Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Neckring
Ettore Sottsass Italian, born Austria
Manufacturer Cleto Munari Italian
Not on view
This piece recalls the gold collars of ancient Middle Eastern jewelry, but in a starkly modern architectural form that characterizes Sottsass’s later work. When asked by Barbara Radice whether he creates jewelry as a symbol of power, eroticism, seduction, or magic, he chose both eroticism and magic. This necklace, though, seems to combine all of these qualities, with its mysterious black disks, mazelike structure, and the strong lines of the gold elements that draw the viewer in toward the body.
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