VISUAL ARTS + MUSEUMS

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and the Houston Antiques Dealers Assocation (HADA) present the The 29th Annual HADA Lecture: Jewellery in the Age of Queen Victoria: A Mirror to the World. Thursday, February 24, 2011, at 2:00 p.m. and repeated at 6:30 p.m.  Presented by Judy Rudoe, Assistant Keeper, Jewellery and Decorative Arts, British Museum, London.

The "age of Victoria" is taken in its widest sense to encompass jewelry from Europe and America, at a time when expanding foreign trade, the new illustrated press, and a growing tourist industry brought jewelry from many parts of the world to a wide audience. Queen Victoria played a huge role: what she wore and did had tremendous impact, so what might seem a narrow subject acts as a key to understanding the entire Victorian Age. International exhibitions from 1851 onward chart the rise and fall of different jewelers, not the least of which was Tiffany’s triumph over Europe at Philadelphia in 1876.

Citing examples from the British Museum and collections worldwide, Judy Rudoe uncovers how Victorians used jewelry and what it meant to them, both literally and metaphorically. She shows how the politics, nationalism, mourning rituals, and even humor of the period are embodied in jewelry.

Rudoe is the author of Decorative Arts 1850–1950: A Catalogue of the British Museum Collection and Cartier 1900–1939 and coauthor of Jewellery in the Age of Queen Victoria: A Mirror to the World.

Open to the public. Admission is free. A reception to meet the speaker follows each lecture.

Made possible through proceeds from the Houston Antiques Dealers Association Antiques Show, Friday–Sunday, February 25–27, at the George R. Brown Convention Center.

Pictured:  Castellani of Rome, Enamelled Gold Brooch with Micromosaic of the Lamb of God, c. 1865, British Museum, Hull Grundy Gift.