posted 05-23-2004 12:03 AM            

I am an avid Jugendstil/Secessionist silver jewelry collector. I have been dreaming about someday going to the museums in Germany, especially the Schmuckmuseum in Pforzheim, to see some of these pieces in person.

Do you have any tips about making the most out of such a visit? I would love to talk with a curator or other knowledgeable museum personnel, but don't know if they would have the time or desire to meet with someone from the collecting public. I have pieces that I am "researching", and would welcome the opinion of an expert. I love show & tell. I have seen references on the internet with regard to making appts with curators for research purposes, but I don't know if this qualifies (although, an online article might come out of it).

Do you ever let anyone handle any pieces in exhibits for research? I would think not, but I did see some internet references alluding to the idea that it could be arranged under certain circumstances. You can learn a lot about construction and quality by just holding a piece.

I would be content with just looking at pieces through glass, but if you have any suggestions for getting more out of a visit, I welcome them.

posted 05-24-2004 09:26 AM            

A good question, and a difficult one. Every year collectors and dealers in everything visit museums all over the world to poke around and learn more about what they're interested in. Every year I am beset with many requests by visiting collectors (not scholars or curators, just regular folks who are enthusiasts) to see objects that are on exhibit or (as is likely for silver and jewelry with us) in storage. Asking to meet with a curator to show him/her something you have is, of course, much easier than asking to see things that the museum has. It's all a matter of required effort on the curators' parts.

Curators, in theory, like to share knowledge. That's their job. Every curator, supposedly, is charged with diseminating information about his/her collections, and helping the public learn(not just the ivory tower population and not just through exhibitions). A public museum is more likely to be receptive to "amateur" visitors than a private one, because they are charged with a public mission. But a public museum is less likely to be well staffed than a private one. And a big popular museum is going to have a larger number of requests to deal with that an esoteric little museum.

However, the reality will vary widely based on...

1) the personality and resources of a particular curator/institution (i.e. is there staff support to handle many outside requests or, as in my case, is the curator overloaded and usually frantically trying to get other deadlines met)? ANSWER: CONTACT THE INSTITUTION FAR AHEAD OF YOUR TRIP TO MAKE SURE THEY CAN PLAN YOUR VISIT INTO THEIR SCHEDULE. ALSO, INQUIRE IN WRITING OR BY EMAIL, TO ALLOW THEM TIME TO RESPOND AFTER THOUGHT AND TO CONSIDER THEIR AVAILABILITY CALMLY.

2) the nature and size of the collection relative to your interest. (i.e., the Schmuckmuseum in Pforzheim probably has a lot of, well, schmuck. Curators LOVE show and tell, too, and if they have the time, they welcome visitors, who often can teach them about their collections as much as the reverse. But, you can't rationally expect a harried curator to sit with you for hours and hours looking at every one of their five thousands pieces of Jugendstil jewelry. So, limiting your incursion on their time is something you have to do. ANSWER: KEEP YOUR REQUESTS SPECIFIC. SINCE YOU HAVE SPECIFIC PIECES YOU ARE RESEARCHING, CONFINE YOUR REQUEST TO PIECES OF SIMILAR FORM OR MANUFACTURE, ALLOWING THE CURATOR TO NARROW THE FIELD. If you start narrow, you may find that the curator expands voluntarily once you're there, because we are lonely and like to talk.

3) The comfort of an insitution with letting outsiders handle material. I agree that handling things is the best way to get to know them. However, something is storage is easy to handle (assuming it's easy to find); a piece of jewelry on display may have a tricky mount, and be much more difficult to access and require more than just a curator to do it. I am always happy to let people handle things, in a secure situation, for all of the reasons you site. I admit that I am happier letting curators handle things for "serious scholarship" than I am letting amateurs handle things for "personal research" but that's only natural. Curatorial scholarship, theoretically, helps the entire museum world and the public; personal research by collectors usually does not result in anything that will help a broader public, unless the person is a noted author of popular books who happens to work outside the museum world.

ANSWER: BE CIRCUMSPECT IN EXPECTING TO HANDLE THINGS, ESPECIALLY THINGS THAT ARE ON EXHIBITION AND MIGHT BE DIFFICULT TO ACCESS DIRECTLY. BUT A CURATOR WILL OFTEN BE ABLE TO LOOK AT THINGS ON EXHIBIT WITH YOU, AND TELL YOU THINGS YOU CAN'T SEE EVEN IF YOU CAN'T HANDLE IT. AGAIN, PLANNING AHEAD TO MAKE SURE THE CURATOR HAS TIME, IS THE BEST WAY TO MAKE YOUR VISIT FRUITFUL.

