Vibrant Embellishments in Stone, Shell & Enamel

Lapidary refers to the art of cutting and polishing stones for jewelry and other adornments; it also refers to a person creating such work. And for those creatives fashioning this art form, an exhibition of such work promises to be an intriguing exploration.

An exhibition of a different sort, Vibrant Embellishments in Stone, Shell & Enamel centers not on a variety of featured stones, but rather how they are presented: shell and enamel in jewelry, functional metalwork and hollowware set in silver, copper, and gold. To be admired are the variety of ways in which the ornamentations are carved or cut, polished, and set. 

Long before the Industrial Revolution, stone was cut, chipped and broken in strategic ways by a lapidary. It was then hand-polished by rubbing the stones together, often with pastes of water, sand or “rotten stone,” a mixture of limestone and silica called tripoli, which is still used today. 

The use of glass and enamel has a rich history as well. While beautiful in their own right, glass and enamel were incorporated into metal designs as a way to imitate various gemstones, a cost-effective enhancement. 

The majority of objects in this exhibition come from the museum’s extensive metals collection, including the Murray Warner Collection of Oriental Art, the Margo Grant Walsh Twentieth Century Silver and Metalwork Collection, and the Collection of Hattie Mae Nixon. Other pieces are on loan from an anonymous lender. They were created in the early- to mid-20th century by makers from all over the world, including China, Denmark, Germany, Great Britain, Indonesia, Italy, Korea, Mexico, the Navajo Nation, Scotland, South Africa, and the United States.

Opens April 4, 2026 at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, University of Oregon, 1430 Johnson Lane, Eugene 

https://jsma.uoregon.edu/vibrant-embellishments

Curator-led virtual presentation centering the aesthetic, historical, and technical aspects of several selected objects featured in the exhibition taking place on Wednesday, April 30th at 5:30pm PT. Register HERE.