The Power of Jewellery

The Power of Jewellery: adornment and ritual from prehistory to the present

This thought-provoking lecture reveals how jewellery has been worn and used, across time and across place. Everyone decorates the body, but there are different notions of how to do so and which parts to decorate. In many societies, jewellery serves as vital protection against evil spirits. It can be a powerful vehicle of communication, indicating the wearer’s preoccupations or  their religious or ethnic group. It can be a keepsake of a loved one, or a memorial to the dead.It can also be a work of art in its own right, harnessing all the skills of the goldsmith, gem-setter or enameller. Based on the collections of the British Museum, where the speaker has worked for 40 years, this lecture takes you from ancient burial ornaments by anonymous masters to the big names of the modern world.