Copied
Richard Mawdsley, Feast Bracelet, 1974, sterling silver, jade, and pearls, 3 3⁄4 x 2 3⁄4 x 4 1⁄2 in. (9.6 x 7.0 x 11.5 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the James Renwick Alliance in honor of Lloyd E. Herman, director emeritus, Renwick Gallery, 1983.52
Copied
Artwork Details
- Title
- Feast Bracelet
- Artist
- Date
- 1974
- Location
- Not on view
- Dimensions
- 3 3⁄4 x 2 3⁄4 x 4 1⁄2 in. (9.6 x 7.0 x 11.5 cm.)
- Credit Line
- Gift of the James Renwick Alliance in honor of Lloyd E. Herman, director emeritus, Renwick Gallery
- Mediums Description
- sterling silver, jade, and pearls
- Classifications
- Subjects
- Still life — other — flatware
- Still life — other — dish
- Still life — foodstuff — pie
- Still life — vegetable — artichoke
- Still life — foodstuff — beverage
- Object Number
- 1983.52
Artwork Description
Richard Mawdsley states that he likes jewelry because “fantasy comes off better on this scale.” Feast Bracelet is a miniature version of an extravagant dining spread, including fruit, silverware, and drinking chalices. Mawdsley based many of the objects in this piece on historical metalworks he saw in photographs and in museum collections. The feast-laden table also refers to seventeenth-century Dutch still-life paintings. Creating a “feast for the eyes,” Mawdsley probably intended this piece as an homage to masterpieces of painting and metalwork.
Exhibitions
November 13, 2015–March 6, 2022
Connections is the Renwick Gallery’s dynamic ongoing permanent collection presentation, featuring more than 80 objects celebrating craft as a discipline and an approach to living differently in the modern world.