Men in pearls--go for it.

Maharaja Bhupinder Singh of Patiala 
Delhi, c. 1911

Today when kings, actors and billionaires want to dress to show off their riches and power their means are restricted to a bespoke suit and topcoat; handmade shoes and shirts, a Swiss watch....a signet ring, perhaps. Not much, really, when you think of what bigwigs had available to do the job. It is not a new idea that advertising not only familiarizes folks with the brand, it grows it. To do that big time there is no substitute for jewels and for a millennium, at least, men had them and wore them.

Rulers had first choice of the largest and finest jewels on the market and most, although not every single one of them was a fellow. In Europe almost all gems were imported.  But for Maharajas, dazzling raw materials were close by. For at least 3000 years India was the source of all the world's diamonds. Production did not begin in South Africa until well into the 19th century and by then Indian mines were pretty well played out. Even now, the most sought after (and expensive) sapphires come from Kashmir. Gem dealers did not have to travel far to get their hands on prized Burmese rubies. As for pearls: Divers risked the lives in the Arabian Gulf bringing up more than enough for even the most lavish swags that were looped around the necks of Sultans and Maharajahs. (We need not leave out export to the West or the use of such jewels by women:  Elizabeth I, Queen of England and Catherine the Great Empress of Russia--as well as countless courtesans in the Most Serene Republic--were also given to swaddling themselves in gems including an abundance of pearls.)
  In 1468, Afanasy Nikitin, a Russian horse trader with ambitions--set off for India. He was stupefied by the number of jewels he there. He took a particular shine to the city of Bidar and its Sultan whose palace was itself a jewel; every surface carved and gilded. The saddle the Sultan rode on was made of gold set with sapphires; a huge diamond was embellished his headdress.[A related turban ornament illustrated below,] An account of Nikitin's travels appears near the beginning of  "India: Jewels that Enchanted the World," the lavishly illustrated, intelligently written book that accompanies an exhibition of the same name. Nikitin was one of the first Europeans to reach India and remained there for four years. The account left by the 17th century French gem merchant Jean-Baptiste Tavernier is far better known but including Nikitin forges a link welcome to the show's organizers. This exhibition which is on until 27 July opened in Moscow on April 12. It is a major production.

Turban ornament (sarpech) 
Rajasthan, 19th century; gold, diamonds, emeralds, emerald beads, pearl, enamelAdd caption

Some 300 jewels and jewelled objects [see for example the hookah below] are on display. They range from pieces made in the 17th century to those fabricated recently. It is said to be the largest ever exhibition of its kind--anywhere,  The show is collaboration between the State Museums of Moscow Kremlin, headed by Dr Elena Gagarina and the Indo-Russian Jewellery Foundation. According to the press release the foundation was founded by "diamond and jewellery connoisseur Alex Popov." Mr. Popov also happens to be a diamond merchant who set up the Moscow diamond bourse (one in an international network of independent diamond exchanges.) Not for the first time in a museum exhibition aesthetics and business snuggle up cosily. India today is a major market as well as home to some of the most skilled gem cutters and setters in the world.

AWater vessel (huqqah) and tobacco bowl (chilam) support from a water pipe 
Mewar, c. 1700
Gold, enamel

    Lenders have been generous. Pieces have been borrowed from the al-Sabah Collection in Kuwait, the British Museum, the Doha Museum of Islamic Art and the Victoria&Albert Museum.  Commercial lenders include the Khalili Collection, Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels and Chaumet: In the early years of the 20th century, the Maharajahs and their consorts sent their fabulous jewels to Paris to be re-set in accordance with contemporary European taste. The old and the new thereafter cohabited. A full- length black- and -white photograph of the Maharajah Yeshwantrao Holkar II of Indore shows him wearing a sash formed not by a broad ribbon but by multiple, long strings of pearls; the diamond and emerald ornament decorating his headdress had been recently designed for him in Paris by the firm of Mauboussin. The rocks were his own and include a huge tear-drop diamond that dangles from the tip of the diamond feather at the top while six large, tear-drop cabochon emeralds  hang from the diamond bar along the bottom. What a light show it must have been when the Maharajah took even a couple of steps. Surely he couldn't have been carried everywhere==all the time. Anyway not by the mid 1930s when the photograph was taken. And the Maharajas did not stop draping themselves in precious stones then. Even today in India deals are done with jewels that are excess to requirements. Excess. Requirements. It is not a concept that fits.

