Monday, January 12, 2009

JEWELRY FROM THE CRADLE OF CIVILIZATION

Mesopotamia, 2650-2550 B.C.
Gold, Lapis, and Carnelian


Lately, when I'm working with metals, I find my thoughts turning toward the ancient world.  It's not that this is unusual for me, as I've always been interested in who and what came before us.  I've been working in bronze a lot lately and of course, this tends to make you think about the Egyptians, the Greeks and the Romans.  But before the rise of all of these, were the Mesopotamians.  Mesopotamia encompassed what is today Syria, Turkey, Iran and Iraq.  These days there is not much opportunity to view artifacts from this region due to the political landscape of the world.  When I read today about a rare chance to see some of these precious pieces of the long, distant past, I wanted to share it with you.  The Field Museum in Chicago will soon unveil a temporary exhibit called 'Masterpieces of Ancient Jewelry: Exquisite Objects from the Cradle of Civilization'.  The exhibition runs from February 15 through July 5th.  I don't know about you, but I'm sure going to try to get to Chicago to see this one.  There's sure to be plenty of inspiration to be had.
Read more here.

2 comments:

Gail said...

I just saw a blurb about that exhibit. I want to see it. I really need to not work. But right now I'm grateful to have a job.

Cristina Leonard said...

Yeah, I hear you. Maybe we could meet halfway and see it for a long weekend?