The cover of the new Warman’s Costume Jewelry Identification and Price Guide by Pamela Y. Wiggins
ROUND ROCK, Texas – If you’ve never thought of old costume jewelry as a wearable art form with an intriguing past, a new book by author Pamela Y. Wiggins may prove to be an enlightening read. In Warman’s Costume Jewelry, recently released by Krause Publications, Wiggins shares her expert insight and acknowledges that while these pieces were once considered to be “junk jewelry” as widely advertised in the 1930s, made to be worn as a fashion statement for a season or two and then cast aside, that’s no longer true.
“This book is designed to serve a number of audiences with an interest in vintage and collectible jewelry, whether they’re just trying to find out if the goodies in Grandma’s jewelry box should go to a high-end auction house or be donated to the local thrift store. It serves as a tool for dating many pieces as well, whether the owner is contemplating selling them or just wants the satisfaction of knowing a little something about the objects she holds dear,” Wiggins wrote in her introduction.
Warman’s Costume Jewelry exhibits the broad knowledge base Wiggins has amassed buying, selling, and writing about costume jewelry since she first started collecting in the late 1980s thus establishing her as one of the most highly regarded jewelry experts in the country. The book covers jewelry ranging from true antique Victorian-era pieces to those designed by clever contemporary artisans already considered collectible, and includes insights gleaned visiting with and interviewing industry notables such as Kenneth Jay Lane, Pat Ciner Hill, and Lawrence Vrba. Her vast interaction with other jewelry experts and collectors through the organization she co-founded, Costume Jewelry Collectors Int’l (CJCI), is also woven into the text.
“I first learned to love fashion accessories working in upscale stores like Sakowitz and Saks Fifth Avenue. When I discovered a few vintage pieces by the legendary company Miriam Haskell at an estate sale in the late 1980s, I didn’t know anything about them although I did recognize their quality. I began researching 20th century jewelry at that point along with the rich history attached to each item, selling those first pieces and buying more, and never looked back. I feel my passion for collectible jewelry in all its varied forms and my appreciation for its past encapsulates nicely in my latest book,” Wiggins adds.
Photography professional Jay B. Siegel contributed more than 800 images to illustrate the book, which includes a detailed section entirely devoted to identifying and dating pieces using stones, clasps and other components along with identifying unmarked vintage jewelry. Other chapters provide historical context decade by decade demonstrating how popular culture and historical events influenced adornment from the late 19th century through the early 2000s. Major designers and manufacturers are also discussed including notable haute couturiers such as Chanel and Dior, and a section on the fabulous retail lines marketed by Joseff of Hollywood beginning in the 1930s exhibits how the glamour of the company’s movie jewelry was embraced by the masses. Value ranges are included with every piece featured throughout the book.
In addition to collecting, Wiggins also markets vintage and contemporary ladies accessories through her business Chic Antiques by Pamela Wiggins. Constantly researching and evaluating the thousands of pieces she offers to her customers provides hands-on learning she passes on to her readers both in Warman’s Costume Jewelry and her writing for About.com where she serves as the site’s antiques expert.
“I’m so fortunate to be able to incorporate a fascinating hobby into my profession and to share beautiful jewelry with others in a number of ways. Nothing gives me more joy than seeing people take pleasure in their adornment as much as I do, and helping them learn about their treasures through my new book is a longtime goal I’m so excited to have realized,” Wiggins adds.
Wiggins previously penned Buying and Selling Antiques & Collectibles on eBay (Thomson Course Technology) and serves as a contributing editor for Heritage Magazine.
Warman’s Costume Jewelry is available at www.chicantiques.com . It is also offered through Amazon.com and other online booksellers, as well as Barnes & Noble stores throughout the United States.
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ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
The cover of the new Warman’s Costume Jewelry Identification and Price Guide by Pamela Y. Wiggins
This remarkable table, made of horns in 1892, is signed W. H. T. Ehle on the inlaid wooden top. The table was made from 82 horns and is 28 inches high. Auction price at a 2014 New Orleans Auction – $9,840.
