Tatler+ Cindy Chao The Art Jewel
Jewellery artist Cindy Chao’s designs feature in prestigious museum collections the world over
Far from being mere spaces where priceless exhibits are put on display, museums play a crucial role in preserving cultural heritage and curating a legacy for future generations. These influential institutions implement strict induction criteria based on an item’s cultural relevance, artistic significance, display and didactic value. It is a great privilege for an artist when their works are chosen by leading museum experts, joining the ranks of highly coveted collectibles and cementing their artworks as ones to watch.
Cindy Chao’s Black Label Masterpiece collection exceeds the requirements. As the first Asian jewellery artist to have pieces inducted into permanent collections in the renowned Smithsonian Institution in the United States, the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in France and the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in the United Kingdom, Chao is leading Asian art jewellery’s entrance onto the world stage.
See also: The Metamorphosis of Cindy Chao
The first of these achievements came in 2013, when Chao’s Royal Butterfly Brooch was installed in the Smithsonian Institution. Housed in the Janet Annenberg Hooker Hall of Geology, Gems and Minerals of Washington DC’s National Museum of Natural History, the brooch shares the 20,000 sq ft exhibition space with world-renowned pieces, including The Hope Diamond and the 168-carat Mackay emerald and diamond necklace.
“The awe-inspiring array of colourful, glistening gems and Cindy Chao’s masterful design are combined to create a whimsically beautiful, jewelled butterfly,” said Jeff Post, curator of the museum’s natural stone collection. Featuring an intensely-hued diamond pavé, the brooch is defined by the four large-faceted, rough diamonds and eye-catching, iridescent sapphires on the asymmetric wings. In addition to the diamond-encrusted body and antennae, the back of the brooch is embellished with a polychromatic ripple pattern on the forewings, while the palette on the hind wings resembles that of Gustav Klimt’s gold-leaf-adorned paintings.
See also: Cindy Chao Celebrates the Peony Brooch's Induction into the Victoria and Albert Museum