The “Queen of the Nile,” a magnificent bib necklace created by Abellán New York joins the permanent collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
The “bib” style although entirely contemporary in its look, was influenced by ancient Egyptian broadcollars. Set into the antique style terminals are the precious stones of emerald and diamond contrasted with semi-precious pink tourmaline. The remaining section of the necklace is comprised of graduated amethysts which is a tour de force juxtaposed against pink stones. A single black South Sea pearl elegantly caps the necklace off.
The necklace measures approximately: 20-1/2 inches in length and 3-1/8 inches wide from the drop section of the coral and opal beads across the front. A large and impressive show-stopping size.
“The Museum is thrilled to add the Queen of the Nile necklace to its permanent collection. With its ancient form and modern color palate, the necklace is sure to provoke thoughtful dialogue about the global and historic function of jewelry,” say Emily Stoehrer, Rita J. Kaplan and Susan B. Kaplan Curator of Jewelry at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
The accession of the necklace to the Museum of Fine Arts, contributed by a private donor, complements the collection of Art Jewelry and leverages its mission of connecting people with creativity and achieve cultural awareness.
The Artist
Abellán, the artist who works under the name Abellán New York, was born in Italy and graduated with an undergraduate degree in Industrial Relations and holds a Masters Degree in Organizational Development (using the behavioral sciences to help businesses work more efficiently). Not long after graduating she was seduced by jewelry and began apprenticeships with master goldsmiths and from then she never looked back. After extensive experience, including a number of years of designing and casting, she made the decision to launch Abellán New York.
As the driving force behind Abellán New York, the artist conceives of and designs each piece of jewelry. She makes certain that the finished piece resonates with her original vision. Each masterwork is unique, reflecting the artist’s signature use of rare multicolor gemstones in unusual combinations executed with antique hand cuts.
The objets d’art are crafted and set in New York City. The precious and often rare gemstones featured in the jewelry are hand selected by the artist to create vibrantly colorful jewel sculptures to wear. The process of bringing a new masterpiece to life takes up to nine months. It is not unusual for the complexity of the design and the availability of special gemstones to extend the time it takes to complete a new work of art.
The Artist signs her creations and certain pieces have a report from the Gemological Institute of America. The mood of each work of art by Abellán reveals the artist’s desire to balance antiquity with modernity in an unexpected way.
Abellán New York
Abellán New York Masterpieces, one-of-a-kind creations crafted in New York City. Each piece of jewelry is a singular expression of the Artist’s personal aesthetic with its own story and source of inspiration.
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
The jewelry collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA), spans 6,000 years and features adornments that represent a wide array of materials, techniques and functions. Objects range from Neolithic Chinese jade to Ancient Egyptian beadwork to gems and jewels from top 20th-century designers. The Museum’s jewelry collection boasts over 20,000 pieces, including the most comprehensive collection of 20th-century studio jewelry ever assembled. The MFA’s Rita J. and Stanley H. Kaplan Family Foundation Gallery is one of only a few at major US museums solely dedicated to jewelry, which offers a flexible rotating space for the display of jewelry from all cultures and time periods. Currently on view is Gold and the Gods: Jewels of Ancient Nubia, an exhibition of the MFA’s world-class collection of ancient Nubian adornment—the most comprehensive outside Khartoum. The MFA‘s Rita J. Kaplan and Susan B. Kaplan Curator of Jewelry was endowed in 2006—the first museum curatorship for jewelry in the United States.
More information