I hope this is helpful. If I've raised more questions, let me know.

posted 05-24-2004 03:19 PM            

Thanks very much for your advice - that was extremely helpful! I have a focused collection, and there is one German maker I primarily collect (who is well known to them). I think they might like to see some of this jewelry because it's not every day that someone walks in off the street with a collection of it. I have pieces similar to some of theirs, but there are pieces that they've likely not (or rarely) seen before. I also interested in maker attribution and comparing construction methods of pieces by particular artists (who designed for this firm). There is also a subtle design motif prevalent in lots of Jugendstil jewelry that I wonder if they've noticed, which I've not seen mentioned in any of the books that I've read.

If I do get an appt, I will narrow down the questions to a few specific pieces that would be of historical interest to them as well. My spouse would not tolerate me spending hours talking about jewelry with a curator (though I would love to do it), so they are safe from that

If I don't get an appt, I'll just show up non-chalantly wearing a few rare pieces and see if anyone notices... You can do this with silver jewelry because the intrinsic value is so low that people would never guess what it's worth.

Thanks,
rat

posted 12-19-2004 09:40 PM            

I too am in search of who made "Depose 800" and "Depose 900" or "Geschutzt 800" pieces! I have an (out-of-print) auction catalog from the 1990's with a number of Jugendstil pieces that has 6 pages of maker's marks in the end. Some of them are well known, but there are a few obscure ones that I didn't know.

I am rather surprised that much of the Jugendstil jewelry at the Schmuckmuseum is not on display! Regarding the two London dealers, I suppose you are referring to Tadema and Van Den Bosch? One day I would like to visit their shops.

- Rat

posted 12-20-2004 09:18 AM            

I made special arrangements to visit collections at museums when I took a trip back East. I was greeted warmly and was able to view many historic items in there collection with gloved hands. I had taken some of my Early American Silver items to show and tell and they too were treated with a great deal more reverence than I had. We eat with our collection of flatware.

I am certain that if you are able to contact some of the museums you are interested in visiting and give them a specific date and interest that they might be willing to comply with your request to view (up-close) some of there collection. As Ulysses mentioned some of the items on display may not be available for closer viewing.

If you are able to take images of some of your items that you are interested in researching or showing off, they may be able to learn from what you have as well. Alot may depend on ego.

I am sure you will have a great trip and we hope you will share some of your experiences with us.

posted 12-20-2004 10:08 AM            

Finally, if I can get on a holiday soapbox, since there is not a single museum in the USA with a major jewelry benefactor, this would partly explain why there are no great jewelry displays on permanent view anywhere in the USA (with the possible exception of Toledo, which has a jewelry gallery). Until major collectors start offering to endow museum galleries with both money and collections, jewelry will continue to get short shrift in American museums. Too bad that Mr. Lauder felt obliged to create his Neue Gallerie in NYC, rather than endow an extant museum to encourage displays of the modernist German art he so loves.

posted 12-20-2004 07:32 PM            

I hope you don't mean it's a shame that the Neue Galerie - which I find one of the most inspired and charming museums in the United States - exists. That, and it has the best cafe of any museum, anywhere! (Their Viennese hot chocolate is an aesthetic experience in itself.) Seriously, what Mr. Lauder accomplished by creating the museum himself, in keeping with his own vision, he couldn't have done by entrusting his collection to an extant institution.

I also wonder why you didn't mention (along with the Toledo exception) the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, which has a superb collection of Art Nouveau jewelry on display, as well as a whole room of Faberge.

posted 12-21-2004 01:21 AM            

As Adam mentioned, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts acquired the Kreuzer buckle collection within the last few years. There are some fabulous pieces, some of which I saw them buy on Ebay over the last few years... Which leads me to wonder why they suddenly decided to leave or sell the whole collection to the museum? There is a book with pictures of the Kreuzer collection (when it was a traveling exhibit) - I've seen it, but I don't have it.

David - I would love a Jugendstil map of London (eventually I will get there too)! I have Becker's book (an excellent reference), but I will have to get von Hase's book. Fritz Falk (Schmuckmuseum director) is supposedly putting out a book this year called "European Jewellery 1840-1940". I am considering getting that one when it comes out. The catalog I got recently is "Deutsche und oesterreichische Schmuckarbeiten 1900-1960" by Beate Dry-v.Zezschwitz and Graham Dry, 1991. I think it is from the von Zezschwitz auction gallery. It is a good reference (text in German), but not worth spending a lot of money on.

