The Art Of Jewelry

By Graham Hughes
Studio Vista Publishers
Peerage Books
1972 ISBN 0-907408-30-3

Peerage Books writes:

When a precious stone becomes a jewel, a work of art has been created and a story has begun. In this book, Graham Hughes, Art Director of the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths of the City of London, tells the story of jewelry—its history, its changing styles, its craftsmen and designers and their techniques, its great collectors and patrons, its discoverers, its value and allure.

He traces the evolution of jewelry style from pre-history to the 1970s, through the great civilizations of Egypt, Greece, Byzantium, Rome and pre-Columbian South America, down through the Dark Ages and medieval times to the Renaissance, the eighteenth century and modern times. Included in this survey are the treasures of Persia, the traveling riches of the barbarians, the abundant gold of Africa and the magnificent, uncountable wealth of India.

Graham Hughes suggests that jewelry may be the oldest art; the most ancient jewels from Ur, Assyria and Babylon, from Pharaonic Egypt, Minoan Crete and Mycenae are evidence that the craft’s basic techniques were already established and well practiced before history began its records. He examines the technique of jewelers: not only modern developments like centrifugal casting machines, but the patience and skill of Etruscan craftsmen who painstakingly affixed by hand tiny, individual granules of gold to create patterns and distinctive finishes. He considers the dominance of that most marvelous metal, gold, which has probably been the chief asset to jewelers everywhere at all times.

From the giant stores of Japan selling jewels by the thousands to the grand and well-known names of jewelry design and business, and the tiny workshops where one or maybe two craftsmen turn their ideas into works of art, Graham Hughes explores the impact of jewelry. He interviews the world’s leading artist-jewelers examining their lives, ideas, attitudes to their creations, and relations with their buying public.

He reminds us of the exiting discoveries of Schliemann, Carter, Sir Arthur Evans and others, who relocated hoards that had been lost for centuries, and takes us on a tour of the great jewelry collections—like the Tsarist treasures, the tears of all Russia—bemoaning the sad fate of jewels which lie in dead museum vaults instead of being worn as their creators intended.

The book ends with an examination of the value and meaning of jewels to different ages of mankind, raising some fascinating questions. Why, for instance, is a Gilson cultured emerald scorned and deemed worthless when its only physical difference from a real emerald is that it does not crack under extreme heat?

The text is amplified by approximately 160 monochrome pictures and 56 pages of full color illustrations of some of the world’s finest jewels.

About the author
Graham Hughes is the author of two standard books, each of which is the only one of its kind: Modern Jewelry and Modern Silver. He has also written many articles in art and academic magazines, and often judges’ competitions.