Neckpiece for Zymrina, a Prostitute of Pompeii
Artist
Keith A. Lewis(American, born 1959)American, born 1959
CultureAmerican
Titles
- Neckpiece for Zymrina, a Prostitute of Pompeii
- from the "Bawdy Baubles" series
Date2002
PlaceUnited States
MediumSterling silver, fine silver, 24k gold plate, enamel on copper, and pearls
DimensionsOverall: 17 1/4 × 6 1/4 × 5/8 in. (43.8 × 15.9 × 1.6 cm)
Overall (.A): 4 3/4 × 2 3/8 × 5/8 in. (12.1 × 6 × 1.6 cm)
Overall (.B,.C): 4 × 2 × 3/8 in. (10.2 × 5.1 × 1 cm)
Overall (.D,.E): 2 3/4 × 1 3/4 × 1/4 in. (7 × 4.4 × 0.6 cm)
Overall (.A): 4 3/4 × 2 3/8 × 5/8 in. (12.1 × 6 × 1.6 cm)
Overall (.B,.C): 4 × 2 × 3/8 in. (10.2 × 5.1 × 1 cm)
Overall (.D,.E): 2 3/4 × 1 3/4 × 1/4 in. (7 × 4.4 × 0.6 cm)
Credit LineMuseum purchase funded by the Rotasa Collection Trust, the Boardman Family Foundation, Susan Beech, Art Jewelry Forum, Sally von Bargen, Sharon Campbell, Rebecca and Alexander Stewart, Donna and Ralph Briskin, Michael Bennett, Lori Talcott, and Bruce Metcalf
Object number2007.456.A-.E
Not on view
Explore Further
Department
Decorative Arts, Craft, and DesignObject Type
Published References Skinner, Damian and Keith Lewis. Dead Souls: Desire and Memory in the Jewelry of Keith Lewis (Stuttgart, Germany: Arnoldsche Art Publishers, 2023): 123-124. Matthew Kangas: Most promising of all, Neckpiece for Zymrina (2002) is an ingenious necklace of detachable pins, each with a different enameled image based on pornographic frescoes at Pompeii (where the artist traveled during his sabbatical). Coming around to a more inclusive view of sex, Zymrina's necklace all move Lewis closer to a sexually integrated community, one in which straights and gays may coexist (as they did in Rome and Pompeii) with mutual respect and tolerance. Rejecting the sexual isolationism of his Act Up activist years, Lewis now embraces a more varied population. Just as dividing lines between gays and straights in society as a whole are blurring of late, along with vanishing legal barriers and establishment religious prejudices, so has Lewis softened his stand by shifting to female imagery. Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Initialed in script on oval plaque on verso central pin (.A): "KAL 2002"
Printed on the back of large central pin (.A): "for Zymrina, / a prostitute of Pompeii. / __________ / (initials) 2002"
Cataloguing data may change with further research.
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