An exhibit at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts includes pieces worn by Mary Todd Lincoln, Marjorie Merriweather Post, and Coco Chanel

As the saying goes, “diamonds are a girl’s best friend” —  at least in modern times —but as the exhibition Jewels, Gems, and Treasures: Ancient to Modern illustrates, ornaments made of ivory, shell, and rock crystal were prized in antiquity, while jewelry made of diamonds, emeralds, sapphires, rubies, and pearls became fashionable in later years.

Through November 25, 2012, this exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, highlights some 75 objects representing the rich variety of jewels, gems, and treasures that have been valued over the course of four millennia.  Drawn from the MFA’s collection and select loans, these range from a 24th-century BC Nubian conch shell amulet, to Mary Todd Lincoln’s 19th-century diamond and gold suite, to a 20th-century platinum, diamond, ruby, and sapphire Flag brooch honoring the sacrifices of the Doughboys in World War I.  Jewels, Gems, and Treasures is the inaugural exhibition in the MFA’s new Rita J. and Stanley H. Kaplan Family Foundation Gallery.  The gallery — one of only a few at US museums solely dedicated to jewelry —  features works from the Museum’s outstanding collection of approximately 11,000 ornaments.

The exhibition explains the significance of jewelry, which can be functional (pins, clasps, buckles, combs, and barrettes); protective (talismans endowed with healing or magical properties); and ornamental, making the wearer feel beautiful, loved, and remembered.  Beyond functionality and adornment, jewelry can also establish one’s status and role in society.

Rare gems and precious metals, made into fabulous designs by renowned craftsmen, have often served as symbols of wealth and power.  This is especially evident in a section of the show where jewelry worn by celebrities is on view, including fashion designer Coco Chanel’s enameled cuff bracelets accented with jeweled Maltese crosses (Verdura, New York, first half of 20th century) and socialite Betsey Cushing Whitney’s gold and diamond “American Indian” Tiara (Verdura, New York, about 1955), which she wore to her presentation to Queen Elizabeth II in 1956 as the wife of the US Ambassador to the Court of St. James.

The significance of precious materials in jewelry in the 20th century is explored in the exhibition, where several modern adornments from the MFA’s Daphne Farago Collection examine jewelry’s traditional roles in society.  Among them are a 1985 brooch of iron, pyrite, and diamond rough by Falko Marx and a 1993 ring by Dutch jeweler Liesbeth Fit entitled Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend.

“Jewelry is a powerful cultural signifier, and the materials used in its fabrication vary considerably. This exhibition examines both traditional and unusual substances used to create some of the world’s most extraordinary adornments,” said Yvonne Markowitz, the MFA’s Rita J. Kaplan and Susan B. Kaplan Curator of Jewelry, whose position is the first endowed curatorship dedicated to the study of jewelry in a US museum.

Jewels, Gems, and Treasures begins with a look at jewelry made of organic materials — substances readily available and easy to work with, such as ivory, shell, wood, and coral.  These range from a pair of ivory cuff bracelets from Early Kerma culture in modern Sudan (2400–2050 BC) to more sophisticated creations made possible through the advancement of tools.  Examples include a gold, silver, carnelian and glass Egyptian Pectoral (1783–1550 BC) and a Nubian gold and rock crystal Hathor-headed crystal pendant (743–712 BC)  recovered from the burial of a queen of King Piye, the great Kushite ruler who conquered Egypt in the eighth century BC.

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