National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library - Bohemian Garnets Exhibit

Image Gallery - Bohemian Garnets: Exquisite Artistry from the National Museum in Prague

	Bracelet with Almandines, Circa 1920 After the end of World War I, modern trends were rapidly introduced into jewelry production. These tendencies were evoked by the altered lifestyle and joyful, carefree way of living in a thriving economic context. Afternoon social gatherings such as cocktail parties called for appropriate attire and jewelry. Whereas evening gatherings demanded refined elegance, afternoon parties featured exuberant colors and forms of adornment. Cocktail jewelry frequently displayed prominent central stones or cluster jewels, often in sparkling pastel colors.
	Brooch from the late 19^th Century This brooch dates from the third quarter of the 19^th century. Garnet jewelry was essentially mass-produced by this time and a broad choice of designs were required for commercial success. From the 1880’s the manufacture and distribution of such jewelry was predominately concentrated in large enterprises employing dozens of men and women workers. This created mass-produced machine pressed metal settings and garnets.
	Brooch with Pearls, late 19^th Century Another example of the mass produced items typical of the Bohemian garnet. The appearance of such articles in northern Italian or German collections may well have been the result of foreign trade activities of Czech garnet dealers who annually showed their products at European trade fairs and branches abroad.
	Earrings 1910 This Art Nouveau style first appeared in individual creations of designers rather than in industrial mass production. This type of manufacture was somewhat delayed, but the Art Nouveau mass produced designs were perpetuated that much longer, for example, in picture frames.
	Fan Brooch In the late 19^th and Early 20^th century, genre type animal figurines and attributes of daily life and civilization penetrated into garnet jewelry production. The garnet company owned by father and son Maxmilian and Moses Kersch in Prague, with branches in Carlsbad and Vienna, excelled in fashioning of such thematic ornaments. These items, boasting outstanding craftsmanship, were typically offered for sale to spa visitors as souvenirs. Its trademark KER attesting to the product’s exceptional mastery was stamped on every article. The firm’s activities came to a tragic end with Moses’ deportation to Terezín concentration camp in 1942.
	Mirror and Brush This mirror and brush demonstrate how everyday objects could easily be decorated with garnets. This brush set is wood inlaid with mother of pearl and garnets.
	Monstrance The most valuable and rare object in the exhibition is on loan from the Archbishop of Prague. A sensational discovery from the vaults of St. Nicholas Church in Prague, it is a Baroque monstrance made around 1722 that is encrusted with 386 garnets, 19 diamonds, and 135 rock crystals. Thanks to restoration funded by the National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library, the monstrance, which is used in special Roman Catholic ceremonies, will be on display to the public for the first time since the National Slavonic Exhibition in Prague in 1895. At nearly one meter tall, the curator from the National Museum, Dr. Dana Stehlíková (Stehlikova), believes it is quite likely the largest existing object decorated with Bohemian garnets. National Museum goldsmith Vladimir Cizkovsky completed the restoration work in Prague.
	Necklace, N and V Company 1910-1914 The last two decades prior to the establishment of an independent Czechoslovakia were characterized in a jewelry and medal-making, apart from Art Nouveau motifs, by themes of Czech national symbols, most often linden leaves, the Bohemian royal crown, and laurel sprigs entwined by the tricolor. The creators of this necklace opted for a modest design with simple forms. Although their names have not been established with certainty, the quality of craftsmanship and the period in which this piece was made brings to mind two master artists, Josef Ladislav Nemec and Pavel Vávra, as possible artists.
	Round Brooches Late 19^th Century These two brooches, one featuring a comet and the other an Easter egg were made in the third quarter of the 19^th century. The star of Bethlehem became a popular garnet jewelry emblem in the late 19^th century. The garnets’ fiery color and luster evoke the brilliance of a flying comet. In the early 20^th century, Halley’s Comet excited the world and became popular in the garnet industry.
	Three Pectoral Crosses, 1830-c. 1910 Together with medallions, garnet crosses were among the most popular garnet inlaid ornaments of the latter half of the 18^th century and throughout the 19^th century. These adornments were not worn only by elderly women and widows. In a painting by Josef Mánes, a cross is depicted on the neck of Veruna Cudová, the artist’s model from the Haná region. A cross may be seen in the décolletage of a gown worn by Austrian Empress Elisabeth, not to mention the larger-sized relic crosses suspended on the chests of priests as their official insignia. The Roman Catholics formed the majority of Czech society, and by means of their garnet crosses they expressed their piety, as well as a high degree of aesthetic taste.
	Writing Set This set of writing implements was given to attorney and national revivalist J. L. Rieger, Prague in 1898.
	Bracelet On loan from an anonymous lender.
	Butterfly Pin On loan from an anonymous lender.
	Cross On loan from an anonymous lender.
	Crown Pin On loan from an anonymous lender.