In Paris strolling with Watteau

"From Watteau to Fragonard: les getes galantes" is a honey of a show. It is at the Jacquemart Andre museumi in Paris until the 21st of July. It is bound to be a delight even in the heat (and tourist, sardine can) of summer. But now in Spring it could not be better. Cold, wet, windy winter is over! Time to drift out into the city; to stroll and to loll about under the trees. Why not do it in the company of Jean-Antoine Watteau (1684-1721) and those who soon followed--Nicolas Lancret (1690-1743); Jean-Baptise Pater (1695-1725) and even those Johnnies come later, Jean-Honore Fragonard (1732--1806) and Francois Boucher (1703--1770). But earlier is better certainly here, now in Paris and at the same time, then in the bloom of the 18th century. Afterwards, walk in the evening and dream of the marionette vendors, the flirts, the gowns and floppy- bow trimmed shoes.

Over the top? Over the Himalayas

What a trip across time and sensibilities. Within 36 hours in Paris I saw the Treasure of Naples at the Musee Maillol; "From Watteau to Fragonard; les fêtes galantes" at the Jacquemart-Andre and the Treasure of Saint- Maurice d'Agaune at the Louvre. First to Naples. Tomorrow to Watteau; the day after to the radiant medieval enamels from an ancient abbey in a Swiss mountain pass.

In New York in the fall I often went down to Little Italy for the Feast of San Gennaro. Inside the church on Mulberry Street a statue of the saint was covered in paper money. Outside in the courtyard spitting fat from cooking sausages fell onto the coals. (I was among the sausage eaters not the money- attachers.) Gennaro's congealed blood is kept in a reliquary in Naples' cathedral and taken out on feast days. During one such occasion in the the 14th century it started dripping. It has been dripping on most feasts days ever since. Plague came and pestilence and Vesuvius belched. The story goes that in the sixteenth century prayers to Bishop Gennaro--who had been martyred a millennium earlier--saved Naples from these threats. People thanked him lavishly and not only Neapolitans. But in recent years who knew that these treasures--the enormous silver statues, gold chalices and opulent jewels given to the people of Naples to celebrate their patron saint? Not many. Now for the first time 70 pieces-- said to be as valuable as England's Crown Jewels-- have left Italy and are on view in Paris. (There is airport style security entering and leaving.) To call these treasures over the top is feeble; over the Himalayas is more like it. It must have been raining emeralds over the Naples cathedral between the late 17th century well into the 19th when these pieces were made. The lagoon-clear Colombian emeralds, however, probably arrived in Europe with the Spanish Conquest. It is something to see. Judge for yourself if this is a must- see. (Captions below.)




The composite collar above was begun in the late 17th century and added to into the 19th. It was worn on the chest of the reliqaury bust of Gennaro. Royalty and aristocrats and the every day very rich were donors; one of the pendant crosses was a gift of Napoleon Bonaparte.
Below is the stiff, gold bishop's mitre created in 1713 for a reliquary bust. It is embellished with 3,326 diamonds, 168 rubies and 198 emeralds large, small, medium and wowee.

TWO EARS GOOD: FOUR EARS BAD or bring on the year of the horse

Moved to tears by the sight of a horse's ears?  It happened and the horse in question was not a snorting, snuffling, sugar- cube loving, living creature but a statue.

   Until I saw the Renaissance bronze "Prancing Horse" modelled by Giambologna (of which this is  detail) the only image of a horse that I'd ever been thrilled by was George Stubbs's "Whistlejacket,"

at the National Gallery in London.   "Whistlejacket" painted in 1762 is an enormous 292x246 cm. --colossal for an 18th century portrait. Yet standing before it, I accept without thinking that such a giant-sized canvas was needed in order to do justice to majesty and high spirits of this beautiful creature. I might feel scared of such a beast up close and in person but in the gallery I look at Whistlejacket and feel nothing but joy. I just stand there and smile.