BEACHWOOD, Ohio – Furniture made from recycled workbenches and school lockers, or huge metal parts from factory machines is not a new idea. Our ancestors recycled clothing into quilts, tin advertising signs into patches for a leaky roof and cattle horns into Victorian chairs. The earliest horn furniture was made in Germany in the 1830s, and by the late 1870s, it was being made in the United States. Slaughterhouses in Chicago had a huge supply of horns left over from the processing of meat. It is said that the Tobey Furniture Co. of Chicago exhibited a sofa and chair made with horn arms at the Chicago Exposition of 1876. Later they also used horns for the legs and backs with upholstered seats, forming furniture with the curving lines popular at the time. Horns from buffalo, elk and longhorn cattle, as well as antlers, were used for tables, hall trees, rocking chairs and footstools. This novel furniture lost favor, and by the 1890s was bought for hunting lodges and cabins. By 1900, horn chairs were considered old-fashioned and not often seen. But there was a revival of interest in the 1980s, and old pieces brought good prices at auctions. Today an antique piece of horn furniture made and signed by a famous maker, or one that shows exceptional skill with clever design and inlays, retails for over $10,000. Average pieces bring $1,000 to $2,000 or less.
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Q: My grandmother left me a cobalt-blue glass pitcher and 12 tall matching drinking glasses. The pitcher has an ice lip. Each piece is decorated with a white silhouette of a sailboat and flying birds. I think the set is more than 100 years old. My aunt once told me they were stored in my grandmother’s china closet and rarely used. They’re in perfect condition. Who made the set and what is it worth?
A: Your set of Depression Glass dishes is about 75 years old, not 100. They were made in the late 1930s by the Hazel-Atlas Glass Co. of Wheeling, W.Va. The pattern usually is called “Ships” or “Sailboat.” The pattern was made by adding the ship decoration to Hazel-Atlas’ undecorated Moderntone dishes. Pitchers and tumblers in the Ships pattern are not in great demand these days, but if yours are in perfect condition they would sell – the pitcher for about $50 and the glasses for $10-$20 each, depending on their size.
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Q: We have a set of children’s furniture that includes a crib, dresser, chifferobe with drawers and a door, and a toy box. A tag on the back reads “Little Edison Furniture.” We bought it in 1948, and it has served 17 children through the years. It’s been professionally refinished and the lid to the toy box has been replaced. Any idea what the set is worth?
A: Thomas Alva Edison, the famous inventor, bought the Wisconsin Chair Company of New London, Wisconsin, in 1917 and changed the name to Wisconsin Panel and Cabinet Company. The factory made cabinets for Edison phonographs. Later, the name of the company became Edison Wood Products. A line of children’s furniture was introduced in 1927. It was sold under the name “Edison Little Folks Furniture” beginning in 1937. The parent company merged with McGraw Electric Company in 1957 and became McGraw-Edison. Edison Wood Products continued operating under that name until 1969 when the Simmons Company bought McGraw-Edison and Edison Little Folks furniture became Simmons Juvenile Furniture. Value of your set that has been refinished and has replacement parts, $600.
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Q: I have a piece of Satuma pottery that’s marked “Satsuma” and “Made in China.” What is it worth?
A: Not much. Satsuma is a Japanese ware. It’s crackle-glazed and cream-colored with multicolor decorations. It was first made in the 1600s in the Satsuma area of Japan. Today it’s also made in potteries near Kyoto. Any piece of pottery marked “Satsuma” in English probably dates from the 1970s or later. And anything also marked “Made in China” is not real Satsuma. Perhaps your Chinese vase used the pattern name Satsuma to mislead collectors. Marks on genuine Satsuma, most of them in Japanese, can be found online.
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Q: When I was 10 years old (I’m 92 now), an elderly family friend gave me his violin. It has a label inside that reads “Anno 17 -, Carlo Bergonzi, Fece in Cremona.” I have been told that it might have been made by an understudy of Stradivari. Could you tell me if that might be true?
A: Carlo Bergonzi (1683-1747) was indeed a pupil of Antonio Stradivari, and he made violins on his own, too. We receive a lot of questions about violins and can tell you that copies of Bergonzi and other high-quality 17th- and 18th-century violins have been made since the 19th century. It is very unlikely that your violin is a real Bergonzi. That doesn’t mean it is a piece of junk, though. Have an expert take a look at it. Even a professional violinist can give you an educated opinion.
