Jewelry Etcetera...: The Dark Side: Hidden Secrets of Art Nouveau Jewelry

Recently, Michael (my husband) and I had the good fortune to spend the day with jewelry author, jewelry historian, jewelry curator , Egyptologist, and mother, Yvonne Markowitz. It is not often I get to bend someones ear about jewelry for an entire afternoon. What a treat! We met at the Cincinnati Art Museum cafe at noon for lunch were we were introduced to Yvonne, a small women wearing an impressive silver necklace by Bjorn Weckstrom. Entitled "Planetaariset Laaksot" ("Planetary Valleys") ,the necklace is more commonly known as the Princess Leia necklace worn by Carrie Fisher in Star Wars Episode IV. I dressed in a little thing by Gilbert Albert - one of his hard to find gold,pearl and moldavite necklaces , (moldavite is a mossy-colored glass-like by- product that is produced when a meteorite hits the earth. ) We then raised our lightsabers....

Hers- as worn by Princess Leia

mine

When we exhausted all forms of jewelry conversation from ancient to modern, we excused Markowitz so she could prepare for her 2:00 lecture. My husband and I took a quick trip to the "Roaring Tigers, Leaping Carp" show. (More on this later) After seeing half of the show, we ran downstairs to procure a few good seats for a fantastic lecture on Art Nouveau Jewelry.

"Imperishable Beauty",currently on view at the Cincinnati Art Museum, is of the best Art Nouveau jewelry exhibitions to date. It is a stellar collection amassed by a private collector in the 60's and 70's. Although the collection is labeled private, we know that it comes from a friendly, yet formidable Doctor who exposed thousands of people to the wonderful world of jewelry . A passionate man that never tired of the hunt and was always ahead of the curve when it came to buying the most amazing things. We will all miss him. Luckily, his connoisseurship lives on and is enhanced by the expert of Yvonne Markowitz who speaks as enthusiastically about the collection as any collector. She talked about various pieces in the exhibit, pointing up techniques and inspirations. One of the most novel ideas she discussed was the importance of the reverse side of Art Nouveau jewelry. If you ever watch a jewelry expert handle a piece of jewelry you will notice a funny thing... they almost always look at the back first. This forensic study helps quickly evaluate a maker, a carat weight, repairs or most importantly , the quality of a piece. However, the flip side of many fine Art Nouveau jewels, take on a whole new meaning. Often pieces not only show the quality of craftsmanship , but also complete a picture. It is as if the jewel was practically meant to be reversible. But what inspired these artist-jewelers to so elaborately decorate a side that is so private? Markowitz suggests that love of all things Japanese during this time could be the answer...in particular,you guessed it... the Japanese netsuke!