A View from the Jeweler’s Bench: Ancient Treasures, Contemporary Statements

A View from the Jeweler’s Bench: Ancient Treasures, Contemporary Statements explores how contemporary jewelry makers are drawing from antique forms and techniques to create stunning works of art. Our Gallery presents the exhibition at a time when art and academic institutions are increasingly focused on contemporary art jewelry, and in a moment when ancient jewelry has become a prevalent source of inspiration for contemporary jewelry artists.

The exhibition will focus on how contemporary artists working with jewelry create the final form of a piece at the jeweler’s bench, the place where jewelry is wrought by hand. To convey this process, the exhibition will include a jeweler’s bench, sketches, and tools. 

It will also consider how jewelry from the ancient world to the present informs contemporary practice by comparing recent pieces to their precedents. This organizational structure will illuminate the connections between present and past—in terms of form, technique, and materials—so that visitors can better see how artists are re-considering the art of adornment and age-old jewelry forms in exciting new ways.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website.