Object Timeline
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2016 |
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2024 |
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Brooch, 2005
This is a brooch. It was designed by Bettina Speckner. It is dated 2005 and we acquired it in 2016. Its medium is ferrotype (or "tintype"), silver, silver wire, rubies, markasite. It is a part of the Product Design and Decorative Arts department.
Speckner uses an old tintype portrait of a mysterious couple, taking them out of context and generating an emotional impact that is heightened by the seemingly random, but carefully calibrated overlays of precious gems. These added elements obscure rather than decorate the historical image, transforming it into a nuanced contemporary work.
This object was
donated by
Susan Lewin.
It is credited The Susan Grant Lewin Collection, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum.
Its dimensions are
H x W x D: 8.9 × 6 × 0.6 cm (3 1/2 × 2 3/8 × 1/4 in.)
It has the following markings
on reverse, bottom center: stamped with stylized tulip
Cite this object as
Brooch, 2005; Designed by Bettina Speckner (German, b. 1962); ferrotype (or "tintype"), silver, silver wire, rubies, markasite; H x W x D: 8.9 × 6 × 0.6 cm (3 1/2 × 2 3/8 × 1/4 in.); The Susan Grant Lewin Collection, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum; 2016-34-106
This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition Jewelry of Ideas: Gifts from the Susan Grant Lewin Collection.