gold

The Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia, has an important collection of Greco-Bactrian and Bactrian gold and silver vessels, many of which were likely in the Siberian collection of Tsar Peter the Great (1672-1725). In 1940, Kamilla Trever (1892-1974), a curator at the Hermitage and a Russian historian specializing in the history and culture of Transcaucasia, Central Asia, and Iran, published this important but obscure Russian-language work on the collection.

Imagine that you are a Victorian gentleman with a reasonable income and a mid-life crisis. You hear about a gold strike somewhere in the far corners of the earth (to you, at least). In hopes of turning your bourgeois into gorgeois, you pack up your things and say "Toodle-oo" to the missus. What’s the first thing you buy to prepare for your new adventure? A book, naturally! Specifically, you want Charles G. Warnford Lock’s Practical Gold-Mining.

Who doesn’t love a little sparkle? You’ll find plenty in this gorgeous book. Along with histories of important jewelers from the late-19th through the 20th centuries, it features photographs of masterworks created by these artists and craftspeople. The book also highlights a number of specific jewelry styles, such as Art Nouveau by Lalique and Egyptian revival by Cartier. Other jewelers presented in the book include Tiffany, Van Cleef & Arpels, Fabergé, and Bulgari—with illustrations of their dazzling pieces crafted from gold, silver, platinum, gems, pearls, and enamel.

James Marshall, a foreman at Sutter’s Fort near Sacramento, accidentally discovered gold in January 1848 while building a sawmill. His discovery sparked the California Gold Rush. Approximately 300,000 people from across the country and around the world flocked to the region, hoping to make their fortunes. These gold-seekers were called the “Forty-Niners,” since the majority of them arrived during 1849. This book, by historian and nature writer Stewart Edward White, tells the story of California before, during, and after this pivotal period.

Published in 1989 by Trio, Secrets of Ancient Gold is a translation of Christiane Eluère’s Secrets de l’or Antique. Rich in color and black-and-white photographs and illustrations, Secrets is an accessible introduction which delves into the history of art created in gold, the artists who worked with it, and the methods they used. A French historian specializing in Celtic metalwork, Eluère currently works for the Museum of National Antiquities in Saint-Germain-en-Laye.

Published in Sheffield, England, in 1955, Frederick Bradbury’s (1864-1949) British and Irish Silver Assay Office Marks serves as a guide for assay office marks from England and Ireland, as well as for imported silver and gold plates from the mid-16th century to 1954.

Printed by John Edward Taylor in 1852, Arthur Ryland’s (1807-1877) Assay of Gold and Silver Wares provides insight on the development of legislative practices designed to protect and regulate the assaying and minting of gold and silver coinage—or to fight against the practice of counterfeiting. Ryland examines assaying practices in England, Ireland, and Scotland, and explores legislation and laws designed to protect lawful coinage and to punish individuals found guilty of counterfeiting.

This is an illustrated catalogue of the Russian crown jewels, published by the Soviet Union’s People’s Commissariat of Finance, after the Russian Revolution removed the Tsar and his family from the throne. It is believed to be the only complete record of the Romanov dynasty’s treasures before their dispersal through private sale and a subsequent auction. The work was published as a limited-edition portfolio consisting of 100 photographic plates (often life-sized) and four sections of text, with only a dozen copies currently known in North America.

After serving with the Texas Rangers in his late teens and early 20s, then studying for a career in medicine (in Kentucky), and then for the ministry (at Princeton), Charles Webber finally settled into journalism, writing for several literary reviews. Enticed by tales of gold and quicksilver in the country north of the Gila River in Arizona, Webber organized an expedition to the region, writing this and other books to promote it.

Though the California gold rush of 1849 is perhaps the most well-known, a major strike along the Klondike River in 1896 sparked one of the largest gold rushes in the history of North America. An estimated 100,000 prospectors flooded the Klondike region, located in the Yukon in northwestern Canada. This book, published in 1897, gave readers “authentic instructions” on how to reach Klondike, a remote region accessible only via the Yukon River.

A new process for refining gold and silver from various ores is described for the first time in English in this text. The amalgamation process was invented by Baron Ignaz Edler von Born (aka Inigo Born), and after a trial of the process was conducted in front of observers in Schemnitz, Slovakia, the book describing the process was published in 1786. It was then translated by Rudolf Erich Raspe, a ne’er-do-well who was originally from Germany.

Gold Rush: Contemporary Art Made From, With or About Gold is an exhibition catalogue published to accompany the exhibit of the same title, which was featured at Kunsthalle Nürnburg (October 18, 2012 to January 13, 2013) and at Villa Merkel, Galerien der Stadt Esslingen am Neckar (February 17 to April 14, 2013), in Germany. The show explored the appearance of gold in the recent works of 18 international artists, including Joseph Beuys, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Daniel Knorr, Kris Martin, Jonathan Monk, and Claudia Wieser.

This exhibition catalog explores the 2010 monumental work Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads, created by internationally acclaimed contemporary Chinese artist and social activist Ai Weiwei. The work is a reimagining of a Qing dynasty zodiac water-clock system at the Old Summer Palace near Beijing, which was looted in 1850 during the Second Opium War. Ai reinterpreted the original fountainheads in a gold series and a bronze series, as his first monumental public art installation.

