I’ve wanted to see the Klimt portrait of Adele Bauer Bloch for many years.  The gallery bought the iconic picture from the heirs after a bitter legal battle with the Austrian gallery that bought it in highly controversial circumstances in WWII. The Bloch heirs also donated two sculptures that were displayed in front of the portrait in Adele Bauer Bloch’s Vienna apartment. It really is a breathtaking painting.

In the same gallery is a small display of very rare and beautiful Wiener Werkstatte (Viennese Workshop) jewellery. Established in 1903 by artistic co-founders Josef Hoffmann and Koloman Moser, the ethos was for well-made objects designed by artists and executed by specialized craftsmen. They believed that jewellery should be more than a signifier of wealth, and should primarily be of artistic value.

Koloman Moser (1868-1918) Necklace (1904) in silver and amber. Executed by WW

Josef Hoffmann (1870-1956) Brooch (1905) in silver, coral, lapis lazuli, malachite, moonstone. Executed by Karl Ponocny, WW)

Josef Hoffmann. Brooch (1907) in silver, partly gilt, agate, coral, lapis lazuli, malachite, turquoise and other semi-precious stones. Executed by WW

Carl Otto Czeschka (1878-1960) Bracelet (1910) in gold and moonstone. Executed by  Stanislaus Teyc for WW

Josef Hoffmann. Brooch (1908) in silver, partly gilt, agate, amethyst, bloodstone, coral. jade, lapis lazuli. moonstone, opal, tourmaline. executed by Eugen Pflaumer for WW

Josef Hoffmann. Bracelet (1914) in gold, diamond, ivory. Executed by WW

Dagobert Peche (1887-1923) Pendant (1920) in gold, pearls. Executed by Anton Pribil for the Oskar Dietrich firm for WW

All images kindly supplied by Neue Galerie  www.neuegalerie.org

I found the sculptors putting the finishing touches to it:

They are En Yu Lin from Taiwan studying Illustration at Kingston University and Jun Young Oh from South Korea studying at Camberwell Art School.

The sale in Talisman Gallery Harvey Nichols starts 10am on Boxing Day, with 30% reduction on selected Lola Rose and up to 50% reduction on end of ranges including Chan Luu, The Branch and Gerda Lynggaard.

I will be reopening Cale Street on Thursday January 5th, and the sale starts on the 9th.

In the next few weeks I’ll be posting images and information about new designers and collections that I’m excited about sharing with you in 2012. Stay tuned for details of forthcoming trade shows in Europe and the US.

Lesley

Turquoise is a blue-green mineral that is a hydrous phosphate of copper and aluminium. The name derives from the French turques as the gemstone mined in Persia was imported to Europe through Turkey. It was known to the Aztecs as chalchihuitl.

Persian sky-blue turquoise was highly valued for more than 2000 years, and primarily mined in the area around the mountain peak of Neyshabur. The Southwest of the USA was an important source, mainly from Arizona, New Mexico, and Nevada. It was mined from pre-Columbian times by First Nation peoples, and has been used extensively by Navajo, Zuni and Hopi jewellers up to the present day.

China, Afghanistan, and Northern India have all been sources of turquoise. It has been seen as a holy stone and good luck amulet. In Ancient Egypt it accompanied the dead inlaid in grave goods , and in Persia the brightest blue gemstones were believed to be protective against untimely death.

Above left to right: Ram Rijal 22ct gold and turquoise ring; Lithos pendant of turquoise and 18ct gold set with blue topaz  and 18ct gold, turquoise  and diamond ring. From a selection at Talisman Gallery Harvey Nichols ]]> http://talismangallery.co.uk/blue-rondo-a-la-turque-december-turquoise/feed/ 0 http://talismangallery.co.uk/tomb-of-the-unknown-craftsman-grayson-perry-at-the-british-museum/ http://talismangallery.co.uk/tomb-of-the-unknown-craftsman-grayson-perry-at-the-british-museum/#comments Tue, 29 Nov 2011 18:29:35 +0000 Amanda http://talismangallery.co.uk/?p=1101 Turner Prize-winning artist Grayson Perry has been delving deep into the British Museum’s collection to curate a personal view of the world through objects created by anonymous craftspeople. He has set up a dialogue between these diverse objects and his own ceramic and metal creations, but the originality of this exhibition is that he isn’t looking for inspiration. Rather, he selects pieces that resonate with his own self-created and mythological cultural world. The exhibition is prefaced with an extraordinary bespoke motorbike parked at the entrance. AM1 (named for his childhood teddy Alan Measles) took Perry on a pilgrimage through Germany, with Measles in a mounted glass altar on the back in homage to the Popemobile.        

Perry is an artist that people love or hate. He’s been dismissed as a potter in a dress. This exhibition may convert some who are puzzled by his ceramics, but it will mostly open up his broad base of enthusiasts to some challenging themes from the BM collection. Sexuality, death, maps, pilgrimage and spirituality unite different cultures over time and geography. When I went on a late Friday afternoon the visitors ranged from small children to the elderly, students to ladies up from the shires, tourists from everywhere.

There’s a lot of humour, both satirical and sly, but overall a great sense of curiosity and enthusiasm for ideas as well as technique and form. Alan Measles crops up in surprising guises, as the representation of a god or votive figure in his own personal cult. Perry draws parallels between the shamans and magi of other cultures with the position of the artist in our own. The shapeshifting and gender-bending he embraces is really nothing new, and he ferrets out examples to show this fluidity appears and reappears throughout history.

