Glass Gardens Cask II; Tomb Jewel II
William Harper American
William Harper is a jewelry artist renowned for his workmanship in gold and the application of cloisonné enamel techniques in his brooches and necklaces. This box and enclosed brooch is an example of his more conceptual work, forming part of a series of "casks" containing brooches, or "tomb jewels" contained within. Harper was inspired by childhood trips to European cathedrals and his encounter with their treasuries. Here, he intends for the exterior surface of the container to appear rough and provisional, even threatening and dangerous to an extent–with the readymade nature of the box and use of found materials and fragments in marked contrast to the precious materials contained within–specifically, one of his gold brooches. The materials and techniques used in the box are suffused with historical references to other examples in the Museum’s collections, including cloisonné enamel; Kongo Nkisi power figures; and 20th century examples, such as the boxes of Joseph Cornell and Lucas Samaras.
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