Walters Art Museum- Bedazzled Notes.

Here's some notes I took on my visit to the walter's museum Bedazzled exhibit:

-There was a case with two necklaces composed of polygonal carnelian beads, alternating on loop-in-loop chain with hook-and-eye clasps.  One chain was more complex.  It was Roman Imperial style.

-There was a ring with a reclining ram.  It was a sculptural rendering of a ram.  the plaque read "This impressive ring is decorated with chased geometric patterns on the hoop and a reclining ram on top.  The lotus ornament on the sides indicate Egyptian influence.  Rings like this would most likely have been worn by high-ranking officials or priests.  Syro-Palestinian,14th-13th cent. B.C. Electrum, cast and chased H: 1 7/8 in(4.8 cm) D: 7/8 in

- Bullae- hollow pendants.  Worn as charms and filled with perfume.  The stopper was held with a chain orcord.  Worn as amulets esp. by children.

-A very interesting part was the "Ladies Dressing Table."  This was a glass case with things that a lady would normally need from the 1700's - 1850's.  There was a posy holder from the 1830's, usually worn on an evening gown, a diamond ring and a bracelet with medallions.  The most interesting thing was a small toilet case with smaller glass bottles that fit inside of it.  There was even a tiny golden spoon.  ext to the entire case was a woman taking a strand of pearls out of a golden jewelry box.

-The first thing I noticed was the pair of bracelets from the Olbia treasure in the first section of the exhibit.  In a glass case in the middle of the room, two bracelets almost exactly the same size, three sections, and three hinges with 27 KNUCKLES!!!  oh , my, god, shoot me now, i NEVER want to do that!!  Hahaha.  The Olbia treasure was found in the 19th century by the Black Sea Coast in Ukraine.  This is only one piece of it.  There are multi-color gemstones of various sizes (the style at the time) , cloissonne work, beading(gold), and repousse.  

- Iris corsage Ornament.  NY, 1900.

-Jewish marriage rings

-Gimmel Rings  Fascinating!  Two interlocking loops create one ring.  Popular marriage ring.  This could be cool for the destruction-creation project that I did.  Well, food for thought, I'll put it in that filing cabinet in my brain somewhere.

Well, thats all the notes I took.  I also would like to say that the lighting was not so good.  I could see the main parts of the olbia bracelets, for example, but not all the intricate details on the back.  Although, the curator did provide magnifying lenses and information sheets.  And there were nice comfy cushioned benches!  Yay.

FIN