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Tip: Mix and match dishes when you host a party. If color-coordinated, the dinner plate can be from a different set than the cup and saucer or salad plate. Use old and new sets. It’s the “in” look today.
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Terry Kovel and Kim Kovel answer questions sent to the column. By sending a letter with a question, you give full permission for use in the column or any other Kovel forum. Names, addresses or email addresses will not be published. We cannot guarantee the return of photographs, but if a stamped envelope is included, we will try. The amount of mail makes personal answers or appraisals impossible. Write to Kovels, (Name of this newspaper), King Features Syndicate, 300 W. 57th St., New York, NY 10019.
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Need prices for your antiques and collectibles? Find them at Kovels.com, our website for collectors. You can find more than 900,000 prices and more than 11,000 color photographs that help you determine the value of your collectibles. Study the prices. Go to the free Price Guide at Kovels.com. The website also lists publications, clubs, appraisers, auction houses, people who sell parts or repair antiques, show lists and more. Kovels.com adds to the information in this column.
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CURRENT PRICES
Current prices are recorded from antiques shows, flea markets, sales and auctions throughout the United States. Prices vary in different locations because of local economic conditions.
Birth fraktur, Johan Georg Schliger, ink, watercolor, blousy angel artist, Pennsylvania, 1794, 13 x 17 inches, $2,040.
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New! “Kovels’ Antiques & Collectibles Price Guide, 2015,” 47th edition, is your most accurate source for current prices. It’s available this month and includes a special bonus section that helps you determine prices if you’re downsizing and selling your antiques. It’s the best book to own if you buy, sell or collect – if you order now, you’ll receive a copy with the author’s autograph. This large-size paperback has more than 2,500 color photographs and more than 32,000 up-to-date prices for more than 700 categories of antiques and collectibles. You’ll also find hundreds of factory histories and marks, a report on the record prices of the year and helpful sidebars and tips about buying, selling, collecting and preserving your treasures. Available for $27.95 plus $4.95 postage. Purchase online at KovelsOnlineStore.com ; by phone at 800-303-1996; at your local bookstore; or write to Price Book, P.O. Box 22900, Beachwood, OH 44122.
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Copyright 2014 by Cowles Syndicate Inc.
ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
This remarkable table, made of horns in 1892, is signed W. H. T. Ehle on the inlaid wooden top. The table was made from 82 horns and is 28 inches high. Auction price at a 2014 New Orleans Auction – $9,840.
Image courtesy of LA Jewelry, Antique & Design ShowLOS ANGELES – A favorite of celebrities, fashionistas and other discriminating collectors, the Los Angeles Jewelry, Antique & Design Show will return to the Los Angeles Convention Center for its second edition on January 15-18, 2015. The agenda will include a benefit for the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising on Wednesday, January 14th.
The Los Angeles Jewelry, Antique & Design Show debuted in 2014 with 100 galleries and brisk sales generated by more than 50,000 visitors. The show was lauded in the media and its special curated exhibition, Treasures of the Maya Spirit was featured in an extensively in the New York Times.
The debut Los Angeles Jewelry, Antique & Design Show was attended by numerous collectors including: Barbra Streisand, James Brolin, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jerry Bruckheimer, Henry Winkler, Kevan Hall, Patricia Arquette, Lauren Graham, Lily Collins, Michelle Monaghan, Debra Wilson, Princess Anita Theodora of Orange-Nassau, Gabrielle, Duchess of Schoeneberg, Hill Harper, Robert LaSardo, Domingo Zapata, Bria Murphy, James DuMont, Alex Lombard, Sue Wong, Consul General for the U.A.E. Abdulla Ali Saboosi, and more.
The January 2015 show will feature exciting one of a kind gems, designer jewelry and watches, vintage couture purses, cases and decorative arts including: antique and modern silver, Asian art, textiles, books, porcelain, tribal art, furnishings and accessories. A portion of the show will also be dedicated showcasing to rare museum‐quality tribal art and artifacts. The galleries and pieces at the Los Angeles Jewelry, Antique & Design Show have been curated specifically to suit the tastes of collectors and luxury enthusiasts. The show will also feature special exhibits, tours and lectures.
