History of jewelry students at Majal studied the National Museum of Beirut archives this term in a bid to draw inspiration for new designs. The museum harbors multiple jewelry pieces ranging from the Mesopotamian period in 3000+ BC to the Fatimid period in the 10th C AD.
Students observed transformations across the centuries -in terms of stones and metals used, of designs elaborated and of tools and techniques evident in the workmanship. They drew inspiration for their final projects, which consist of designing contemporary jewelry inspired by historical jewelry trends.
The National Museum of Beirut houses over 100,000 artifacts, several of which are jewelry pieces. They include masterpieces from the Phoenician times, works by Egyptian craftsmen, Roman and Greek jewelry, as well as multiple pieces from successive Islamic empires. The museum also features Bronze age tools used in metalsmithing.
“It was a fascinating look into the past,” Sarah Chehab, jewelry certificate student and founder of Hikayati, said. “I will never look at jewelry in the same way.”
By Majal Design School