Helen Woodhull (American, 1940–2005), Necklace with Pendant, 1971, gold, agate

Audio Description

Made by American jeweler Helen Woodhull, who lived from 1940–2005, this gold and agate necklace and pendant were made in 1971.

The long, yellow gold necklace of this piece is made up of hefty cylindrical links with flat tops and bottoms and smooth oval links joining them. The pendant is oval. At the center is an agate cameo carved with a man’s face in ivory with some striations of orange. He has a stern look, a beard and mustache, and long hair that are each carved to look like hair. On the top of his head is a squared off shape. The agate has a dark ground that surrounds the face. The frame around the cameo has a concave surround, then a tubular shape that has four semi-circles cut out of it at the four corners. A smaller rod of gold runs through the tubular frame, visible only where the corners are cut away.

Label Copy

Made by American jeweler Helen Woodhull, who lived from 1940–2005, this gold and agate necklace and pendant were made in 1971.

Helen Woodhull was fascinated by antiquities from an early age. Traveling abroad as a young woman, she collected antique objects such as Greek medallions, Ming dynasty jade buckles, and ancient Egyptian amulets. In time, she began mounting other’s treasures and turning them into jewelry. But Woodhull respected the objects too much to drill or glue them. Instead, she worked with a goldsmith to mount pieces unaltered. Designing first for Georg Jensen, the well-known Danish jewelry firm, she later set up her own shop, Helen Woodhull, Inc.

An ancient cameo depicting Serapis—a hybridized god of Greek, Roman, and Egyptian origins—is the focus of this design. He wears a distinctive headpiece called a modius—a grain measure. The hefty chain echoes a popular style in the 1970s when this necklace was made and approximates what might have been worn by the ancients who carved the cameo—at least in Woodhull’s mind.

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