuli, carnelian, agate, and chalcedony beads, the lower edge decorated with a fringed border made of small gold, carnelian, and lapis lazuli cylinders. Near her right arm were three long gold pins with lapis lazuli heads, three amulets in the shape of fishtwo made of gold and one of lapis lazuliand a fourth amulet of gold with the figures of two seated gazelles. On the queen's head were three diadems, each smaller than the one below it, fastened to a wide gold band: the first, which came down to cover the forehead, was formed of large interlocking rings, while the second and third were made of realistically designed poplar and willow leaves(see photograph). Above the diadems were gold flowers, on drooping stems, the petals of which had blue and white decorations. On the back of the headdress was a Spanish-type comb, with teeth decorated with golden flowers. Huge golden earrings, in the shape of linked, tapered, semitubular circles, completed the decoration of the head. On the neck was a necklace with three rows of semiprecious stones interrupted in the middle by an openwork flower in a gold circle. Many rings were worn on the fingers. There were large quantities of other jewelsamong them wrist and arm bracelets and pectoralsbelonging to the handmaidens, dignitaries, and even the horses that formed part of the funeral train. As was the custom, the queen's attendants had killed themselves in the crypt after the burial ceremony. As this description suggests, Sumerian jewelry forms, much more numerous than those of modern jewelry, represent almost every kind developed during the course of history. Nearly all technical processes also were known: welding, alloys, filigree, stonecutting, and even enameling. Sources of inspiration, aside from geometry (disks, circles, cylinders, spheres), were the animal and vegetable world; and expressive forms were based on an essential realism enriched by a moderate use of colour.