Creative Crafting

When did the habit of wearing jewelry begin? Who were the first to pierce their ears or wear colored beads around their necks? Where did it start? Have you ever wondered about any of this when you are making jewelry or putting it on? I have; but then I tend to like the history of everyday life, so I looked into it.

I spent some time last month at the Detroit Art Institute and with every exhibit there seemed to be a piece of jewelry or ornament of some kind. While all were different according to region and time period, all of the ornamentation had something in common; it was made by someone who wanted to create something beautiful.

Recently in a South Africa cave jewelry has been dated 75,000-100,000 years ago and were made out of Mollusk shells that had a hole drilled into the center and then were strung on a strip of leather or something I don’t really want to think about. It is thought that jewelry from this time was worn more for function such as holding clothes on rather than decoration. After some time it became more decorative and used for spiritual purposes, status symbols or a way to ward off evil and/or illness.

In ancient Egypt, gold was standard in jewelry making, and was often used to create everything from necklaces to head ornaments. When the tomb of King Tutankhamen was excavated in 1922, it was discovered that the Egyptians used gold to adore the tombs of the deceased. The ancient Egyptians were also some of the first to include gemstones in their jewelry, and they mainly used turquoise, amethyst, and lapis. They also used the process of enameling.

Whereas the ancient Greeks favored the use of beads in the shape of very natural forms, such as shells, flowers, and beetles. By 300 BC, the Greeks had also started using semi-precious stones into their designs, including emeralds, amethysts, garnets, and pearls. They often made beads by joining two flat pieces of gold together and filling them with sand, and they also used colored stones, glass, and enamel to make their jewelry. Cameos and filigree gold work pieces were all the rage.

By the 17th century, it was almost impossible to find any woman who did not wear earrings. Diamond at night, pearls by day (fake ones usually). France in the 1800’s, during Napoleons reign had different classes of jewelers. One created very fine jewelry while the other used less precious metal to create their jewelry. It was a very coveted and competitive occupation. The designs of most of the pieces were influenced by Greek and Roman pieces from an earlier era. Cameos were all the rage and usually created from conch shells and Wedgwood porcelain, which is still in business.

Then Queen Victoria came to the throne of England and with her brought what is termed as romantic, nationalistic jewelry in Europe. With the Industrial Revolution came machine made jewelry started to become more popular with the “masses”. Victorian women rebelled and either wore no jewelry or only bought jewelry made by local craftsman. Victorian times also produced the mourning jewelry. For those of you who don’t know, mourning jewelry was often made of a material called “Jet” and included a lock of the dead persons hair.

So here you are with all of your jewelry making supplies and this new knowledge of jewelry making history, wondering exactly how to become inspired yourself. Why not look to the past? Search for inspiration in the beautiful jewelry that came before you, and who knows, you might just find yourself becoming a part of history too!

In the early part of the 20th century, the Art Nouveau movement began in France. It spread to all forms of art including jewelry, which was very organic in looks, often made to look like birds or flowers. Enamel was heavily used in the creation of the pieces, which became extremely popular throughout the Western Hemisphere.

Pearls were also popular during this time and were known as “cocktail” jewelry. This jewelry was often fake or costume jewelry the most popular being the works of one Coco Chanel. It was less expensive than real jewelry, had the look of real jewelry, and the masses could afford it during the war years.

So my trip to the Institute of Art was not a complete waste of time, not that it ever is, but a wealth of ideas of how I can look to the past to create some jewelry for the 21st century!

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