Other favorite Arts & Crafts jewelry references of mine include:
- Theodor Fahrner Jewelry by von Hase, Weber, & Becker
- Jewelry & Metalwork in the Arts & Crafts Tradition by Elyse Zorn Karlin (better for British A&C, but some Jugendstil)
- Silver Jewelry Designs: Good Better Best by Nancy Schiffer (some good Arts & Crafts jewelry pictured, but mainly from Tadema)
- the Warman's Jewelry series - 1st, 2nd, 3rd editions by Christie Romero (excellent references for jewelry you might actually find at flea markets)

If you want to trade collection photos, email me... Maybe we should start a Jugendstil jewelry thread and post some examples in the Jewelry section (which appears to be plagued with "What is this mark?" posts).

posted 01-10-2005 01:23 PM            

I have been interested in jugendstil and secessionist jewelry for some time. I come at the topic from buckles -- they have been and still are my primary interest. As I explored the genre I gradually wandered more and more into continental examples, and I found myself looking at, and occasionally acquiring, jugendstil and secessionist examples. Along the way, I developed an interest in other types of jewelry in these design styles (every jewelry collector knows exactly what I'm talking about!)

My interest in jugendstil buckles got me and my husband (who thankfully is very gracious about accompanying me in expeditions to see jewelry) to Munich in 2001 to see the Kreuzer collection on exhibition there (just before it was acquired by the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond) and to make a pilgrimage to the jewelry museum in Pforzheim. I haven't made it to London yet, but know the Tadema Gallery and Didier as they sell at shows in the US. (By the way, Tadema has an excellent website, with great photos and wonderful information on makers and attribution --- it is a terrific resource just to learn about the work of some makers.)

I am a collector. I am not a scholar, nor a curator. From time to time, I have been privileged to be invited on a private tour of a museum, generally through a group of which I am a member. On a couple of occasions, that private tour has included private viewings of museum pieces which are not on display at that time. The Moderator of this forum is, I think, dead on in his assessment of the limited ability of curators to make museum holdings available for the private viewing of non-scholars. When you consider the demands on their time, the particular protocols of the institution by whom they are employed, etc., it has to be very difficult for any curator to be able to satisfy all of the requests for access.

All that said, I can say that our visit to the Schmuck Museum in Pforzheim was absolutely worthwhile, even though we simply toured the museum as ordinary visitors. This is one of the rare museums that seems to fully understand the desire of collectors to see the back of the piece, as well as the front. Not all of the display cases are 360 degrees, but a lot are. And this allows the viewer to see all aspects of the piece, including construction, except for picking it up and handling it. At the time we were there, the museum had on its first floor an exhibit tracing the history of jewelry from ancient times to the present. It included a particularly deep and extensive display of jugendstil and art nouveau examples (primarily German and French, some English and Austrian.) The basement gallery was virtually entirely dedicated to jugendstil examples. Although I know that this was only a part of what the museum owns, the visit was well worth it, as a number of the pieces that were on display were truly extraordinary.

From a few dealers who have also been to Pforzheim, we had heard that the Museum follows a protocol of holding part of its collection off premises at all times for security reasons. I don't know if this is true, but it would make sense, and if true would limit the ability of the curators to make all of the collection accessible to any visitor on any single occasion.

I may be excessivly cautious, but I have some concerns -- perhaps not founded in reality -- about taking pieces of great jugendstil jewelry to Europe. I worry about their customs perhaps attempting to assess duties on the pieces on the way in. And unless I can prove that I didn't acquire them in Europe and that they are at least 100 years old, I worry about getting them back into the US without encountering customs problems on the way back. Maybe I am being overly paranoid here -- someone else's experiences on this topic would be of interest.

Stuttgart is the nearest large city, and the train ride to get from there to Pforzheim is very easy and very pleasant (a local line that goes through charming countryside.) Stuttgart itself was not, in our view, a particularly interesting city -- we found Munich much more fascinating. On the other hand, there is a little district on the edge of downtown Stuttgart (adjacent to the red light district) that has several interesting antique shops, some with cases of jewelry. For good jugendstil jewelry, though, we found Munich to be wonderful (particularly the Turkenstrasse area of the city, though there were terrific antique jewelry shops all throughout the Munich downtown area.)

Finally, a comment on the lack of museum exhibits of jewelry . . . I tend to be a "glass half full" person. Almost every serious jewelry person that I know laments the lack of museum jewelry exhibits and collections. On the other hand, serious discussions of this topic correctly note the historic tendency of jewelry to be viewed (once you get past its religious and political links) as a decorative element of personal adornment, and not as "art" worthy of appreciation by itself. That view is changing, and it is heartening to see the topic debated and to see a few museums taking steps to expand their jewelry collections and exhibits. The Newark Museum is notable for its efforts in this direction, and I was fascinated by the acquisition of the Kreuzer buckle collection by the museum in Richmond. So, even though there is plenty of distance to go, the signs are encouraging!