WHEN: Wednesday, January 14th, 8:00pm-11:00pm (Opening Night Premiere Party); Thursday, January 15th, 11:00am-7:00pm; Friday, January 16th, 11:00am-7:00pm; Saturday, January 17th, 11:00am-7:00pm; Sunday, January 18th, 11:00am-5:00pm
WHERE: Los Angeles Convention Center, South Hall J & K
ADDRESS: 1201 South Figueroa Street, Los Angeles, CA 90015
General admission is $20. For additional information about the Los Angeles Jewelry, Antique & Design Show, visit www.LAWinterShow.com .
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ADDITIONAL IMAGES OF NOTE
Image courtesy of LA Jewelry, Antique & Design ShowImage courtesy of LA Jewelry, Antique & Design ShowImage courtesy of LA Jewelry, Antique & Design Show
Closeup of giant white rabbit created by Florentjin Hofman. Image courtesy of Studio Florentijn HofmanTAIPEI (AFP) – The Dutch artist whose huge inflatable yellow duck caused a sensation in Asia has now drawn more than one million visitors with a giant white rabbit on show in Taiwan, organizers said Monday.
Florentijn Hofman’s creation, made of waterproof paper material, wood and polystyrene, stands 25 meters (82.5 feet) tall.
The beaming bunny drew 350,000 admirers on Monday alone as Taiwanese celebrated the Mid-Autumn Festival, bringing to 1,004,000 the total number of visits over five days to the exhibition in the northern city of Taoyuan, the local government said.
“The number has beaten our expectations, we expected up to 200,000 visits a day,” an official at the government told AFP.
“Hofman had already impressed lots of locals last year, and perhaps people wanted to have a look at his new creation designed exclusively for Taoyuan,” she said on condition of anonymity.
The creation, the official said, was inspired by ancient Chinese folklore about a goddess who lived on the moon and her companion — a rabbit which constantly pounded the elixir of life for her.
“Hofman said he felt the rabbit might need to take a break after working on the moon for thousands of years,” the official said, speaking of why he posed the rabbit reclining against a bunker at a former naval air base.
The official said the artwork would remain in Taiwan after the festival, which also features installation and performance artists from China and Taiwan, closes on Sunday.
Hofman’s yellow ducks drew millions of visitors when they were on display in three Taiwanese cities last year.
Since 2007 the original duck designed by Hofman — which was 16.5 meters tall — has travelled to 19 cities in 11 countries, including Brazil, Australia, the United States and Hong Kong, on its journey around the world.
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ADDITIONAL IMAGES OF NOTE
Closeup of giant white rabbit created by Florentjin Hofman. Image courtesy of Studio Florentijn HofmanSmiling giant white rabbit in repose. Image courtesy of Studio Florentijn Hofman
Harry Sefarbi (American, 1917-2009), ‘Hello Lover.’ Image courtesy of Wayne Art Center
WAYNE, Pa. – Paintings by the artist Harry Sefarbi (1917-2009) will be exhibited for sale at Wayne Art Center in Wayne, Pa. (suburban Philadelphia) from September 21 through November 15, 2014.
WayneSefarbi’s work is known for its use of varied colors, overlay of patterns, and witty subject matter featuring gentlemen callers, proud mothers, dinner parties, and mosaic cityscapes. The exhibit will be the first substantial retrospective of Sefarbi’s works since his death.
Sefarbi was born in the greater Philadelphia area. After serving in World War II, he studied at the Philadelphia Academy of the Fine Arts and at the Barnes Foundation, then lived and painted in Paris for several years. He returned to Philadelphia in the early 1950s, established a home and studio in Powelton Village and taught art appreciation at the Barnes Foundation for over fifty years.
Dr Albert C. Barnes, the scientist and art collector who established the Barnes Foundation, purchased a Sefarbi painting for the Barnes collection, and Sefarbi’s paintings are held in many other collections in the Philadelphia area and beyond. As a painter and an educator, Sefarbi inspired many artists and influenced many lives.
The fall 2014 exhibition at the Wayne Art Center will include paintings that Sefarbi completed shortly before his death as well as works painted earlier in his career.
