Twentieth Century British Jewellery 1900-1980

by Peter Hinks

London: Faber & Faber

1983

Hardcover with dustjacket, 192pp. Illustrations, mostly in B&W. Very good condition.

From dustjacket: "The twentieth century has been one of the richest and most prolific in the history of British jewellery. Many new styles have evolved, riew materials like iridescent titanium and luminous acrylic have challenged the once revolutionary saw-pierced platinum and pavé diamonds of the Belle Epoque for originality and impact, and changes in society have led people to question traditional views of what jewellery is for and stimulated them to put it to new uses. The long-standing rivalry between the 'craftsman jeweller' and the commercial producers of jewellery has been yeast to the ferment. For sheer virtuosity and dazzling variety the products of the 1960s and 1970s have been more than a match for those of the Edwardian Period and the Arts and Crafts revival. All this, and more, is encompassed in Peter Hinks's absorbing and very readable study, which starts with the mourning jewellery of the Boer War and ends with the second, recent craft revival, taking in the Edwardian era, the Arts and Crafts movement, the first and second world wars, the ebullient 1920s and the more austere 1930s and 1950s on the way. It is a mirror to the history of British society in the twentieth century, its triumphs and failures, its preoccupations, its ambitions, reflecting at different times escapism and joie de vivre, social conscience and devil-may-care extravagance. For those familiar with the subject it will be an essential work of reference; for those eager to know more it will be an eye-opener. Peter Hinks has for a number of years been in charge of the jewellery department at Sotheby's. He has also written Nineteenth Century Jewellery."

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