Anne van Cutsem

The book is visually stunning: some readers may be disappointed, depending on what they are seeking. The book consists of superb shots of pieces from Asia, Africa, Oceana, and (South)America. The pieces consist of a variety of head ornaments: combs, bands, nose ornaments, etc., but do not include earrings (which are covered in A World of Earrings) or hats. The representation is uneven, with the collections for Asia and Africa being much stronger than for Oceana (perhaps 24 pieces) or South America (perhaps a dozen pieces). Since this is a catalog of a personal collection, one obviously cannot have pictures of what is not there, and this is not a criticism. However, the person researching international jewelry should recognize the limitation.

The pictures themselves are stupendous: large with extremely clear detail. Depending on the item, there may be several on a pages (as with small hairpins) or one piece may have a double spread. The pictures are solely of the pieces; there is no attempt to display them as they would be used. They are arranged in geographical sections, with a brief introduction to the jewelry of that area. All of the caption information is collected at the end of the book, which I suppose avoids detracting from the pictures, but which some may find annoying. At least every page seems to have a discreet page number, so it is easy to match them to the captions. Anyone with a scholarly interest may find this disappointing: there is minimal information about the size of the pieces, generally the largest dimension only, and only one, even if multiple pieces are shown in the same picture. Only a very broad provenance is given, and little about the age. One comb for example, notes that this style was derived from the Spanish mantilla beginning in the 17th century, but it does not indicate if it is also contemporary. I a a little confused by the notation in the caption about a piece from Nigeria referring to Pharaonic Egypt. Does this reflect cultural sharing? Does this mean that the piece is from the time in history? The precise comment is that the ancient Egyptians often copied natural forms, but looking through the pictures, isn't that true of most cultures?

The index is very detailed in that one may, for example, look up pieces from Ming Dynasty China under either Ming or China. It would be helpful if a time period was specified for the dynasties. Also, the page numbers refer only to text, either in the section introductions or the captions. Thus, one is directed to the captions for the jewelry, and goes from there to the pictures. There are also maps and an extensive bibliography.

Well worth oohing and ahhing over, but will be only a supplement for a person with scholarly interests.… (mais)