Lectures about Sefarbi’s work will be offered by The Violette DeMazia Trust during the exhibition. The opening reception is from 2:00—5:00pm on Sunday, September 21, 2014.
For further information about Harry Sefarbi please visit harrysefarbipaintings.com or contact Danni Malitzski at artsmart@eastcoastart.com or 610-716-2555.
The Wayne Art Center is located at 413 Maplewood Avenue in Wayne, Pa., on Philadelphia’s Main Line. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. and on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
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ADDITIONAL IMAGES OF NOTE
Harry Sefarbi (American, 1917-2009), ‘Hello Lover.’ Image courtesy of Wayne Art CenterHarry Sefarbi (American, 1917-2009), ‘Gentleman Caller.’ Image courtesy of Wayne Art Center
The first day cover marking the release of homoerotic stamps designed by Tom of Finland sold out very quickly. Image courtesy of Posti, Finland postal serviceHELSINKI, Finland (AFP) – A set of homoerotic Finnish stamps featuring images by gay icon and artist Tom of Finland that went on sale today have been a worldwide success, Finland’s postal service company said.
During the six months that preceded the launch, buyers placed preorders from 178 countries, Posti said in a statement.
Tom of Finland, whose real name was Touko Laaksonen (1920-1991), is venerated internationally in gay circles for his explicit sexual drawings, created at a time when homosexuality was still taboo in the West.
The stamps feature partial nudity and muscular moustachioed men in uniforms.
“It’s great that these images, which in the past had to be sold under the table, can now be openly stuck on an envelope or a postcard,” Timo Berry, the graphic artist who designed the stamps, told Finnish public broadcaster YLE.
Posti said that the stamp set got “the largest global media attention” ever.
“Our aim is to keep printing stamps which are in line with our time,” Posti spokesman Markku Penttinen said in a statement.
After Finland, the highest number of orders came from Sweden, Britain, the United States and France.
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ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
The first day cover marking the release of homoerotic stamps designed by Tom of Finland sold out very quickly. Image courtesy of Posti, Finland postal service
Official logo of Naval Special Warfare Development Group, formerly known as Seal Team 6. The 40 Navy Seals from this group killed Osama bin Laden in a May 1, 2011 raid in Abbottabad, Pakistan, with the help of a Belgian Malinois military working dog and Special Activities Division officers on the ground. Artwork by Roque Wicker 2009. Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Commons.NEW YORK (AFP) – A shirt worn by a member of the Navy SEAL team during the clandestine raid that killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in 2011 went on show in New York on Sunday.
The garment is part of an exhibition at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum portraying the decade-long hunt to find the Al-Qaeda mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks.
The black and brown uniform shirt worn by the anonymous Team Six member during the daring raid on bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad has a US flag patch on the sleeve.
But the decision to display the SEAL shirt has been criticized.
Newsweek said the exhibition was out of place, “short-circuiting the grief that rightly haunts these galleries,” a tribute to the nearly 3,000 people killed in the September 11, 2001 terror attacks on New York and Washington.
“The good guys won, it says triumphantly… But that’s cheap closure, and it seems crass to parade the evidence of our victory in what should be a space for somber, silent thought and prayer,” it wrote in an article.
The museum defended the move.
“This exhibit not only captures a seminal moment in American history, it also allows millions of visitors the chance to recognize the extraordinary bravery of the men and women who sacrifice so much for this country,” 9/11 Memorial President Joe Daniels said.
The exhibition also includes a “challenge coin” donated by “Maya,” the alias for the CIA operative who pursued the Al-Qaeda leader, and a brick recovered from the bin Laden compound.
The brick, donated by a Fox News journalist, has been on show since the museum opened its doors to members of the public in May.
The challenge coin was created to commemorate the operation and is marked with May 1, 2011, the date in the United States when bin Laden was killed — in the early hours of May 2 in Pakistan.
The other side shows a red “X” in reference to the red X that president George W. Bush put through the names of key Al-Qaeda operatives after they were found, arrested or killed, the museum said.
The museum, built into the bedrock of the World Trade Center Twin Towers, documents the attacks, their impact and legacy with 10,000 artifacts.
Daniels said he had had “the distinct honor” to meet the man who wore the shirt into the airborne raid on bin Laden’s home.
