women and, above all, temple deities, where jewelry is part of the bond between the worshipper and the deity.

Much of Miss Beningson's collection beautifully wrought anklets, earrings, necklaces, jeweled crowns--comes from south India. It was here that the Indian jewellers' technical expertise developed in the great gem-trading centres, under the patronage of the great rulers (whose state-owned jewels would adorn their whole households including the servants) and, importantly, the great temples. Adriana Proser, curator of traditional Asian art at the Asia Society, explained: 'These are not just baubles, not just fine works of craftsmanship. They held important significance in society. The highest honour for a devotee was to give jewelry to dress the deity.'
 

To that end, hundreds of jewelers were permanently employed by Indian temples. The Brihadishvara Temple in Thanjavur, for example, built by the powerful Indian Chola ruler Rajaraja I, has eleventh century inscriptions carved on the walls detailing the gem experts' many classifications for pearls, diamonds and rubies. When the jewel filled treasuries became goals for northern invaders, the temples added fort-like walls, most notably around the hugely wealthy Indian Ranganatha Temple at Sringangam.

Even today, fine jewelry continues to be commissioned for the gods and,

as Molly Emma Aitken explains in her excellent catalogue essay, 'wealthy devotees pay to obtain a private viewing of a deity in his or her richest jewelry'. As if to reinforce the importance of jewelry in Indian society, a second exhibition at Asia House displays Indian miniature paintings from the Poisky collection. There is jewelry in almost every one: a god is weighed down with gem-encrusted jewels, lovers discard their clothes but not their jewelry, a pet blackbuck is draped with three necklaces while he poses stiffly for his portrait.

The same arguments cannot be made for American jewelry. But Judith Price, founder and President of the National Jewelry Institute, has put together a remarkable show that surprises and impresses, 'Masterpieces of American Jewelry'. Hosted by the American Folk Art Museum (and, in 2005, by Somerset House in London), it claims to be the first museum show devoted entirely to American jewelry. The two hundred exhibits were all made and distributed in America between the late eighteenth century and the 1980s. As such, it presents an opportunity to define just what makes American jewelry distinct.

Ms Price, no stranger to India's complex jewelry tradition, has her own no-nonsense theories. 'Simplicity and a sense of humour. Do you know the American trade code "kiss"? It stands for "keep it simple stupid". So, we often use semi-precious stones for serious jewelry.' She illustrates her point with piece made in the 1940s for the considerable jewelry collectors Mr and Mrs Cole Porter. 'Look at the way Paul Flare uses aquamarines and rubies to make a belt shaped necklace. Sheer simplicity, humour, and not even a diamond!'

Interestingly, about half of the 25 lenders are men. 'These are major collectors with Picassos on their wails and jewelry in their vaults', explains Ms Price. To encourage visitors to take the same serious approach, the pieces are displayed in low lit cabinets to give each one the status of a work of art.

Ralph Esmerian, the show's curator, has grouped the pieces by theme. This reveals two additional characteristics: quality craftsmanship and gentle sentiment. Both are evident in an 1877 Tiffany gold classic revival bracelet exhibited at the Paris World's Fair and in Cartier's exclusive New York designs, such as a 1927 brooch shaped as if the American flag had been tied into a bow tie. They are in the delicate orchid brooches made by J.E. Caldwell, Marcus & Co., and Tiffany & Co. New York to celebrate America's natural splendour. They are in Van Cleef & Arpels' diamond-encrusted ballerina brooches of the 1940s--Claude Arpels was a close friend of George Balanchine; in the Walt Disney-influenced work of Raymond C. Yard collected by Rockefellers, Vanderbilts and DuPonts; and, more recently, in Joel Arthur Rosenthal's 1987 blue butterfly using indigenous Montana sapphires.
Postscript: Those wanting to confirm their thoughts on American jewelry should slip out of the American Folk Museum's tomb-like home designed by the New York team of Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects and cross the road into the Museum of Art and Design to see the innovative creations of Seaman Schepps, the Park Avenue jeweller whose clients ranged from Doris Duke to Andy Warhol.

Apollo, by Louise Nicholson - COPYRIGHT Apollo Magazine Ltd. & Gale Group

Cartier and Indian Jewelry

Beautiful girls in silk robes, with the jewelry colliers around the neck, heavy rings with many carats on the fingers and bracelets on the arms. Cartier showed a collection called Inde Mystérieuse and is a showcase of a long history of Indo-European vice-versa jewelry fascination.

In 1913 Cartier focused his eye on India and translated the pictures he has seen into his own world. At that time it was a jewelry exhibition at Cartier in New York inspired by Indian art. It referred to the formal language of the Moghul era, of the 16th to the 18th Century, during which the wealth was unfolded by unprecedented jewelry made from Jade, ruby beads, engraved emeralds, diamonds from unique quality and size that you had to give them names.

Shiva and Parvati

Cartier’s jewelry creations in the decades following had a strong influence by Indian mythology. One famous picture from Cartier was were he held a emerald engraved with Shiva and Parvati sitting in front of a tiger skin. After this emerald was the centerpiece of a great piece of jewelry, a necklace. Also, there was some orientation to the jewelry art of the Indian stone engraver who brought the precious stones into different forms as their European counterparts. While in Europe except cabochon, baguette and a few other cut’s not much of creative art was available, the Indian colleagues engraved stones with fragile ornaments and ribs in their polished surfaces.

But the fascination of jewelry also returned in the opposite direction. Maharajas (or rather someone from the court) knocked on the door of Cartier in Paris, Rue de la Paix or London’s New Bond Street, to have the family jewels modified with a modern chic.
The Maharajah of Patiala, a prince from the Punjab ordered a set of necklaces, bracelets and other jewelry, which were on exhibition in 1928 in the shop windows in the Rue de la Paix.

Cartier Indian Style Jewelry

It seems what Cartier learned from India, was courage to experiment, to the asymmetry and simply to play with the jewelry material. As for the Indian customer, where the jewelry literally was put into their the cradle, wanted from Cartier? It might have been, clarity, reduction and western flair. For the collection "Inde Mystérieuse" Cartier remained rather on a low creative burner for Indian taste, for European taste it was a outburst of creativity. A jewelry collier made from pearls of beryl plus an eye-catcher made from a huge rubelit crystal surrounded by diamonds was shown and highly praised. Or another collier, in the shape of a yellow tiger with emerald eyes clings to the neck.

The fact that woman’s best friends are diamonds and jewelry was not invented by Marilyn Monroe, but rooted in the Indian codices for marriage, wealth distribution and the position of women in marriage. Because of the property freely available in the case of the loss of her husband is a assurance to her. It may only keep a certain amount of money (the other goes to the husband), but they can possess jewelry on a unlimited scale.

Thailand's Chantaburi the trading place in Asia for precious and semi precious stones.