Shackle Neckpiece
Designer: Louise Bourgeois (American (born France), 1911-2010)
Manufacturer: Chus Burés (Spanish, born 1956)
Date: about 1947-1948 (design); 1998-1999 (made)
Dimensions:
H: 6 7/8 in. (17.4 cm); W: 7 5/16 in. (18.5 cm)
Medium: Sterling silver, forged and drilled
Classification: Metalwork
Credit Line: Purchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey
Object number: 2010.45
Label Text:Sculptor Louise Bourgeois designed this necklace as a personal statement criticizing the violence she had witnessed against prisoners during the Spanish Civil War (1936–39), who were asphyxiated by shackles of this shape. It was also designed as a comment about the period’s attitudes towards women, a metaphor for the social, political, and legal constraints of women before the feminist movement.
On view
In Collection(s)