Feast+Bracelet

Date: 1974
 * [[image:https://s3.amazonaws.com/saam.media/files/styles/x_large/s3/images/1983/1983.52_1a.jpg?itok=Q11zqxHR width="261" height="321" link="@https://americanart.si.edu/artwork/feast-bracelet-16609"]] || Title: **Feast Bracelet**

Artist: **Richard Mawdsley** Born: Winfield, Kansas 1945

Medium: fabricated sterling silver, jade, and pearls Dimensions: 3 3/4 x 2 3/4 x 4 1/2 in. (9.6 x 7.0 x 11.5 cm.) Smithsonian American Art Museum Gift of the James Renwick Alliance in honor of Lloyd E. Herman, director, emeritus, Renwick Gallery

Accession: 1983.52 || Richard Mawdsley states that he likes jewelry because “fantasy comes off better on this scale.” Feast Bracelet is a miniature version of an extravagant dining spread, including fruit, silverware, and drinking chalices. Mawdsley based many of the objects in this piece on historical metalworks he saw in photographs and in museum collections. The feast-laden table also refers to seventeenth-century Dutch still-life paintings. Creating a “feast for the eyes,” Mawdsley probably intended this piece as an homage to masterpieces of painting and metalwork.
 * About the Artwork (official text): **

Richard Mawdsley's //Feast Bracelet//,1974, represents one of the earliest gifts the JRA made to the Renwick in 1983. With silver, jade and pearls, Mawdsley creates a miniature feast complete with tableware, pie, wine and food. In its exacting craftsmanship, Richard Mawdsley's sterling silver bracelet brings to mind masterworks by Renaissance goldsmiths, the opulence of seventeenth-century Dutch still lifes, and photographically realistic paintings of the 1970s. The bracelet depicts a sumptuous banquet in exquisite detail. In a pileup of miniature forms we see various fruits and vegetables, together with serving cup, compote, pie dish, plate, cloths, table scarves, and a wine bottle in a wine cooler. Completing the array of items and forms are jade spheres used as lamp globes flanking the table.

Miniature table, set and awaiting guests to partake of its delights. Objects central to ritual feast. Miniature banquet setting. Allusion to still life painting – 17th century Dutch still-life reduced to 3-D silver bracelet. Meticulous attention to detail. Compare to Beth Lipman (See Bancketje).- [Source: Notes from Curator-led Walk-Throughs in the Gallery and various Catalogs]
 * Additional Information: **

Richard Mawdsley earned a B.S. degree in education in 1967 at Kansas State Teachers College and an M.F.A. in 1969 at the University of Kansas. He has taught metalsmithing at the University of Kansas, the Wichita Art Association, Illinois State University, and since 1978 at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale (he retired from teaching there in 2004). A member of the Society of North American Goldsmiths, Mawdsley has served as its president and as a member of the board of directors.
 * Biographical Information: **

Mawdsley is fascinated by the precious metals crafted in Europe centuries ago. He preserves this tradition by making intricately designed and meticulously crafted objects and jewelry using precious metals and stones. Mawdsley's works are also inspired by his childhood interest in machinery. While spending summers on his grandfather's farm in Kansas, Mawdsley came across many old pieces of equpiment, including a 1926 combine that has influenced the design and shape of many of his objects.


 * Resources: **

Artist Biography SAAM Collections Page
 * Links: **