Mourning Ring c. 1936

John H. Tercuzzi made this design for a 'Mourning Ring', but we don't know exactly when or with what, though it seems like pencil and watercolor on paper. I'm really drawn to how Tercuzzi has laid out the ring in different views, it is almost like a technical drawing. You get a sense of the weight, the size, and the delicacy of the object. I can imagine the artist poring over the details, trying to capture the essence of the ring's shape and purpose. The surface is pretty empty, so your eye is drawn to the ring. You can really appreciate the fineness of the lines, and that band of almost code at the bottom. It makes me think about mapping, and how we use lines and symbols to represent things, to grasp, to know, or maybe to hold something in our minds in memory. It's like Tercuzzi is having a conversation across time, speaking to traditions of fine metal work, and inspiring new ideas of beauty, grief, and adornment.