Adornments : Overview

As with all the pieces in this exhibit, these adornments were made by master craftsmen and took great precision and skill to create. However, these particular pieces were meant to interact with the human body itself, enhancing and drawing attention to certain aspects of the human form they adorned. While some items were intended to enhance the appearance and display the social status of the owner, other pieces were designed to physically enhance the way the user's body functioned. 

Although these items come from varied backgrounds, cultures, and social strata, they all share the same underlying desire to enhance the human body through adornment. As a result, extensive amounts of time, care, and precision went into transforming raw materials into the beautiful objects you are about to see.