Contemporary jewellery

When trying to formulate the definition for what this report believes contemporary jewellery is, this paper has looked at the definition given by two influential contemporary jewellers these being:

    Bruce Metcalf

Figure 1: Metcalf, B  (1997). Brooch pins, maple, copper, brass, sterling silver, 23k gold leaf. [ONLINE]

According to Metcalf, there is no fixed definition for jewellery in itself as it may gravitate between the extremes of both sculptural may yet be closely related to textile (Metcalf, 1998). In his paper he also highlights the main five functions of jewellery which he uses as a guide in order to discover his definition of what is contemporary jewellery. As seen in figure 1, an item if jewellery may have sculptural features and still be considered an item of jewellery.

b.      Liesbeth den Besten
According to art historian Liesbeth den Besten, contemporary jewellery is an item of jewellery which is reflective of that specific period  which it was created in, expanding to at least a 50 year period gap (Besten, 2001).

What kind of Imagery and symbolism have they used?

Ndongeni, S (2019). Xhosa Fertility Charms Display, East London Museum.b

While at the museum, I had found that there was a lot of symbolic imagery used within the traditional Xhosa beadworks. I will however be only discussing those which are relevant this research report. 

Ndongeni, S. (2019). Xhosa love dolls , East London Museum. 

The Xhosa love dolls in the picture above were traditional worn by young girls who had the "misfortune" of not receiving a marriage proposal. These were not made by the young woman themselves, but were however made by old woman and were then to be secretly worn around the neck, until such a time the young girl received a marriage proposal.

These dolls were believed to have the ability to attract a husband.These dolls would therefore fall under the classification of spiritual jewellery. 

Virtual gallery part 3

 “Too much is not enough”.
https://www.behance.net/gallery/15597031/Too-much-is-not-enough 

From the third paragraph I was able to discern that when working with narrative jewellery, one needs to consider the title of the piece very carefully so as to guide others towards their narrative and in their understanding of their work. This is especially important when the artist or jeweller has used symbolism which is not familiar nor known by their audience. An example of this would be using figurative elements so as to express an idea. An example I came across which depicted this paragraph was the work of Reka Lorincz, as seen above, which is a comment on the consumer mentality.

Virtual gallery

I have been going through the Narrative papers from the virtual gallery and have decided to share some of my thoughts on what I have read:

Narrative jewellery is not only about jewellery which tells a story, but jewellery which implies a certain meaning or expression and therefore it’s about the thoughts and ideas which the creator hopes to produces for the viewer/wearer.

One jewellery designer whose work I came across that seemed to reflect this concept. She bases her narrative work historical narrative stories, where she uses “personal and vintage objects” which would hold personal significance to the wearer such as family jewellery etc. She would then use these personal treasures as a base for her designs and manufacturing development. An example of her work is the brooch pin, in which she has used old found pearl, which was inspired by old photographs.

https://narrativejewellery.tumblr.com/post/102545827883/what-is-narrative-jewellery-part-one