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Dorothy Hogg is internationally recognised as one of the most important designer-jewellers of the last fifty years. This articulated silver necklace encapsulating a large labradorite disc is one of her earliest works.
Scottish jeweller Dorothy Hogg pictured with her articulated silver necklace. Image by Stewart Attwood. Museum reference: K.2019.68
National Museums Scotland has recently acquired this iconic necklace by Dorothy Hogg, this has been made possible by generous support from the Art Fund.
The Scottish jeweller Dorothy Hogg MBE is an internationally recognised jeweller, promoter and educator of jewellery.
She studied at Glasgow School of Art and the Royal College of Art and was Professor of Edinburgh College of Art’s Jewellery and Silversmithing Department for over 20 years.
Awarded an MBE for services to jewellery and silversmithing in 2001, she became the first jeweller in residence at the V&A in 2008 and received the Lifetime Achievement Medal at the 2010 Goldsmiths’ Craft and Design Awards.
Hogg’s work is held in numerous public collections including the Museum of Art and Design, New York; V&A, London; Koch Ring Collection, Germany and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Canada.
Date
1969-1970
Designed by
Dorothy Hogg
Made from
Silver, Labradorite
Made in
London, England
Museum reference
K.2019.68
Did you know?
This necklace closely follows the style of Modernist jewellery that emerged in the late 1940s in North America and Europe.
This articulated silver necklace was made while Hogg was studying for her Master’s Degree at the Royal College of Art in London, where her work included intense periods of investigation into materials and construction.
The necklace grew out of the idea of harnessing the high reflectivity of silver, together with an articulation system to respond to subtle body movements.
Hogg developed an innovative linking system to connect the articulated silver sections. The triangular bars below the large labradorite disc, create an effect both sensuous and engineered.
This necklace is symbolic of its time, when young designer-makers were pushing the limits of their craft to create new and innovative pieces.
Articulated necklace designed by Dorothy Hogg, 1969-1970, England. Image by Stewart Attwood. Museum reference: K.2019.68
Hogg's minimal yet highly technical work follows the style traits of Northern European Modernist jewellery which emerged in the late 1940s. The labrodite stone is a hallmark of Norwegian and Finnish Modernist design.
Following Modernist design ideology, she looked to design pieces that were a reaction against highly precious jewellery. Feeling if anything her approach could be best described as Constructivist, this is where the design or form develops in the artists' hands, as the forms developed in her hand's piece by piece in a three-dimensional way.
Like other Nordic Modernists designers, one of Hogg's greatest influences came from the environment she grew up in:
“Windswept landscape, transient skies falling into dark seas, with tones of grey and silver.- Dorothy Hogg's description of area around Troon, a small town on the west coast of Scotland
This articulated necklace has featured in several exhibitions and galleries since its creation. Its acquisition came with an archive of material, which includes technical drawings, press clippings, exhibition ephemera, and photography. This is a valuable resource that allows National Museums Scotland to understand the significance of the piece during its period of creation, and its following legacy as an iconic work of Scottish Modernist Design.
This selection of jewellery can be seen on display in our Making and Creating gallery at the National Museum of Scotland.
Red Circle Brooch, of oxidised silver, gold, and red fibre, designed by Dorothy Hogg, 2000, Scotland. Museum reference: K.2001.830
Silver ring with an angled top out of which lines have been pierced with gold wires set below, designed by Dorothy Hogg, 1978, Scotland. Museum reference: A.1991.421
Brooch from the Artery Series silver and felt, designed by Dorothy Hogg, 2004, Scotland. Museum reference: K.2013.43
Four Pod Neckpiece in silver, designed by Dorothy Hogg, 1994, Scotland. Museum reference: A.1994.1069
Necklace from the Artery Series silver and felt, designed by Dorothy Hogg, 2004, Scotland. Museum reference: K.2013.44
Supported by the Art Fund.
