Awaken: Royal Jewellery Arts from Renaissance to the 20th century
The Shenzhen Museum of Contemporary Arts & Urban Planning currently plays host to Awaken – a unique exhibition of nearly 200 pieces sourced from twenty countries and spanning a period of 400 years.
This is a significant event as it is the first time an exhibition of historic Western jewellery curated by a Chinese team has taken place in China and more than one hundred of the exhibits have never before been seen in public.
Through a series of labyrinthine, winding paths – rather than a conventional grid layout – the visitor starts their journey with the discovery of a Renaissance pendant, ‘The Arrival of Christ’. Of many stunning jewels, a breath-taking highlight is one of the gold laurel leaves from Napoleon Bonaparte’s coronation coronet; the piece was originally created with 56 leaves and there are now thought to be only two in existence.
Another Awaken highlight comes from the Bourbon-Parma Collection – an impressive tiara made by the renowned Viennese jeweller, Hübner, for Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria in 1912. One of the most significant and important collections of historic jewels, the Bourbon-Parma Collection sold at Sotheby’s Geneva in November 2018.
The Shenzhen Museum of Contemporary Arts & Urban Planning | 184, Fuzhong Road | Lianhua Street | Futian District | Shenzhen