Although museums are closed during the pandemic, you can nonetheless view many of their holdings online. We’ve compiled direct links to the contemporary jewelry collections of almost two dozen of the top institutions in this domain.
Bettina Speckner, Untitled, 2005, brooch, ferrotype (or tintype), silver, silver wire, rubies, markasite, The Susan Grant Lewin Collection, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, photo courtesy Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, NY, USA
Go here for the jewelry collection. Try using the search term “jewelry,” then refine the results by clicking on the “contemporary” button.
Jiro Kamata, Bi-12 Color, 2015, necklace, cut dichroic mirror (glass with reflective dichroic coating), oxidized silver, open: 540 x 31 x 11 mm, photo courtesy of Corning Museum of Glass
Fritz Maierhofer, Untitled, 1974, bracelet, acrylic, gold, 83 x 64 x 83 mm, gift of Edward W. and Deedie Potter Rose, formerly Inge Asenbaum collection, Galerie am Graben in Vienna, photo copyright Fritz Maierhofer, courtesy of Dallas Museum of Art
Susie Ganch, Brooch with Gray Molecules, circa 2008, copper, enamel, braided wire, silver, 51 x 140 x 121 mm, Gift of Judith Weisman, photo courtesy of Fuller Craft Museum
Deganit Stern Schocken, Necklace #36, from the series Movement in Jewelry, Jewelry in Movement (1981–circa 1997), 1983, silver, gold, porcelain, chain length: 589 mm, pendant: 73 x 162 x 14 mm, Gift of Lois and Bob Boardman, photo courtesy of LACMA
The Met, New York City
The museum’s jewelry collection is here. You can refine by date/era, as well as object type, material, and geographic location.
Kiff Slemmons, Sticks and Stones and Words, 1992, breastplate, photo courtesy of The Met
Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal, Canada
Find its jewelry collection here. Once there, at far right on the top of the page, select “En” for English. Then scroll all the way to the bottom, and type “jewellery” (note the British spelling!) in the search box. Under “Ages,” you can refine the time period you want to see.
Donald Friedlich, Brooch, from the Magnification series, 2013, press-molded glass, cold worked and engraved, gold, 73 x 75 x 20 mm, gift of Donald Friedlich, photo courtesy of Montreal Museum of Fine Arts
Aurélie Dellasanta, Burning Life/Bomb 1, 2012, brooch/pendant, steel wire covered in firework powder, photo courtesy of mudac – Musée de Design et d’Arts Appliqués Contemporains. This jewel is part of a set of 11 pieces ignited in a performance entitled Burning Life Show.
Museo del Gioiello Vicenza, Vicenza, Italy
Go here … but really the entire site has photos of pieces shown in the museum’s exhibitions over the years, so it’s a total jewelry extravaganza.
Kerry Howley, Attraction/Aversion no. 3, 2011, necklace, human hair, epoxy resin, 300 x 350 mm, collection of the artist, photo courtesy of Museo del Gioiello
K. Lee Manuel, Protectors of the Sacred Objects of Sirius, 1988, goose feathers, lamb suede, paint, 559 x 533 x 51 mm, Gift of Paul Wittenborn, 1992, photo courtesy of Museum of Arts and Design
Tone Vigeland, Bracelet, 1985, silver, 102 x 64 mm, Helen Williams Drutt Collection, museum purchase funded by the Susan Vaughan Foundation, photo courtesy of Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Eleanor Moty, Crystal Fragment, 1992, brooch, sterling silver, 14-karat gold, tourmaline, quartz, photo courtesy of the Metal Museum. Moty was the Metal Museum’s 2012 Master Metalsmith.
Richard Mawdsley, Feast Bracelet, 1974, sterling silver, pearls, jade, 96 x 70 x 115 mm, Gift of the James Renwick Alliance in honor of Lloyd E. Herman, director emeritus, Renwick Gallery, photo courtesy of Smithsonian American Art Museum
Rian Designmuseum, Falkenberg, Sweden
The Rian has a jewelry lending library. See the pieces that are currently available to borrow here. (They will change over time as items are returned or go out on loan.)
Healim Shin, Rain Drops 3, 2017, brooch, silver, linen, Korean lacquer, 105 x 90 mm, photo courtesy of Rian Designmuseum
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Enjoy its jewelry collection here. Use the search term “sieraden” or “jewellery,” then refine the results by type of object and/or period.
Beppe Kessler, Paper Bracelet, circa 1985, translucent paper, elastic, 40 x 300 mm, Gift of Marjan and Gerard Unger, Bussum, photo courtesy Rijksmuseum
Barbara Seidenath, Arctic Brooch, 1999, sterling silver, enamel, photo courtesy of RISD Museum
Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Go here for its jewelry collection, Use search term “sieraad” (which is Dutch for jewelry), as well as “jewellery.” Also, the Françoise van den Bosch Collection is part of the Stedlijk, and can be viewed here.
Françoise van den Bosch, Untitled, 1968, earrings and bracelet, photo courtesy Stedelijk Museum, copyright Stichting Françoise van den Bosch/Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam
Sarah Hood, Tree Ruff, 2008, sterling silver, plastic model railroad tree armatures, 24-karat gold, 305 x 305 x 76 mm, Museum purchase in honor of Sharon Campbell from her friends at Rotasa Foundation, photo courtesy Tacoma Art Museum
Barbara Paganin, brooch, 2011, cast acrylic (methacrylate), oxidized silver, Given by the Friends of the V&A, museum number M.226:1-2011, photo courtesy of the V&A. This vibrant orange brooch was cast from broccoli romanesco The dramatic fractal patterns of the broccoli are cast in a dental acrylic that allows vivid color.
Alejandra Salinas is a metalsmith and emerging curator, born in the United States and raised in Mexico. Standing between two cultures, she combines her personal history with a contemporary perspective, translating her experiences into metal objects and jewelry. Salinas completed her BFA in metal at the State University of New York at New Paltz. Her work explores boundaries, both physical and conceptual, as she attempts to materialize a sense of resilience and hope.