“I thank him and ‘Maya’ — both for their bravery, courage and determination, which provided a measure of justice for every single American, and for entrusting us with these artifacts of such national and international importance,” he said.
More than 900,000 people have visited the museum since it opened and more than 15 million have visited the outside 9/11 Memorial, which opened three years ago.
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ADDITIONAL IMAGES OF NOTE
Shirt worn by US Navy SEAL Team Six member during raid on Osama bin Laden’s house. Photo by Jin Lee, courtesy of 9/11 Memorial MuseumCloseup of shirt worn by US Navy SEAL Team Six member during raid on Osama bin Laden’s house. Photo by Jin Lee, courtesy of 9/11 Memorial Museum
Admiral Joseph J. ‘Jocko’ Clark, (1893-1971) was a native of the Cherokee Nation and the first Native American to graduate from the United States Naval Academy, in 1917. United States Navy Photo 80-G-402229 – Naval History and Heritage http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/prs-tpic/namer/namer-early.htm. Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia CommonsTAHLEQUAH, Okla. (AP) – The Cherokee Nation is honoring its veterans with new displays at the tribe’s veterans center.
Newly installed displays at the Tahlequah-based Cherokee Nation Veterans Center feature tributes to Lt. Jack C. Montgomery and Adm. Joseph J. Clark. They are two of the most highly decorated Cherokee citizens to have ever served in the U.S. military.
The tribe estimates there are more than 4,000 Cherokee veterans, and it says it is honoring those citizens and their service by presenting many of their stories, artifacts and memorabilia to the public.
The $2 million center, which was tribally funded, features 25 pieces of military-themed artwork from American Indian artists and 16 display cases showcasing multiple Cherokee veterans’ military regalia.
There are a dozen other cases displaying vintage wartime newspapers and various memorabilia.
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Copyright 2014 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
Admiral Joseph J. ‘Jocko’ Clark, (1893-1971) was a native of the Cherokee Nation and the first Native American to graduate from the United States Naval Academy, in 1917. United States Navy Photo 80-G-402229 – Naval History and Heritage http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/prs-tpic/namer/namer-early.htm. Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
Joyce J. Scott, ‘Buddha (Fire & Water),’ 2013, hand-blown Murano glass processes with beads, wire, thread. Courtesy of Goya Contemporary. Photographer: Michael Koryta
NEW YORK —This fall, the Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) presents Maryland to Murano: Neckpieces and Sculptures by Joyce J. Scott, the first exhibition to examine the relationship between Scott’s beaded and constructed neckpieces created in her Baltimore, Maryland studio and her more recent blown glass sculptures crafted in the Berengo Studio on Murano Island in Venice, Italy. On view from September 30, 2014 to March 15, 2015, this exhibition demonstrates the interplay between these two bodies of work and reveals the range of Scott’s technique and skill as well as the complex relationship she has shaped among adornment, content, and methodology.
Organized by Lowery Stokes Sims, MAD’s William and Mildred Lasdon Chief Curator, the exhibition features 34 of Scott’s neckpieces, including a collaboration with noted jeweler Art Smith, 3 beaded wall hangings, and 13 glass sculptures, most of which were created since 2009. A press preview and walkthrough for the exhibition will be held on Monday, October 6, 2014 at 2:00 pm.
“Over the last four decades, Scott has honed her craft and delivered striking visual narratives through masterful technical skill, while demonstrating an ongoing interest in collaborating with craftspeople across the globe,” says Glenn Adamson, MAD’s Nanette L. Laitman Director. “Maryland to Murano indicates the Museum’s commitment to presenting jewelry as an innovative art form and to examining how the medium is continually expanding.”
Born in Baltimore in 1948, Scott has lived, studied, and worked in Maryland all her life. Challenging perceived dichotomies between art and craft, sophistication and naïveté, and politics and adornment, Scott has succeeded in incorporating these elements within a vast and varied body of work including installation, printmaking, apparel, sculpture, and jewelry, the last of which has garnered her the widest audience and recognition. In Scott’s hands, human adornment becomes a vehicle for social commentary and a means for confronting contentious issues affecting contemporary society. Navigating controversial themes including hunger, rape, and racial stereotypes, Scott’s jewelry transcends the typical function of adornment and embellishment.
