Necklace c. 1920s

Curator: This striking "Necklace," dated to the 1920s, comes to us from an anonymous artist and resides here at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. What immediately strikes you about it? Editor: It’s delightfully eccentric! A cascading confection of beads and embroidered ribbons, isn’t it? I’m getting vintage haberdashery vibes mixed with a hint of exotic travels. Curator: That exotic feel might come from the work incorporating textile and silk alongside the beads. Consider its time. The 1920s saw increased interest in global cultures and so called "primitive" forms. Pieces like this were worn and displayed, often carrying loaded signifiers about taste and cultural status. Editor: Interesting! To me, it feels like a celebration of textures. The hand-embroidered patterns look as if they have been laid onto a pattern creating some layered design. Then the silk and bead sections… it is like this artist understood color theory intuitively and wanted to apply a range of different pattern and texture pairings that simply should not go together. Curator: Absolutely, the visual dissonance could have been deliberate, intended as a statement against traditional jewelry conventions. During the Art Deco era there were efforts to revive old designs and patterns for industrial output. This also brought up complex discussions around who was the owner or creator of cultural goods in colonized societies. The piece plays with established European fashion paradigms while seemingly echoing these tribal aesthetics. Editor: You make it sound heavy, but there’s something playful about it too. All these perfect beaded lines paired with the slightly unkempt and wonderfully irregular silk embroideries - like order versus joyful chaos. I think you’re right - to some extent it looks decorative, and its beauty gives it purpose enough. Curator: I think that tension is what makes it compelling, both a product of and a commentary on its time. Thank you for these thought provoking comments. Editor: The pleasure was all mine! What a charming enigma, so easy on the eye and yet such a trove of stories when one thinks deeper about it!