Barbara Berk Jewelry Donated to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Published: January 16, 2008

18k gold sheet and wire, citrine.

Photo by Photo by Robert Weldon.

In 2007, Elyse Zorn Karlin, the editor and publisher of Adornment, the Magazine of Jewelry and Related Arts, donated Barbara Berk's S-Curve Brooch to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Berk's piece finds its place in the museum's large Textile and Fashion Arts collection alongside work by historic and contemporary artists.

Berk, who founded Barbara Berk Designs in 1992, uses high-karat gold and platinum in both wire and sheet to weave "fabric," which she uses to create her jewelry. For S-Curve Brooch, Berk wove 18k gold sheet and wire and then gave the metal fabric its distinctive S shape. The brooch is fastened with a stickpin that's adorned with a 14.20-carat citrine carved by award-winning gem carver Sherris Cottier Shank.

To learn more about Barbara Berk's work, visit www.barbaraberkdesigns.com. For information on the Textile and Fashion Arts collection at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, visit www.mfa.org. --Katie J. Streeter