A GLITTERING EXHIBITION OF PASTE AND OTHER JEWELRY DATING FROM THE 18th AND 19th CENTURIES WILL BE STAGED BY THE SJ PHILLIPS LTD, LONDON, 15-29.JUNE AT THEIR 139 NEW BOND STREET LOCATION. FOUNDED IN 1869, SJ PHILLIPS IS A LEADING DEALER IN ANTIQUE AND MODERN SILVER, JEWELRY AND OBJECTS DE VERTU AND ONE OF THE OLDEST FAMILY-OWNED ANTIQUES SHOPS IN THE WORLD, RUN BY NICOLAS, JONATHAN AND FRANCIS NORTON, GREAT-GRANDSONS OF SJ PHILLIPS. THE EXHIBITION, COMPRISING SOME 100 PIECES, MOST OF WHICH COME FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION, WILL PROVIDE A COMPREHENSIVE OVERVIEW OF PASTE BETWEEN 1750 AND 1900, AND IT WILL BE ACCOMPANIED BY A FULL COLOUR CATALOG BY DIANA SCARISBRICK, THE WORLD RENOWNED JEWELRY HISTORIAN. AS THE FIRST PUBLICATION ON THE SUBJECT FOR OVER 30 YEARS, IT WILL THROW NEW LIGHT ON AN AREA OF JEWELRY THAT HAS BEEN NEGLECTED. REMARKABLY, THE JEWELRY, WITH ITS WONDERFUL COLOURS AND WEARABLE DESIGNS, HAS NOT DATED AND STILL APPEALS TO WOMEN TODAY AND IS RELATIVELY ACCESSIBLE WITH PRICES RANGING FROM $500 TO OVER $25,000. PASTE JEWELRY IS PART OF A TRADITION DATING BACK TO ANTIQUITY WHEN CRAFTSMEN DISCOVERED THAT GLASS COULD PROVIDE A FINE SUBSTITUTE FOR THE COLOUR, BRILLIANCE AND SPLENDOR OF EXPENSIVE GEMSTONES. ROMAN WRITERS, DESCRIBING THE PASSION OF RICH MEN AND WOMEN FOR GOLD JEWELRY WITH EMERALDS AND PEARLS IMPORTED FROM THE EAST, REMARKED THAT THOSE WHO COULD NOT AFFORD GENUINE GEMS SOUGHT THE SAME EFFECT. SIMILARLY IN THE MIDDLE AGES, WHEN WEALTH WAS ALSO EXPRESSED BY THE POSSESSION OF VALUABLE GOLD AND JEWELRY, THERE WAS A DEMAND FOR SUBSTITUTES MET BY THE GLASS MAKERS OF BOHEMIA, VENICE AND PARIS. GLASS EVEN APPEARS IN THE COLLECTIONS OF ELIZABETH I, MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS, QUEEN ANNE (WIFE OF JAMES I) AND HENRI IV. THE EXHIBITION OFFERS AN UNUSUAL OPPORTUNITY TO SEE THE DEVELOPMENT OF PASTE JEWELS OVER 150 YEARS OF CHANGING TASTES AND FASHIONS. IT DEMONSTRATES THE QUALITY, EXCELLENT DESIGN, COLOUR, RANGE AND CHARM OF THE BEST PAST AND SHOWS WHY IT HAS GIVEN PLEASURE TO WOMEN THROUGHOUT THE GENERATIONS AND CONTINUES TO DO SO.
FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT www.sjphillips.com
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