My favourite items? The cast iron ship at the end of the exhibition, bearing the souls of all the Unknown Craftsmen (and Perry?) contained in glass bottles into the Afterlife; it’s decorated with reminders of the great cargo contained inside the British Museum. And the two iron figures that represent all people, everywhere, from all times called Our Mother and Our Father, who are weighed down by the detritus and baggage of humanity they carry into eternal exile.

The BBC Imagine documentary about Grayson Perry’s pilgrimage on AM1 to Germany is still available on iPlayer  http://www.bbc.co.uk/i/b016ycnn/ for about another month. The exhibition is on at the British Museum http://www.britishmuseum.org/whats_on/exhibitions/grayson_perry.aspx until February 26th 2012.

Emily Armenta of Armenta Designers was here from Houston for a Press launch of her collection. I was at the press breakfast at the Dorchester and the journalists were really excited by her jewellery designs. She sells exclusively through Talisman Gallery in the UK and I’m already building an enthusiastic and loyal clientele for her work. I’ve posted about her inspirations in an earlier blog, but there will be a more detailed piece with an interview and Designer Questionnaire soon. New pieces will be in store in the next few weeks, just in time for Christmas.

It’s always a pleasure to see Dima of Dima Designs, who blew into town from Cairo on her way to Los Angeles. She was visiting her friend and client Vanessa Williams on the set of ‘Desperate Housewives’ in LA- and Eva Longoria has also become a devotee of her intricate Islamic-inspired jewellery. I was the first retailer to buy her work in the UK – she had been a customer of mine, and was encouraged by our conversations about jewellery to start her own business.

Emre Dilaver who runs Sevan Bıçakçı Jewellery in Istanbul, stopped over briefly in London – he always seems to be travelling to America and the Middle East. We played backgammon (which is my latest obsession) till the early hours. The first time we played was in Istanbul and he trounced me, but on home territory I got my own back. I intend retuning to Istanbul shortly to buy some more pieces from Sevan, as Talisman Gallery Harvey Nichols has sold almost all the pieces I bought.

Roya Noebashari from Noor Gallery in Tehran was here at the beginning of October, and I now have some lovely new pieces in store – we sell her work exclusively in the UK. Roya always generously brings me gifts of top quality saffron and a huge bag of fresh pistachios from Iran whenever she visits London.

I’m planning on making time to visit the Grayson Perry ‘Tomb of the Unknown Craftsman’ exhibition at the British Museum, the newly opened 2 Temple Place and the Russian Constructivist exhibition at the Royal Academy before Christmas.

In the 18th century the Schneckenstian topaz mine in Saxony was the most famous source of the gemstone, but Brazil is now a major supplier, including the rare and highly sought-after  Imperial topaz. Light blue topaz is even found in the British Isles.

The name probably derives from the Old French topace and Latin topazus. Some sources suggest that ‘Topaz Island’ was the Isle of Serpents in the Red Sea, also known as Topazos, but as the gemstone has never been found there it is probably an etymological confusion.

The Romans associated topaz with Jupiter, god of the Sun, as did the Ancient Egyptians with their own Sun god Ra. It has been used as an amulet stone that protects and wards off melancholy, insomnia and warns of poison. Topaz was believed to cure eye problems and prevent bad dreams.

Below: Diego Percossi Papi blue topaz and gold vermeil Sun and Moon earrings  from a selection at Talisman Gallery Harvey Nichols

The preview contained only a small selection of the lots up for sale, so I will certainly buy the catalogue when it’s issued. I have a great collection of auction catalogues that I use for reference – not only the price guide but also because the images usually show the jewellery in great detail.  I’m also interested to see the rest of the collection which includes couture gowns – some of which were displayed at the preview.

For Christmas there are new bracelets and pendants from AS29, including a new style of butterfly and a beautiful pavé bird pendant.

New winter colours from Chan Luu in her desirable and collectable leather wrap bracelets will be in store soon. There’s a good range of classic black and brown with silver and silver-gilt beads, and jewel-like colours.

At IJL (International Jewellery London show) I bought a new collection from America. It’s 18ct gold with flat and coloured diamonds. These are lovely delicate pieces suitable for wearing everyday and they will be very well priced.

Gold has been reaching an all-time high price. Many designers have responded to this by making tiny pieces which are also fashionable at the moment. I prefer to seek out large and more flamboyant jewels that are a signature house style for Talisman Gallery.

Opal derives from the Latin opalus and possibly  the Sanskrit upala meaning precious stone. It is a mineraloid gel with a high water content. The colour ranges from clear and white through green, blue, yellow, orange and red. Opals have been compared to both fire and rainbows, as they contain such vivid colour, movement and light.

Opal is Australia’s national gemstone, and is found most abundantly there, especially around the Coober Pedy mine. In the ancient world most were found in an area of present day Slovakia, and India; it also comes from Nevada in the USA, Central Europe and Brazil.

There are many superstitions and myths around the opal, but its more recent reputation for bad luck is probably due to its fragility and vulnerability when worked for jewellery. In  the ancient world opals were thought to be the tears of Zeus and  the Indian goddess of rainbows turned to stone. Opals were the stone of hope, purity and prophesy.

Below: Similar opal and 22ct gold Ram Rijal rings to order Talisman Gallery Harvey Nichols

Above: opal bead  and diamond necklace at Talisman Gallery Harvey Nichols (£3950) ]]> http://talismangallery.co.uk/fire-and-rainbows-opal-october/feed/ 0