Jewel Narratives: Thinking...

A few weeks ago, I visited Elisabetta Cipriani Gallery in London, to see ‘Hotel 87 and Other Relics’, curated by Melanie Grant, a show running for just a couple of weeks, highlighting twenty artists and design houses in London. I was lucky enough to be the guest of a friend who’s a member of Gem X, and I’m still thrilled that I was able to handle so many of the impressive works. It was a real treat to be guided around the show. It was the small asides, however, that ensured my short visit was full of lasting impressions.

We learned from Grant that Giampaolo Babetto (b. 1947, Italy), is “still working, and is a very peaceful, gentle man.” Cipriani told us that “he makes simple wooden boxes for his pieces and hands them over to me very casually, often in a plastic bag.”

I can tell you that the back of Arnaldo Pomodoro’s Vortex Brooch, 1964 is as beautifully made as the front. As is the back of the GRIMA brooch seen below:

We heard that the elegant yet comforting Bracelet, 2025 by Hedy Martinelli was made with silver mesh harvested from carefully collected antique evening bags; also, that Louise Bourgeois wore her heavy Silver Shackle Necklace, 1948/1999 when she went to lunch with her overbearing father.

Cipriani told us that the gold and amethyst antique ring, circa 1837–1901, was unusual within the Italian jewellery tradition, as historically, purple was a colour deemed so valuable that it was reserved by law for emperors and high-ranking officials, making it illegal for anyone else to wear.

Apparently Cora Sheibani reacted to lockdown by making her witty, colourful Pottering Around Collection – gold and titanium pieces inspired by tending her plants in their Italian pots. Also, the extraordinary high jewellery artist Wallace Chan spends so much time in Venice that he’s frequently hailed in the street, and that in 2018 he invented a type of porcelain that’s six times stronger than steel. The mind boggles…

I was delighted to be able to try Spheres on Both Sides of a Square Bracelet, 1968 by Pol Bury – cuffs are usually too small for me; the spheres move with the body, catch the light and make subtle sounds as they do so.

The undoubted highlight for me was handling Giampaolo Babetto’s Collana (Necklace), 1994/2021. I’d only ever seen it displayed quite formally. Here it was casually looped over a small bust, almost, but not quite, jumbled. The 18ct gold alloy he makes is identifiable as his by its soft, warm tone.

18ct gold is generally considered lemony in colour, in contrast with richer 22ct and upwards, whereas Babetto’s 18ct alloy has a beguiling lushness, softened by a meticulously hand-worked satin finish. I was fascinated to see that each of the open cubes is hinged, with delicate yet robust precision.

Cipriani’s favourite piece was Attilio Codognato’s Salamander Bracelet, 1960. The group generally favoured Grima (why not?) as well as a pair of antique earrings, circa 1840s – 1860s, featuring gold and enamel skulls.

The hour-long tour seemed to have taken much more time as, with so much to look at and listen to, an intense concentration was needed.

On the train home I found myself thinking yet again about how often jewellery prompts conversation, elicits stories and makes connections.

When introducing ‘Hotel 87 and Other Relics’, Grant told us of several increasingly strange, short exchanges she’d had with the hotel manager in Rome about the pair of Umbro pants inexplicably found hanging from the door handle to her hotel bathroom. These fragments of conversation about the (still, as yet, unwashed) pants became a sufficiently surreal hook that, tied to the other (rather more glamorous) objects collected on her recent trip, provided the central display as well as the impetus for this show.

Huge thanks to Heather Rajaratnam for the invitation, the video and photographs featuring GRIMA brooch.