ATTLEBORO — The Attleboro Arts Museum will partner with Wheaton College to present “Adorned! Jewelry Design from the Ancient Mediterranean to Attleboro” Feb. 12-26 in the Ottmar Gallery.
The exhibition, AAM says, showcases select objects from Wheaton’s permanent collection, considers how taste and impressions are developed, and welcomes visitors to share personal connections to better understand an object’s background, design and materials.
Among the college’s most important collections is the Newell Bequest, which arrived on campus in 1967. It includes dozens of adornments, ranging from Mesopotamian bone charms to ward off evil and Egyptian necklaces made from faience and gold, to Roman glass bangles and scent bottles.
The works will be on view alongside a set of approximately 150 hand-drawn designs for brooches, earrings, necklaces, and other forms of adornment from AAM’s permanent collection. The drawings depict jewelry that incorporate motifs — faunal, floral, and geometric — and techniques that are also found in many of the Newell Bequest adornments. The similarities help illustrate elements of continuity and change in the design and production of jewelry, whether in the Ancient Mediterranean world or in 20th-century southeastern Massachusetts, AAM says.
Adra Marshall Newell (1885-1966) compiled her collection during a lifetime of travel with her husband, Edward T. Newell (1886-1941), a renowned American numismatist. The creators and donors of the museum’s jewelry designs have not yet been identified. Prior to the development of “Adorned!,” little research had been conducted on individual Newell Bequest objects or the museum’s jewelry designs nor had the collections been the primary focus of a public exhibition.
“Projects like ‘Adorned!’ provide our students with opportunities to engage in experiential, object-based learning at its best,” said Leah Niederstadt, associate professor of museum studies and curator of the permanent collection at Wheaton. “They collaborate with and learn from each other, from collections, and from community members both on and off campus, while creating new knowledge and strengthening skills needed to succeed at Wheaton and beyond.”
Using jewelry and jewelry-making as a point of entry, “Adorned!” explores larger issues around class, culture, and appropriation as well as the control of resources and production of luxury goods.
“Adorned!” is the third collaborative exhibition between AAM and Wheaton. Each exhibit has featured either collections-based research by Wheaton students or original art created by them.
“Partnering with Wheaton College has consistently resulted in provocative exhibitions and ‘Adorned!’ is no exception,” AAM Executive Director and Chief Curator Mim Brooks Fawcett said. “This exhibit presents objects and renderings that have rarely, if ever, been on public view, resulting in pairings that establish unexpected and remarkable relationships, and uses current technology to bring ancient objects and 2D renderings to life.”
An opening reception/open house will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 12. It’s free and open to all masked guests. RSVP at 508-222-2644 x10 or office@attleboroartsmuseum.org.
“Adorned!” is presented in partnership with Wheaton College and supported by the Council of Independent Colleges and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation through the Humanities Research for the Public Good program.