John Randolph Spears (b. 1850) was a well-traveled journalist at turn of the century, eventually writing nearly a dozen books, primarily on nautical and maritime themes. This early title is about the land, sea, flora, fauna, and cultures of South America’s southernmost region. The “gold diggings” from the title are mostly done on the east coast of Tierra del Fuego, where, after heavy storms, gold shows up on the black sands. The quest for gold often creates conflicts with indigenous communities of the area, which Spears takes great care to describe with sensitivity (for the times).

Lois DeLorenzo gets down and dirty when explaining how to search for gold in the wilderness of North America. Her text and detailed drawings include information on how to assess whether an area is likely to contain gold deposits and how to build the tools necessary for panning and sluicing. DeLorenzo lists the materials needed and provides instructions for building various handmade prospecting tools, and demonstrates via her illustrations the best ways to use each tool. This unique bound paperback is from the Minerals Library at the National Museum of Natural History.

One of the best-known artists of the 20th century, Pablo Picasso was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, stage designer, poet, and playwright who spent most of his adult life in France. Picasso is often remembered for his cubist paintings, but he continued to experiment with new styles and materials throughout his life. During the 1950s and 1960s, Picasso commissioned Francois Hugo, great-grandson of French writer Victor Hugo, to execute a series of plates, dishes, and medallions in gold and silver. The plates were modeled after Picasso’s original ceramics designs.

Georges Braque was a major 20th-century French painter, sculptor, draughtsman, and printmaker. At the age of 79, Braque turned his attention to jewelry. He teamed up with master jeweler Baron Heger de Löwenfeld to turn 110 gouache maquettes into intricately textured gold sculptures inlaid with precious stones. The collection, inspired by Greek mythology, incorporates themes of flight and metamorphosis. The two artists worked so closely together that Braque referred to De Löwenfeld as the “continuation of my hand.”

The works of Lucas Samaras can be understood through one unifying principle: the artist’s “natural instinct for subversion.” Rather than springing from an urge to rebel, however, Samaras’ originality and nonconformity are centered in treating art as a mutable subject. Samaras spent two years crafting gold jewelry, modeling them first in chicken wire, then casting them in solid 22-karat gold.

When thinking of the phrase “gold rush,” the words "California" or "Klondike" may come to mind. Well before prospectors traveled out west, many tried their luck in the mountains of the state of Georgia. Author David Williams sifts through many obscure resources and historical documents to paint a picture of the Georgia gold rush and its impact on the local Cherokee beginning in 1828 and throughout the subsequent decade.

The late-16th century was the golden age of Japanese screen painting, both literally and figuratively. The Momoyama period (1573-1615) was also an age of monumental architecture, with feudal lords building forts and castles of a size unprecedented in Japan. The great masters of the art of screen painting who were called upon to decorate the interiors of these large buildings filled them with screens of bold and innovative aesthetics, some with gold leaf covering their entire surfaces. Japan had a well-established tradition of incorporating gold leaf into art and decorative work.

This charming binder served as the exhibition catalog for Man Ray’s second show at the Hanover Gallery in London (April-May 1969). The exhibition featured mid-career painting and sculpture from the 1940s and 50s, with clear stylistic references to Man Ray’s peers, such as De Chirico, Picabia, and Kandinsky. The metal ring binder is polished aluminum, silk-screened in bright red. The yellow-bordered pages include an essay by Man Ray, 17 illustrations (7 in full color), and a checklist.

Although black—the color that contains all colors—has been American sculptor Louise Nevelson’s signature color, the artist began incorporating white and gold into her work in the 1960s. This announcement for an exhibition of sculptures by Nevelson at The Pace Gallery, New York, October 23-November 28, 1992, reflects her limited palette. Reproductions of her assemblage sculptures are presented in three die-cut printed pop-ups, printed in silver and gold. Nevelson herself is pictured in a silver-printed portrait on the front cover. The entire elegant presentation is ribbon-tied.

Canadian author Kenneth Kutz is an expert and enthusiast in both philately and gold. Kutz is former President of Texasgulf Mining Corporation. He is also the former President of the Collectors Club of New York, one of the oldest existing philatelic societies (founded in 1896) in the United States. This book tells the story of the Australian gold rush of 1851 through the experiences of two prospectors who participated in it.

Canadian author, Kenneth J. Kutz is an expert and enthusiast in both philately and gold. Kutz is the former President of Texasgulf Mining Corporation. He is also the former President of the Collectors Club of New York, one of the oldest existing philatelic societies (founded in 1896) in the United States. This book is about the Canadian Klondike Gold Rush of 1896, which attracted 100,000 prospectors from around the world.

This book compiles 100 love letters written by Edwin B. Sherzer, a prospector in Nome, Alaska to his girlfriend, Clara M. Miller. The historical setting is the gold rush of 1899 in Nome. The book is edited by Canadian author Kenneth J. Kutz, an expert and enthusiast in both philately and gold. Kutz is former President of Texasgulf Mining Corporation. He is also the former President of the Collectors Club of New York, one of the oldest existing philatelic societies (founded in 1896) in the United States.