Ornament is the leading magazine celebrating wearable art. Explore jewelry, fashion, beads; contemporary, ancient and ethnographic.
Issue link: http://ornamentmagazine.epubxp.com/i/77981
33 ORNAMENT 35.5.2012 by diamonds. It was a tough sell to the trustees, and, as she put it, a costly bauble. "How can you say we have an encyclopedic jewelry collection but we're prejudiced against pieces that are made of platinum and diamond? As if good design doesn't come out of these materials." And as if she had not taken it quite far enough, she has crossed the costume jewelry line as well. While walking up to the museum director's office to show him a recent acquisition of a 1950s Miriam Haskell Renaissance-revival necklace and earring set, she says, "I kept thinking to myself, 'he isn't going to like this.' But he really liked it." In his courtly British elocution, Rogers explains his perspective. "I spent a whole day with her in strong rooms in a city other than Boston, looking at hundreds and hundreds of pieces of jewelry. With her capacity to look at something, and say 'oh, look, this has been restored; this must be 1920s when this mine opened;' or, 'this is a really good stone.' She has a natural grasp of style, materials, quality, and condition. So, when she comes to me with a proposal, I listen very, very carefully because she's such a good judge—and that is the case with very precious stones or costume jewelry." "It's all a part of the story, because there's great design, great manufacturers in all of these areas, and to think that it doesn't belong in a fine arts museum is just foolish," adds Markowitz. She plans to expand the museum's collection in several areas. "The idea is to fill in areas not represented, and the other is to enhance strengths. For example, I think we have an outstanding collection of Boston Arts and Crafts jewelry. The Arts and Crafts movement in Boston was a national force, it stimulated Arts and Crafts artists in the Midwest, and even on the west coast. So we're well represented, but I'm always looking for outstanding pieces." Museum colleagues agree, Markowitz is exceptionally generous with her knowledge, teaching and research—unless she is on the trail of an important piece of jewelry for the collection. The Colt diamond wedding necklace, made in the 1850s, is an example. It may be the earliest intact American diamond necklace, because valuable jewelry was often broken up and made into different pieces as it was passed down. And it almost surely came from Tiffany & Co., as Markowitz discovered in a 1856 Hartford Courant article, which mentions Elizabeth Jarvis Colt wearing her "Tiffany wedding necklace." Only after the museum had acquired it did she reveal this to the Skinner jewelry auctioneer, knowing that the Tiffany archives would have scooped it up. The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston is the only major United States fine arts museum actively collecting jewelry, according to Rogers and Markowitz, with the exception of the Newark Museum, on a smaller scale. Newark's curator of Decorative Arts, Ulysses Dietz, is a friendly competitor. Markowitz explains, "He called me to see if the museum had acquired the Post Brooch, and I said 'Yes, we got it.' 'Good,' he said. 'There's an Art Deco diamond bracelet I want. I'm going to go to my trustees and tell them that Boston acquired this.' " By placing historical value on a costly, KUNZITE BROOCH, by Yvonne Markowitz, of eighteen karat white gold, kunzite, and moissanites; 7.5 x 7.5 x 2.0 centimeters, 1995. Photograph by Greg Heins. American piece of high-style jewelry, Markowitz has set a precedent for the way jewelry is considered by other curators. "Since we have opened a jewelry gallery," says Rita Freed. "I think it has really forced people to take notice of jewelry. At the opening, you couldn't even get into the gallery." The line was so long that even Peter Lacovara, who started it all, could not get in. He is now senior curator of the Department of Egyptian, Nubian, and Near Eastern Art at the Carlos Museum, Emory University, and he is proud of his former student. "Jewelry was really neglected as an artform and an important historical source. Others dismissed it as decoration. She elevated it as an art historical study. She is one of the great curators who has really transformed the art––and will have a lasting impact on museology as a whole." Malcom Rogers wraps it up with charm. "Yvonne is a jewel herself, and becoming curator has given her her setting—like you'd set a stone in a ring. It really brought out her extraordinary qualities." SUGGESTED READING Fales, Martha Gandy. Jewelry in America: 1600-1900. Woodbridge, Suffolk, UK: Antique Collectors' Club, 1995. Freed, Rita, Yvonne J. Markowitz, and Sue D'Auria (eds). Pharoahs of the Sun: Akhenaten, Nefertiti, Tutankhamen. Boston: Bulfinch Press, 1999. Markowitz, Yvonne J. Artful Adornments: Jewelry from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 2011. Markowitz, Yvonne J. and Midori Feris. "Jewelry as Biography: The Charm Bracelet in Mid-20th Century America." Ornament Vol. 21, No. 4 (Summer 1998): 54-57. Markowitz, Yvonne J., Joyce Haynes, and Rita Freed. Egypt in the Age of Pyramids: Highlights from the Harvard University-Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Expedition. Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 2002. Markowitz, Yvonne J. and Elyse Karlin. Imperishable Beauty: Art Nouveau Jewelry. Boston and London: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 2008. Markowitz, Yvonne J. and Susan Ward. "Art Nouveau Jewelry: Preserving Nature's Beauty." Ornament Vol. 31, No. 5 (2008): 39-43.