“Joyce Scott has maneuvered within the most traditional of materials and techniques to create a body of work of great expressive potential,” says Stokes Sims. “She has positioned herself within the context of the art world in such a way that the viability of her materials and the place where she creates is widely recognized and celebrated.”
The exhibition focuses on a range of Scott’s signature neckpieces that reveal the rich diversity of her style and methodology. Indicative of the influences of her global travels to study theater with Japanese masters as well as textile design and beadwork with Native American practitioners, featured works are grounded in the use of ancient bead-weaving techniques including peyote stitching. As a result, Scott’s wearable works maintain a strong sculptural quality while achieving a variety of physical and visual effects within a single neckpiece. Creative legacies passed down to Scott from her family, notably her mother Elizabeth Talford Scott, a well-known quilter and textile artist, are also acknowledged in the neckpieces. Building upon these influences, Scott incorporates memorabilia including charms, ex-votos, and bits of recycled jewelry to evoke personal narratives and aggregated memories.
Seen as a natural evolution from Scott’s constructed neckpieces, the featured glass works are the result of a two-year collaboration with craftspersons in the Berengo Studio on Murano Island in Venice, Italy. Both technical and conceptual in nature, this collaboration with the Murano-based studio, widely celebrated for pushing the medium of glass into the realm of contemporary art, allowed for Scott to further expand and develop skills present throughout her career. These recent works incorporate the intricately beaded elements present within her neckpieces into blown glass, and demonstrate her unique method of constructing three-dimensional, beaded forms without the use of armatures—a skill that allows Scott to create large, freestanding figures, some of which reach the scale of full-size installations.
Highlights from the exhibition include the following works:
The three sculptures in Buddha Series (2013) are multi-figural compositions that allude to the four elements—earth, fire, water, and wind. Each work combines blown glass renderings of Buddha besieged by earthly beaded figures. The resulting experience is as powerfully metaphysical as it is technically astounding.
One of Scott’s most recent neckpieces, Rain (2014), is a proliferation of turquoise curlicues, tendrils, and twists, intermingled with disembodied yet active figures. Having been detached and reworked from one of Scott’s sculptural glass busts, this piece is a prime example of the connection between her bodies of work.
Virgin of Guadalupe (2009) depicts a motley parade of devils, skeletons, and devotees alongside the Virgin Mary. This beaded neckpiece defies compositional logic as the figures pile onto one another.
Cobalt, Yellow Circles (2010) is one of three featured examples of Scott’s intricately beaded wall hangings that exist outside the functional associations of her wearable neckpieces. In this work, a web of colorful circles intertwines with figures to create a visually complex narrative scheme.
Dizzy Girl (2014), a freestanding sculptural bust that exemplifies Scott’s use of traditional Italian glass bead blowing techniques including latticinio and zanfirico, by which patterns of color are extruded through a glass matrix to create internal color variants.
Eve Became the Apple, Serpent Impressed Swallowed Adam is a volumetric work that demonstrates Scott’s repurposing of the ancient peyote stitch and ability to construct glass beaded forms without the use of armatures.
Demonstrating Scott’s skillful combination of beadwork and blown glass, Lewd #1 (2013) is a tour de force of glassblowing techniques and salacious nuances. A beaded imp torments the glass female figure to create a vignette rife with sexual tension.
Encompassing sentiments of distress and disorientation, Water Mammy I (2012) reflects Scott’s time with craftspersons from the Berengo studio and the often unexpected results that their conceptual and technical collaboration yielded. This compositionally dynamic work is part of the Museum’s permanent collection.
EXHIBITION ORGANIZATION AND CREDITS
Maryland to Murano: Neckpieces and Sculptures by Joyce J. Scott is organized by Lowery Stokes Sims, MAD’s William and Mildred Lasdon Chief Curator assisted by Sophia Merkin, curatorial assistant and project manager for the exhibition.
Maryland to Murano: Neckpieces and Sculptures by Joyce J. Scott is made possible through the generous support of Christopher K. Ho, the Rotasa Foundation, and Marcia and Alan Docter.
