Pitt Rivers Visit & Jewellery Outcome

For the final project of the year on my Jewellery and Applied Arts course based in Manchester we had a trip to the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford. I had never been to this museum but oh was I glad that I did. The museum contains the most amazing artefacts from armoury to vases to jewellery to instruments. There are three floors in total, each with different sections of artefacts. If you have never been to the Pitt Rivers Museum then I advise that you go but be warned one day is not enough, you will need about a week to see everything!

So for my starting point for this short end of year jewellery project I began sketching the artefacts and taking notes about the pieces. I also took a huge amount of photographs of the Pitt Rivers collection so that I could refer to them at a later date. Below are just a few to give a small taster of what is there.

Pitt River Museum, Oxford, England, UK.  Photographs by Stephanie Orman

I was really taken with the fighting cuffs, rings and general armoury because of their interesting shapes and how they were attached to the body.

Pitt River Museum, Oxford, England, UK.  Photographs by Stephanie Orman

Pitt River Museum, Oxford, England, UK.  Photographs by Stephanie Orman

 These statues and totoem poles were magnificent too.

Pitt River Museum, Oxford, England, UK.  Photographs by Stephanie Orman

So from this visit to Pitt Rivers Museum a collection of jewellery was made based on what was seen. See the next blog post to see what handmade jewellery was made.

Pitt River Museum, Oxford, England, UK.  Photographs by Stephanie Orman

Pitt River Museum, Oxford, England, UK.  Photographs by Stephanie Orman

Pitt River Museum, Oxford, England, UK.  Photographs by Stephanie Orman

Pitt River Museum, Oxford, England, UK.  Photographs by Stephanie Orman