72 شواطئ
208
Shawati’ 72
اعتدنا اليـــــوم أن نتعامل مـــــع المجوهرات كعامـــــة على الثّـــــراء، أو كجـــــزء من عالم الموضـــــة، لكـــــن التمعّـــــن في هـــــذه القطع التاريخيّـــــة يكشـــــف مغـــــزًى أبعـــــد بكثير. فهناك صنعة مذهلة تقـــــف خلف بريق كل حجر؛ فالطريقة التـــــي يعكس بها الألماس الضوء ليســـــت محض صدفـــــةٍ، بل نتيجة يد خبيـــــرة صقلتـــــه قبل قـــــرون. وترتيب الأحجـــــار فـــــي قطعـــــة معيّنة قـــــد يحمل دلالات على تحالفات عائليّة، أو طموحات مملكـــــة، أو لحظـــــة حـــــزن أو احتفـــــال. كما تُظهر لنا هذه القطع فهمًا عميقًا لعاقة اللّون والضـــــوء بالحجر، وكيف يمكن لهذه العناصر أن تجتمع لابتـــــكار عمل لا يكتفي بأن يكون جمياً، بـــــل مُعبّرًا ومبتكرًا أيضًا. والأهم من ذلك أن المجوهرات التاريخيّة تُتيـــــح لنـــــا رؤيـــــة التّاريخ عن قُـــــرب. فقد
كانت جـــــزءًا مـــــن المجتمع وشـــــاهدًا على أحداثه، وفي الوقت نفســـــه تحمل قصصًا شخصيّة للغاية، وتكشف كيف كان الناس يتحرّكون، وكيف ارتدوا مابسهم، وكيف تفاعلوا مع محيطهم. الألمـــــاس والل ّآلئ والزُّمرّد التـــــي نراها في المعـــــرض مشـــــبعة بآثار الماضـــــي ونبضه، وهي تساعدنا على تخيّل الحياة في باط ملكـــــيّ، أو حفل زفـــــاف تاريخـــــي مترف، أو جلســـــة لرســـــم لوحة لإمبراطـــــورة في ذروة ســـــطوتها. فهذه القطع ليست مجرّد معروضـــــاتٍ، بـــــل تحـــــف تجسّـــــد تجارب عاشها النّاس بالفعل. للمجوهـــــرات قدرة نـــــادرة علـــــى أن تكون جســـــرًا يربطنا بحياة أصحابهـــــا؛ وبفضلها يســـــتعيد التاريخ نبضـــــه الحـــــيّ، بطريقة . يصعب على أي فن آخر أن يجاريها.
King George V and Queen Mary. It is possible that the same bow brooch is listed among Princess Maria’s moth- er’s own wedding gifts, given by Tsar Nicholas II. Then the Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna, she married Prince Nicholas of Greece and Denmark at Tsarskoe Selo Palace in 1902. The earrings may also have belonged to Grand Duchess Elena’s mother, Grand Duchess Vladimir, whose famed jewellery collection was daringly smug- gled out of Vladimir Palace in St. Petersburg during the Russian Revolution in 1917 by her son and their English friend, Bertie Stopford. Jewels are often associated with permanence yet many in the exhibition have been altered, dismantled or reset over time. What do these transformations tell us about shifting tastes, dynastic fortunes and the resilience of jewellery as cultural heritage? These transformations show that jewellery is not and has never been static. Jewellery changes with shifting fashions, new generations and social circumstances. The Leuchtenberg Tiara is an example of this tendency. First made around 1810, it was reshaped in the 1840s to reflect the contemporary interest in natural forms. Its detach- able flower motifs, set with emeralds and diamonds, could be worn in different ways, showing a practical and imaginative approach to ornament. Despite its changing form, the tiara remained linked to its dynastic lineage, which stretched back to Empress Joséphine. The Portland Tiara and Stomacher, made in 1889 for Win- ifred Dallas-Yorke’s marriage into the Portland family, also illustrates how active transformation reinforces, rather than erases, heritage. The stomacher was creat- ed using ancestral sapphires, diamonds and pearls, and the tiara was made to match. Such dynamic pieces signal both continuity and renewal, and they serve as a way to mark a new chapter while preserving ancestral material. These examples reveal that the endurance of jewellery is based not only on its precious materials, but also on its capacity to adapt. Even when altered to fit new tastes or meanings, such objects continue to hold cultural and personal significance. What do you hope contemporary audiences - accus- tomed to thinking of jewellery in terms of luxury and fashion - will take away from seeing these historic pieces in their dynastic and cultural context? It’s easy today to think of jewellery as just fashion or sta- tus. But when you look closely at these historic pieces, you notice the extraordinary craft: the way a diamond catches the light because someone centuries ago shaped it by hand; or how the arrangement of stones reflects a family’s alliances, a kingdom’s ambition or a personal loss or celebration. They reveal a deep understanding of how stones, colour and light can work together to create something that is not only beautiful but inventive and expressive. More importantly, historic jewellery shows us history up close. These jewels were tied to society and witnessed history, but they simultaneously show highly personal stories, and even the way people moved, dressed and interacted. The diamonds, pearls and emeralds we see today are embedded with traces of the past. They al- low us to more vividly imagine the reality of a royal court, a glittering historical wedding or an imperial portrait session. The jewels act not just as images but reflect lived experiences. Jewellery has a rare ability to connect us di- rectly to the lives of those who wore it. In that sense, it brings history to life in a way that perhaps no other art- work can. .
[T-L-R] Portland Stomacher, Garrard, London, c. 1880. Sapphire, diamonds, gold, silver. The Al Thani Collection, ATC019a © The Al Thani Collection, 2018. All rights reserved. Photograph by Prudence Cuming Associates Ltd. Pendant, Russia, c. 1790. Diamonds, gold, silver, glass. Victoria and Albert Museum, M.2007-156. Gift of the American Friends of the Victoria and Albert Museum through the generosity of Patricia V. Goldstein © Victoria and Albert Museum, London [B] Collaret, Formerly in the collection of Her Majesty Queen Nazli of Egypt. Van Cleef & Arpels, 1939, Platinum and diamonds. Collection Van Cleef & Arpels © Van Cleef & Arpels
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