Functions of Jewellery: Personal Decoration

Jewellery has always been used to decorate the human figure. Providing visual accents, colour, contrast and texture as well as to focus attention to specific parts of the body.

Metcalf (1998) describes it as," a compositional device in the layout of the human form." He suggests that our urge to decorate satisfies a psychological and social purpose, a great ability that jewellery has to enhance self image and alter social perceptions.[1] It gives us a vehicle to express our selves, jewellery is objectively something small but more often than not encompassing big meaning.

I find that people are most themselves when they don't have to be themselves, one mask comes off and another comes on.

Conventions like Comic Con and festivals like Burning Man allow for an explosion of creative expression from people.

[Fig 1] Participant at Burning Man Festival 2018

[Fig 2] Participant at Burning Man

The outfits that the participants put together are inspired from a variety of cultures, influences and found objects, it perfectly reflects the beautiful complexity of our identity that we each have. It's complex concept, we are complex, people more often than not want to identify with more than one thing, it's the idea of mosaic identity and we owe it to ourselves to recognise and acknowledge the nodes that make up us.

Polymer Clay Bangles. Clay Cloud Creations, Comic Con 2018

Polymer Clay; Light switch covers, containers, pens and hand mirrors. Clay Cloud Creations, Comic Con 2018

References

1. https://www.brucemetcalf.com/on-the-nature-of-jewelry-part-1(Accessed March 2018)

Fig 1 - https://za.pinterest.com/pin/592575263446643833/ (Accessed March 2018)
Fig 2 - https://www.instagram.com/p/Bk6er2dhRIF/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=1ddiluw2myxdm (Accessed March 2018)

The Functions of Jewellery

Jewellery can be described as ornamentation of the figure that has been given meaning. These meanings can be characterized to form some of the functions of jewellery, in his essasy, On the nature of jewellery, Bruce Metcalf describes jewellery by its physical, social and psychological ability to touch people. Jewellery has many functions, some of these functions are; personal decoration, social status and spiritual mediation.

Assassins Creed Origins: Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator, Queen of Egypt

These functions stem of each other. On Cleopatra one could see how these characterisations can be entertwined. As one of the wealthiest woman in Egpyt, she could afford elaborate jewellery simply to decorate herself with, but this was also a symbol of her position as Egyptian Queen and her identity as the embodiment of the Goddess Isis. If her position or life were compromised she could easily flee with the investment of jewellery on her and start safely anew.