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'The Dream' pair of earrings by Wendy Ramshaw

Object No. 2014/94/1

'The Dream' pendant earrings were created by Wendy Ramshaw (b. 1939), a leading contemporary British studio jeweller renowned for her innovative approach to jewellery design and production. Ramshaw emerged on the international jewellery scene in the 1970s, exerting a significant influence through inspiring exhibitions, workshops and artist residencies in countries such as the USA and Australia (1978). Ramshaw's first major breakthrough were her signature sets of rings which were introduced in the late 1960s and still continue to be made. Ranging from two to more than twenty in one set, they are intended for wearing as singles or in clusters. Each set comes with a lathe-turned nickel alloy or coloured Perspex cylindrical stand for storage and display. This Museum has one such ring set, 'Spinner', made in silver, gold and steel in 1988. Among other significant developments which further consolidated Ramshaw's career as an artist-jeweller, was jewellery inspired by iconic 20th century paintings such as Pablo Picasso's portraits of women* and artworks by Paul Klee and Wassily Kandinsky. 'The dream' earrings were designed in response to the 1910 French naïve painting by Henri Rousseau of the same title. Depicting a reclining nude woman (Rousseau's mistress from his youth) amongst a luscious jungle landscape, 'the earrings echo the moon, peering eyes and exotic flowers amongst the dense and varied greens of the forest, animals and humans' explains Ramshaw. Surrealist and quirky, the earrings were designed for Ramshaw's exhibition 'The Room of Dreams' at the Scottish Gallery in Edinburgh in 2002. 'The Room of Dreams' later became the centre-piece of a larger touring exhibition, 'Rooms of Dreams' (2002-2014)**. Through a remarkable selection of key works made in a range of precious and non-precious materials including glass and plastics, 'Rooms of Dreams' celebrated Ramshaw's fifty-year career, her continuing creativity and long-standing belief that jewellery can be precious beyond its intrinsic worth. A jeweller who also designed textiles, screens, gateways and large-scale sculpture, Ramshaw has received many international honours and awards for her work and is represented in more than 80 public collections worldwide. These include the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Arts and Design (MAD), the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam and the Victoria & Albert Museum, London. Eva Czernis-Ryl and Melanie Pitkin, 2014 References: Kimberly Chrisman-Campbell, 'Wendy Ramshaw Rooms of Dreams', Ornament Magazine, issue 36 (April, 2013) pp 35-37 Wendy Ramshaw & David Watkins official website, http://www.ramshaw-watkins.com/ (Downloaded 12/3/2014) Personal correspondence, November 2013 - May 2014 *Beatriz Chadour Sampson, "Picasso's Ladies", Arnoldsche, Stuttgart, 1998, ISBN 3-9255369-80-5 **Marina Vaizey, Tobias Hill et alia, "Rooms of Dreams" The Harley Gallery & Ruthin Craft Centre, 2012, isbn 978-1-905865-44-4

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Summary

Object Statement

Earrings (pair), 'The Dream', 18ct yellow gold / glass / amethysts / orange carnelians, designed and made by Wendy Ramshaw, United Kingdom, 2002-2014

Physical Description

A pair of pendant earrings, made of 18ct gold set with teddy bear glass eyes, taxidermist glass eyes, amethysts and orange carnelians. Each piece consists of an eye form at the top suspended with a stylised red lotus flower above a round glass eye with a three-leaf pendant terminal.

DIMENSIONS

Height

110 mm

Width

27 mm

PRODUCTION

Notes

Only two pairs of 'The Dream' earrings were made by Wendy Ramshaw: this pair was commissioned by this Museum while the original pair was still part of the ' Wendy Ramshaw: Rooms of Dreams' tour 2012-2014. 'Rooms of Dreams' was a significant touring exhibition of Ramshaw's works, celebrating the artist's fifty-year career. Wendy Ramshaw, born in Sunderland, United Kingdom in 1939, is a leading international contemporary studio jeweller, designer and sculptor. From 1956-1960, Ramshaw studied illustration and textiles design at the Newcastle Upon Tyne College of Art and Industrial Design, before pursuing further studies in art teaching at Reading University in 1960-1961 and a post-graduate diploma in design at the Central School of Art and Design in 1969. With a career spanning more than five decades, Ramshaw has received many prestigious awards. She was gained the Freedom and became a Lady Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths in 1973 and 1986 respectively and in 1999 she became an honorary fellow of the London Institute and was also elected RDI (Royal Designer for Industry). She has also been a Visiting Professor at the Royal College of Art in London between 1996 and 1999 and, to celebrate the new millennium on 31st December 1999, was commissioned to design and make a gold medal presented to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. In June 1993, Ramshaw was awarded Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) by the Queen for services to the arts and in 2003 she was honoured as a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE), also for services to the arts.

SOURCE

Credit Line

Purchased with funds from the Yasuko Myer Bequest, 2014

Acquisition Date

8 September 2014

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