   Two days ago I visited "Renaissance and Baroque Bronzes from the Hill Collection," which has just opened at the Frick in New York. On view are 33 bronzes from the Collection of Janine and J. Tomilson Hill. Mr. Hill is big in money (Vice-Chairman of the Blackstone Group). He collections paintings also. Three of them--two by Cy Twombly and one be Ed Rucsha are also on view--a first showing of contemporary art for the Frick.  By Mr. Hill's reckoning, he is one of about 15 major bronze collectors world wide--"major" defined as people who can spend $3 million or more on a single piece. More importantly for this viewer, he appears to have a good eye and good advice. There are many fine and lively works; some French, a few German but most Italian. To my surprise (I am doggy not horsey) while I admired and enjoyed many of the bronzes, I fell for the "Prancing Horse." Cast around 1573, it is 25.1x28.7 cm. -a statuette and a midget compared to Whistlejacket. Yet it is every bit as arresting. The whomph it packs is different however; it is not the power of joy but rather the power of tenderness. The show is terrific and this prancing pony is its star.

  Now about another two ears; the baddies.  Not far from the Frick, at the Richard Feigen gallery, London dealer Sam Fogg is staging "Wonders of the Medieval World." Among the objects on view is a carved wood, painted "Palmesel" or figure of Christ on a donkey. Such a statue (here as in many others, the figure of Christ is about the size of a 8 to 10 year old) was pulled through the street on Palm Sunday; it represents Christ's triumphal entry into  Jerusalem. This honey of an example is in the collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. (An image of Fogg's proved elusive.)

  The trouble with Fogg's version was the donkey's ears. The problem wasn't that they are clearly replacements. It is a good thing to make plain what is original and what is not. The difficulty was that these large pointy substitutes were wooden; not as in made of wood but as in lacking soul. I was standing alongside the piece thinking about the expressive, touching ears of Giambologna's horse when Sam Fogg strode up in the company of another man.
  "Larry thinks these ears are distracting and should be removed, what do you think?" Sam asked me. Larry I later learnt is  Lawrence W. Nichols Senior Curator of European & American painting and sculpture before 1900 at the Toledo Museum in Ohio. Larry could have been reading my thoughts so I had no difficulty saying that I agreed. Evidently this was a casting vote (or a flourish of showmanship).  Sam gave a gentle tug; the ears came off. He slipped them under the pull- toy like platform on which the Palmesel stands. A big improvement. 

  Two magnificent memorable ears are all New York needs to celebrate the start of the Year of the Horse in the highest possible style. Happy New Year.

Come hither City boys

The Museum of London invites us to "Discover the city of London and its people."  It does not deliver. Should you actually find your way to the vile seventies building on a roundabout in the City you won't see an entrance. That requires another hunting expedition. Hidden inside other buildings on the "mainland" are stairs and escalators to take visitors up to walkways which are open to the wind and rain. When you finally make it to the museum's actual entrance you sense immediately that everything has been done on the cheap. Even its logo is cringe- inducing. It looks like the winner of the booby prize in a first year, design school competition. Far more serious is the shocking fact that entire museum has a whopping total of four curators. They are heroic women and men, dedicated and hard working, but they are attempting to do an impossible job. The place is a disgrace to the city and the City both. Come on city boys and you women in finance, too. Use your expertise--and your dough--to create a museum we can all be proud of. It can be done. They've done it in Antwerp. 

 Visit the MAS (above). This exciting example of contemporary architecture is set in the old port's red-light district. The history and life of Antwerp is imaginatively displayed--its procession of elaborate model ships is thrilling-- something I had not imaged possible. The success of the MAS has led to regeneration of the entire neighbourhood.
    The Museum of London's collections include the 500 pieces of the Cheapside Hoard, the world's largest collection of Tudor and Jacobean jewellery.  Exceptionally all of it is on view for the first time in almost a century but most of it will go back into store in the spring when the current exhibition devoted to it closes. There it will rejoin  a million other objects--A million! Among these treasures are finds from Roman and Saxon London; artifacts of London's life as a major international port --and that means full-size boats. There are 24,000 examples of of  historic and contemporary clothing; impressive collections of tools, toys, paintings and photographs. There is street furniture and shop fronts and the entire archive of the Port Authority. Almost all of this is an all too well kept secret.
   There is no way to fiddle with the current museum. It is an architectural and geographic mistake. Yet, wouldn't you know that this is precisely what is being planned. The only approach that makes sense it to tear down the monstrosity and start again. Raze it and raise the dough to do it right next time around.

 Happy New Year to All