Customer Reviews

Splendor of Ethnic Jewelry: From the Colette and Jean Pierre Ghysels Collection

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is, indeed, a very beautifully photographed book. The represented pieces are all exquisite.

Though, it's true there could have been more background information provided, giving the book a rating of one star, as the previous reviewer did, is grossly unjust - an act of spite rather than of informed criticism. Clearly, the book was never meant to be a exhaustive examination of all the ethnological aspects of each piece (though there is ample annotation); such a book would have run to 2000 pages rather than 250! So the Splendor of Ethnic Jewelry is not a doctoral thesis but rather a stroll thru a museum; in this case, the Ghysels Collection. A coffee-table book if you want, but beautiful none the less and of the highest standard.

If you have previously had no interest in ethnic jewelry per se, this book will open your eyes to the extraordinary artistry of these ornaments created by the world's non-industrial peoples. Each object in itself says much more than an accompanying treatise ever could, and I cannot imagine anyone coming away from this book without a desire to learn more.

A second copy purchased for a friend who deals in ethnic jewelry was very much appreciated.

This is a HUGE book filled with georgeous close-ups of really inspirational jewelry. A favorite of mine!

It seems to me understandable that this book has created some extreme reactions, resulting in one rating of 5 stars and another of 1 star. I think 4 stars is a correct assessment, as the many objects shown are on the whole of a very high standard and diverse in range, while reasonably helpful though very basic captions are also provided. It would not have been a particularly difficult book to produce. There is a superficial general introduction so wide-ranging and non-specific as to be little help, and for the most part one needed a good photographer and a person who could supply the captions. One reviewer claims that this was never meant to be an "exhaustive examination of all the ethnological aspects of each piece (though there is ample annotation); such a book would have run to 2000 pages rather than 250." As the husband of Truus Daalder, who spent 7 years writing her book *Ethnic Jewellery and Adornment*, I know this to be untrue. In that book (420 large pages showing more than 700 objects) each culture area from which objects are shown is extensively described, and each object is ethnologically considered within its cultural context. A book as shallow as *The Splendor of Ethnic Jewelry* is in many ways an opportunity missed, as to a large extent the objects are presented within a cultural void. However, those who are unacquainted with ethnic jewellery do get to see a very good sample of objects, and at a very basic level are given some indication of what they are. What is lacking is any attempt to show what real meaning the objects had for those who wore them, and why they should interest us, today, not just as pretty pieces, but profoundly revealing cultural manifestations.

The photographs by John Bigelow Taylor are wonderful, but this book has a paucity of explanatory text. I don't just like to look at pretty pictures. I want to know about the jewelry. Who made it? How was it made? Who wears it? How is it worn? Why was it worn? What is the human history behind it? I particularly want to know all this about ethnic jewelry. You won't get it here.

No people are shown wearing the jewelry, so the book is sterile. There is no cultural context. It's a lot to pay for no additional knowledge about ethnic jewelry.