Impulse to adorn

[N. Ganesan]

<<<
In "The Wonder that was India" Basham writes of Indian plastic arts
 that they exhibit "horror vacuii" or "fear of blank spaces". Of
course, this is a rather perjorative way of putting it.
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There is an ongoing exhibition at Bard Graduate Center, New York
till Jan. 31, 1999 on Indian Jewelry curated by Oppi Untracht.

He was first inspired by a jewlry, textiles, crafts exhibition
in Museum of Modern Art, 1954. Since then he is studying Indian jewels.
About 1954 exhibition, Untracht says:
"one day the collection disappeared, and I learned that it had descended
to an underworld storage room to make space for renovations. Now I am
sure it was reclaimed by Nagas, those mythological Indian snakes
who rule the nether regions and whose duty it is to protect the
gemstones and true jewels of India."

"India is really a living museum without walls.. It is also rare in
that it has had a history of atleast 5000 years of consistent production
of jewellery. I don't think there is any country in the world that
holds such a record...
Yet, unfortunately, fine old pieces of jewellery are hard to come by
because those comprising precious metal and gemstones are often
melted. It is a process that parallels the Hindu concept of the
eternal cycle of creation, preservation and destruction through
which everything passes".   (India today, Dec. '98)

Any catalog or website on this exhibit?

Some more references:
1) M. Postel, Ear ornaments of ancient India, Bombay, 1989
2) Susan Stronge, The jewels of India, Marg, 1995
3) J. Filliozat, P. Z. Pattabiramin, Parures divines du Sud de l'Inde,
1966
4) E. A.Seguy, Les lacques du Coromandel, Paris, 1924
5) Choodamani Nandagopal, Temple treasures, 2 v., Bangalore 1997
6) Nandita Krishna, Arts and Crafts of Tamil Nadu, 1992, Mapin
7) S. Stronge, A golden treasury: jewellery from the Indian
subcontinent, 1992
8) Momin Latif, Mughal jewels, 1982
9) Oppi Untracht, Traditional jewelry of India, Thames & Hudson, 1997

Regards,
N. Ganesan

<<<
Pl. see:
1) The impulse to adorn: studies in traditional Indian architecture,
Marg, 34, 4, 1982
2) Nirad C. Chaudhuri,
Culture in the vanity bag, being an essay on clothing and
adornment in passing and abiding India, Jaico, 1976
3) Kamala Dongerkery, Jewelry and personal adornment in
India, ICCR, Delhi, 1970
4) Alamkara: 5000 years of Indian art,
Exhibition at National museum, Singapore, 1994 (Mapin publishers)
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