Necklace with Suspended Ball and Cone for Picasso’s “Portrait of a Young Woman”

Object NameSculpture

Assistant Neil Wilkinson

Maker Wendy Ramshaw (British, b. 1939)

Manufacturer Dartington Crystal Limited

Made FromLead Glass (24%), Float Glass, Nickel, Metal, Gold

Date1990

TechniqueHot Worked, riveted, soldered, ground, polished

SizeBase W: 37.6 cm, D: 37.6 cm

Accession Number91.2.1

Curatorial Area(s)

Postwar and Contemporary

Exhibitions

Glass Jewelry: 25 Centuries of Style

From Paper to Gold

Interpretive Notes

Web Text

Unlike commercial jewelers, studio jewelers do not focus on designing settings for precious gems, but experiment with a variety of materials in their investigation of meaning and expression of artistic ideas. The studio jeweler Wendy Ramshaw made a collection of objects over 10 years that she titled “Picasso’s Ladies.” She designed one or more pieces of jewelry for each of the 66 portraits that Picasso made of women with whom he was involved. Researching the women and their stories, Ramshaw was inspired by the emotion of the paintings, as well as the range of styles in which Picasso worked.

Place Made

England, London

Physical DescriptionSculpture, "Necklace with Suspended Ball and Cone for Picasso’s 'Portrait of a Young Woman'”. Colorless with transparent blue striations, natural tint of float glass; cone and ball are 24% lead, square mounts are non-lead glass; hot worked glass ball and cone, nickel parts turned from sheet and rod, riveted into position to hold glass, chain is slotted through nickel and soldered. Small rectangle with slot centered on larger square (both of float glass with ground, polished and beveled edges); glass ball fitted into double concentric ring gyroscopic metal mount; gold chain connects ball element with mount of a glass cone, thick end rounded and fitted with metal band framed by metal circle cut out to fit over end of cone and band; when necklace is not worn the ball mount fits in small rectangular slot with rings separated, cone rests below on large square; unsigned.
Provenance

Provenance Remark

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