Spectacular: Gems and Jewelry from the Merriweather Post Collection

The Merriweather Post collection offers an enthralling glimpse into one of the most remarkable, and intact, collections of jewelry ever amassed.

Spectacular immerses the reader in jewelry history and design, weaving in seminal moments in Post's life as one of the most passionate and confident collectors of jewelry of the twentieth century. There are exquisite pieces by Van Cleef and Arpels; numerous examples by Cartier; contemporary commissions from Harry Winston, George Headley, David Webb, and Fulco di Verdura, and historical pieces such as the Marie Louise Diadem, and the legendary earrings worn by Marie Antoinette on the eve of the French Revolution.

Spectacular provides a critical perspective on developments in changing jewelry styles in America and Europe through one woman's unique collection. Fascinating essays highlight special details of the gems and jewels, as well as their sometimes scandalous history. Full of fabulous images and interesting facts this new volume will appeal to anybody who wants to know the story behind some of the most amazing jewels ever created.

Liana Paredes is director of Collections & chief curator at Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens.
Martin D. Fuller is the founder and president of Martin Fuller Appraisals, LLC.
Michael Hall is the curator of ceramics of the Capelain Collection in Jersey, Channel Islands.
Jennifer Levy is a curatorial assistant at Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens.
Jeffrey Post is the curator of the U.S. National Gem and Mineral Collection, and chairman of the Department of Mineral Sciences, Smithsonian Institution.
Dr. Wilfried Zeisler is the Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens' curator of Russian and 19th-century Art.

Liana Paredes holds an MA in Art History from the Complutense University in Madrid, and has worked at the Fogg Museum of Art, Harvard University, and at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, in its European Decorative Arts Department. She has been at Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens since 1991, where she is now Director of Collections & Chief Curator. She has lectured and published extensively in the field of French decorative arts, decorative interiors and jewelry. Her latest exhibitions projects include, Prêt-à-Papier: The Exquisite Art of Isabelle de Borchgrave, the first contemporary initiative for the museum and Cartier: Marjorie Merriweather Post’s Dazzling Gems.

Dr. Jeffrey Edward Post received Bachelor of Science degrees in geology and chemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, and his Ph.D. in chemistry, with a specialty in geochemistry, from Arizona State University. Prior to joining the Department of Mineral Sciences at the Smithsonian Institution in 1984, he was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow for three years in the Department of Geological Sciences at Harvard University. He is currently Chairman of the Department of Mineral Sciences, and since 1991 has served as Curator of the U.S. National Gem and Mineral Collection. He has published more than 90 scientific articles in these fields. He is the author of The National Gem Collection (1997).

Dr. Michael Hall received his MA from the School of Oriental and African Studies of London University (SOAS) on Mughal decorative arts in 2007. He has written extensively on jewels, metalwork, and ceramics. He has been a Getty Research Institute Scholar and J. Clawson Mills Fellow at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. He is currently Curator of Ceramics of the Capelain Collection, in Jersey, Channel Islands.

Jennifer Levy received her Bachelor of Arts in Art History from Emory University and her Master of Arts degree in Decorative Arts, Design History, and Material Culture from Bard Graduate Center. She joined Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens as curatorial assistant in 2015.

Dr. Wilfried Zeisler is Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens’ Curator of Russian and 19th-century Art. He is a graduate of Sorbonne University and the École du Louvre, Paris. Wilfried has written extensively on the decorative arts in France and Russia, including a 2010 book on ceramics. Wilfried’s dissertation, L’Objet d’art et de luxe français en Russie (1881-1917) [French Objets d’art and Luxury Goods in Russia], was published in 2014. He has participated in and curated exhibitions in Paris and Monaco. At Hillwood, he has curated Splendor and Surprise: Elegant Containers, Antique to Modern (2015) and Konstantin Makovsky: The Tsar’s Painter (2016). Wilfried co-authored the latter exhibition’s accompanying book. He is currently working on a book on Hillwood’s Fabergé collection that will accompany an exhibition on the subject in 2018.

Martin D. Fuller has been an independent jewelry appraiser for over thirty years and worked in retail jewelry before becoming a bench jeweler. He earned a Graduate Gemology degree from the Gemological Institute of America and received certification as a gemologist appraiser from the American Society of Appraisers and the National Association of Jewelry Appraisers. Today Mr. Fuller regularly consults for the Smithsonian Institution, Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens, and government agencies including the U.S. Secret Service, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, the Federal Trade Commission, and the Fairfax County Department of Consumer Affairs.