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Gold Chettiar “tali,” Tamil Nadu, Nineteenth Century, Susan L. Benningson Collection

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Ivory and gold comb with ruby knob, Karnataka, late Eighteenth Century, Susan L. Benningson Collection.

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MUST RUN 2-22 ‘WHEN GOLD BLOSSOMS’ BEGINS FOUR-VENUE AMERICAN TOUR w/2 cuts

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NEW YORK CITY — The American Federation of Arts (AFA) and the Asia Society and Museum, New York, announce the four-venue tour of “When Gold Blossoms: Indian Jewelry from the Susan L. Beningson Collection.”

The exhibition showcases more than 150 fine pieces of Indian jewelry selected from the collection of Susan L. Beningson by guest curator Molly Emma Aitken, an independent scholar and curator. Primarily from South India and dating mainly from the Seventeenth–Nineteenth Centuries, the selection includes intricate rings, anklets, earrings, necklaces, hair pendants, ivory combs and jeweled crowns — a dazzling array of key objects of adornment that reveal complex signals of communication and beliefs.

First presented at the Asia Society, “When Gold Blossoms” is on view at the Dallas Museum of Art. The exhibition will subsequently travel to the Phoenix Art Museum, the Figge Art Museum in Davenport, Iowa., and the Museum of Fine Arts in St Petersburg, Fla.

Julia Brown, AFA director, said, “We are delighted to work with the Asia Society on the presentation of this exhibition of beautiful works of Indian jewelry and are privileged to be able to bring these stunning pieces from Susan Beningson’s collection to a wider national audience.”

Traditionally, jewelry in India has been worn and valued for both its ornamental and symbolic qualities. Replete with meaning, jewelry could reveal the wearer’s regional origins, beliefs, marital status, wealth and social position. “When Gold Blossoms” not only celebrates the beauty and craftsmanship of Indian jewelry, but also examines how it was worn to communicate identity in social and religious contexts.

The title of the exhibition takes its name from the many jewelry pieces that reproduce the form of berries, seeds, buds or flowers and also alludes to the preference for gold in South Indian jewelry, as opposed to the North Indian preference for precious and semiprecious stones.

The significance of the materials chosen for these pieces extends beyond their beauty: gold was thought to have the power to purify those it touched, and gems the power to focus planetary influences, benefiting those who wore them. While the majority of the pieces included in the exhibition were intended to be worn in daily life, others were dedicated to deities and meant to convey the devotion of their worshipers. In Indian tradition, deities most often appear extensively bejeweled; religious practices have for millennia included the gift of gold and jewels to the gods.

A 142-page, fully illustrated catalog published by the Asia Society and Philip Wilson Publishers accompanies the exhibition. For information, www.afaweb.org or 212-988-7700.