Jeweled Garden: A Colorful History of Gems, Jewels, and Nature - Hardcover

Tennenbaum, Suzanne; Zapata, Janet

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0865651728 ISBN 13: 9780865651722

Publisher: Vendome Press, 2006

Synopsis

The natural world has been a muse for artists throughout the ages, and jewelry designers have always shared that inspiration, their fascination with flora and fauna coming through in their work. Now, Jeweled Garden traces the evolution of garden-inspired jewelry from the 19th century to the present day in beautiful photographs and an absorbing text.

From Louis Comfort Tiffany’s delicate realist creations of the Victorian Age to Cartier’s 2006 Caresse d’orchides necklace encrusted with precious stones, the tradition’s most beautiful pieces by master jewelers are represented. Featuring pieces from turn-of-the-last-century Art Nouveau, 1920s Art Deco, 1950s and 60s jet-set, and 1970s individualism, from Fabergé, Lalique, Tiffany, Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Bulgari, and even from fashion houses such as Chanel and Christian Dior, this gorgeous volume will delight jewelry aficionados and gardening enthusiasts alike. The natural world has been a muse for artists throughout the ages, and jewelry designers have always shared that inspiration, their fascination with flora and fauna coming through in their work. Now, Jeweled Garden traces the evolution of garden-inspired jewelry from the 19th century to the present day in beautiful photographs and an absorbing text.

From Louis Comfort Tiffany’s delicate realist creations of the Victorian Age to Cartier’s 2006 Caresse d’orchides necklace encrusted with precious stones, the tradition’s most beautiful pieces by master jewelers are represented. Featuring pieces from turn-of-the-last-century Art Nouveau, 1920s Art Deco, 1950s and 60s jet-set, and 1970s individualism, from Fabergé, Lalique, Tiffany, Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Bulgari, and even from fashion houses such as Chanel and Christian Dior, this gorgeous volume will delight jewelry aficionados and gardening enthusiasts alike.

About this title

Reviews

Authors Tennenbaum and Zapata (The Jeweled Menagerie) leave no stone unturned in their gorgeous, comprehensive history of botanical motifs in jewelry from the Victorian period to the present. The relatively narrow focus of the book allows the authors room to treat their topic in depth, spotlighting every aspect of the oeuvre in a manner rarely seen in books for laypersons. Chapters cover different time periods and movements (naturalism, exoticism, Art Deco), relying on a conventional structure: a few paragraphs of background information give way to detailed descriptions of the pieces. The text complements the jewelry in precision, if not in whimsy or beauty. Aimed at cognoscenti of the gem and jewelry world, the text slows down only slightly when introducing more rarified vocabulary: "Enameling ... not only added color to a piece of jewelry but, with the further development of plique-à-jour, its see-through appearance replaced large sections of metal, creating a gossamer look." With photographs this captivating, readers will not be disappointed.
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Edition details

• Publisher: Vendome Press
• Publication date: 2006
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0865651728
• ISBN 13: 9780865651722
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 208