Once owned by Marjorie Merriweather Post, this late-1920s emerald, platinum and diamond brooch may have been made by Oscar Heyman & Brothers

All that glitters, dazzles and shines is celebrated in a new permanent gallery at the Museum of Fine Arts, dedicated to showcasing a rotating selection of the institution’s 11,000-piece collection. Jewelry that adorned an Egyptian queen, a tragic First Lady and a preeminent socialite all appear in the gallery’s inaugural show, “Jewels, Gems, and Treasures: Ancient to Modern.” “It is an attempt to examine the nature of gem materials across time and space,” says MFA curator of jewelry Yvonne Markowitz. “What would have been regarded as prize material in 3,000 BC is quite different from what is valued in 21st-century America.”

Indeed, it’s quite unlikely that today’s starlets would wear necklaces made of ivory, wood and bone, the materials that compose the MFA’s earliest pieces. But they might covet some of the Egyptian jewels. “Their materials have been regarded as magical,” Markowitz explains. Gold charms featuring sphinxes, falcons and Wadjet eyes were believed to endow their wearers with restorative powers and eternal life.

Rocketing forward to the 19th century, the show features a diamond and gold suite owned by Mary Todd Lincoln—at her peril. “She was a shopaholic,” Markowitz says. “She shopped too much and left the family in debt.” One of the most staggering pieces is the 1,856-diamond wedding necklace of Mrs. Samuel Colt. On her honeymoon, she wore the necklace to the coronation of Russian Emperor Alexander II. “Here she is, an American with this fabulous necklace,” Markowitz says. “It would have been on par with European royalty.” 

On Display

1. Frenchman Paul Lienard’s Seaweed brooch, made of gold and mabe pearl, which embodies the Art Nouveau style of 1908

2. A 15k gold brooch with ruby, moonstone, pearl, amethyst and chrysoprase, crafted by British Arts and Crafts designer John Paul Cooper in 1908

3. A circa-1860 gold, enamel and diamond brooch with a place in American history—it was once owned by Mary Todd Lincoln From Tiffany & Co., gold, enamel and mine-cut diamond earrings that date back to 1856 and were part of the Colt family collection.

4. A Japan-style brooch of platinum, enamel, gold, diamond, ruby and onyx, possibly made by Spanish jewelry house LaCloche Frères in 1925

5. A necklace from a 1986 Bulgari line, crafted in Italy from 18k gold with pearl, tourmaline, citrine and peridot