Jewelery As A Form Of Art - By: Victor Epand

During the latter half of the Victorian era, critics questioned the merit of contemporary jewelry and urged a return to the designs and tastes of the past, as jewelry had become mere trinkets at the demand of foolish fashion.

Others argued that jewelry could be fun and worthwhile without being pretentious, and it is not surprising that this debate continues even today. A thing of beauty is a joy to behold forever.

In the present day, there is much talk everywhere about art, and signs are not wanting that its vast mission as a humanizing and civilizing element in our national life is slowly being recognized. Even so-called domestic arts have come in for a large share of attention, the patterns of wallpapers, and the harmonious coloring of carpets and tapestries are a matter of thought and care in nearly every household where there is a trifle to spend on luxuries and any pretensions to taste.

Yet, curiously enough jewelery has become an art that lies nearest to us all, and follows us wherever we go. There is so much scope for the application of a beautiful design and delicate workmanship, but it is left almost entirely out in the cold. Scarcely any attempt has been made to apply to it the same laws or judge it by the same standards that are attempting to be set up in other things.

All that we ask of our jewelery is that it should be costly and fashionable, because of the time and loving labor of the artist and workman who designed and produced it, but because of the material alone out of which it is made. It is this Philistine reverence for material that has done more than anything else to debase what was once an art to a mere meaningless and ostentatious display.

I know of no sight more depressing to anyone who cares for art than to walk down an important street of shops in one of our big cities, looking at all the jewelry in the jewelers' windows. From an artistic point of view that is rubbish spread out there to tempt the public taste.

If we could find ourselves by some touch of magic suddenly under the rule of a stern artistic Socialism, where nothing was permitted to be bought or sold that was not either useful or beautiful and were a destroying spirit sent one night through the length and breadth of the land. What a blight next morning would have fallen on the jewelers' windows and what few things would be left.

But instead, the shop windows are the gage of the public taste, and it is not the tradesman who sells this costly rubbish, nor the manufacturer who has it made. The only one to blame is ourselves, society, and especially the women not only of today, but for the last hundred years or more who have created the demand for this puerile stuff. As a result, they have neglected what might be one of the most efficient means of developing the art-instincts of a nation.

Jewelery has been a favorite form of personal decoration from the earliest times. We know with what skill the Etruscans and Greeks worked in precious metals and that a large part of what is good in our modern jewelery is copied from their designs and from those of other early nations.

The Romans wore it freely as well. The manufacture was extensively encouraged in England in 1685, and it appears as if the fondness for diamonds was greater even then than now, because they were largely used in the ornamentation of rich apparel.

About the Author

Victor Epand is an expert consultant for personalized gifts, invitations, and fine jewelry. Find the best shopping for personalized gifts, invitations, greetings, and art of jewelry.

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