New book is jewel in lecturer's crown

Simon Bliss, Senior Lecturer on the 3D Design and Craft BA(Hons) course at the university’s School of Art, explores the relationship between jewellery and modernism in the inter-war period in Europe and America with a particular focus on France and Germany.

The title of the book is ‘Jewellery in the Age of Modernism 1918-40: Adornment and Beyond’.

Simon drew on archive material, contemporary journals, memoirs and theoretical texts to demonstrate how the emergence of modern jewellery began to question conventional notions of body adornment in that period.

Simon said: “Researching the book took me to museums, archives and libraries in London, Paris, Berlin and Pforzheim. I was lucky enough to meet some really helpful fellow scholars, librarians and curators who were very generous with their time and expertise.

“A particular highlight was my visit to the Bauhaus archive in Berlin, where I was able to examine surviving pieces of metalwork and jewellery by the designer Marianne Brandt at first hand. Next year sees the 100^th anniversary of the founding of the Bauhaus.”

Simon said that he learned a lot about the process of putting a book together, from writing a proposal to editing and choosing illustrations.

He added: “I was grateful to get some funding from the University to offset the costs of my illustrations. I hope this support can continue for other visual arts researchers.”