The Gallery Collection: Art History Jewelry
The Gallery Collection is jewelry inspired by art history, long walks in monumental museums, and the little-told stories of the images and symbols that shape our view of the past and present. It by no means even begins to encompass the vast history of art, which spans every inhabited place great or small across the globe and includes every culture on our diverse planet. Consider it more like a room—a small gallery—wherein I’ve hung a handful of meaningful works to contemplate and paid homage to them with my own method of interpretive reproduction.
Given the time, assets and freedom, I could have never stopped making this collection; that is to say that if your favorite artist isn’t featured, well, neither is mine. I also explicitly chose works by artists who were active in the early 20th Century and before, as I felt uncomfortable re-interpreting works by living or recently living artists for sale.
This collection is dedicated to my brother Steven, who was an avid reader and lover of all things history and art. He especially loved Gauguin, and as you’ll learn from my Van Gogh-inspired necklace, had an affinity for a certain painting by the artist.
Leonardo da Vinci-Inspired Cat and Mouse Necklace
Leonardo da Vinci-Inspired Cat and Mouse Necklace
If you’re surprised to learn that the man who painted the Mona Lisa spent a lot of his time observing and sketching cats, I’m with you. “Even the smallest feline is a masterpiece of nature” is a quote attributed to Leonardo da Vinci, whose sketches of felines and studies for a painting he intended to finish portraying the Madonna and child holding a cat attest to the artist’s reverence for the animals. For my da Vinci-Inspired Cat and Mouse Necklace, I chose to focus on this playful fact and add a layer of my own friskiness. This necklace features a large cast bronze medallion impressed with the likeness of one of da Vinci’s cat drawings, and I added a hand-sculpted cast-bronze mouse connector charm above the cat to appear as if it’s stalking the mouse.
The entire length of the necklace including the cat and mouse charm is about 17.5 inches, and the chain is 14k gold-filled. It can be fastened up the chain if you prefer a shorter look. It’s also available with JUST the mouse charm on a 16- or 18-inch chain.