CATALOGUE
A full color, illustrated, 48-page catalogue accompanies the exhibition. It includes a forward by the museum’s Nanette L. Laitman Director Glenn Adamson, as well as an essay by Lowery Stokes Sims, William and Mildred Lasdon Chief Curator, which addresses the formal and thematic aspects of Scott’s oeuvre. It is followed by an interview between Sims and the artist in which they discuss Scott’s recent experiences working with the craftsmen of the Studio Berengo in Murano, Italy.
The catalogue has been produced with the support of the Rotasa Foundation. It is edited by Sophia Merkin, designed by Emily CM Anderson, produced by The Prolific Group, and published by the Museum of Arts and Design.
EDUCATION AND PUBLIC PROGRAMS
Jewelry Salons
Thursday, October 9 and Friday, October 10, 2014, 6:00pm
Free with Pay-What-You-Wish Admission
Join jewelry artist Debra Rapoport as she explores jewelry and style as personal art forms. These hands-on jewelry-making workshops give participants the chance to handcraft wearable designs that reflect their own histories and experiences.
Your Local Color: Workshops in Glass Beaded Jewelry
This workshop series Your Local Color: Workshops in Glass Beaded Jewelry explores how one’s environment, whether city, neighborhood, or community of friends, affects created artworks. Novices and experts are invited to participate in these opportunities to create wearable wonders that reflect the colorful and vibrant personalities of their makers and the places they call home.
No previous experience required. All materials provided.
Cabochon and Glass Bead Embroidered Necklaces
Saturday, October 18, 2014, 1pm
$65 General, $55 Members
Join jeweler Carole Horn for this afternoon-long, hands-on workshop on embroidering necklaces using glass beads. Taking inspiration for the works on view in Maryland to Murano: Neckpieces and Sculptures by Joyce J. Scott, students will create glass beaded embroidery around a piece of cabochon gemstone.
Freestyle Peyote Stich Bracelets
Saturday, November 15, 2014, 1pm
$65 General, $55 Members
Join jeweler Marsha Davis as she leads this afternoon-long, hands-on workshop that explores the possibilities of the ancient off-loom beading technique known as the peyote stitch. Woven in strips or rounded tubes, the colorful results can be transformed into wearable bracelets.
Beaded Spiral Rope Necklaces
Saturday, December 6, 2014, 1pm
$65 General, $55 Members
Just in time for the holidays, join jeweler Carole Horn as she leads this afternoon-long, hands-on workshop in the creation of beaded spiral rope necklaces. Using a variety of colorful beads, students will weave the perfect gift for a special someone this holiday season.
From Maryland to Mexico: A Guided Tour of Joyce Scott and New Territories
Thursday, December 4, 2014, 6:30pm
Free with Pay-What-You-Wish Admission
Explore the role that cultural influences and communities have on the evolution of an artist’s work in this guided tour comparing the exhibitions Maryland to Murano: Necklaces and Sculpture by Joyce J. Scott and New Territories: Laboratories for Design, Craft and Art in Latin America.
In the Studio with Joyce J. Scott
Thursday, October 30, 2014, 7pm-9pm
Free with Pay-What-You-Wish Admission
Join Joyce J. Scott in MAD’s Artist Studios for an evening of demonstrations and conversations.
ABOUT THE MUSEUM OF ARTS AND DESIGN
The Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) champions contemporary makers across creative fields, presenting artists, designers, and artisans who apply the highest level of ingenuity and skill to their work. Since the Museum’s founding in 1956 by philanthropist and visionary Aileen Osborn Webb, MAD has celebrated all facets of making and the creative processes by which materials are transformed, from traditional techniques to cutting-edge technologies. Today, the Museum’s curatorial program builds upon a rich history of exhibitions that emphasize a cross-disciplinary approach to art and design, and reveals the workmanship behind the objects and environments that shape our everyday lives. MAD provides an international platform for practitioners who are influencing the direction of cultural production and driving 21st-century innovation, fostering a participatory setting for visitors to have direct encounters with skilled making and compelling works of art and design.
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ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
Joyce J. Scott, ‘Buddha (Fire & Water),’ 2013, hand-blown Murano glass processes with beads, wire, thread. Courtesy of Goya Contemporary. Photographer: Michael Koryta
