Gold, Platinum & the Art of Jacqueline Mina OBE

Gold, Platinum & the Art of Jacqueline Mina OBE

Gold, Platinum & the Art of Jacqueline Mina OBE

Jacqueline Mina OBE is widely regarded as one of the most important and intellectually rigorous jewellers working in Britain today. For more than five decades, Mina has redefined the possibilities of precious metal jewellery through an extraordinary combination of technical innovation, sculptural sensitivity and conceptual depth.

Mina’s work explores tensions between inner and outer space, control and spontaneity, geometry and organic form. Curves, folds and angular planes interact with finely worked surfaces that trap and release light, creating jewellery that changes constantly in response to movement and the body.

At the heart of Mina’s practice is an exceptional understanding of gold as both material and language. Rather than treating precious metals as static or decorative, she transforms them into surfaces alive with texture, movement and light.

Cover: Impressed Abstract Texture Earrings II, 18ct gold, platinum set diamonds, H2.4 x W1.7 cm; Platinum Diamond Brooch, platinum, diamonds, 18ct gold back, H2.5 x W4.5 cm

I aim to achieve an aesthetic result that obscures the technical rigours of its production. I am preoccupied mainly with the surfaces of precious metals (which I always affect in some way before construction begins) and with form – juxtaposing the play of light, reflection, lustre with characteristic angle, curve and line – inspired by an abstraction of nature and art, and particularly of the human form.

I am intrigued, too, by the potential for dialogue between inner and outer planes, with random patterns imprisoned within strictly delineated edges, the inclusion of chance, and the visual tension created by the contrast and harmony of all these factors.

Jacqueline Mina

Oval Earrings with Diamonds, 18ct gold, platinum gauze fusion inlay, platinum set diamonds, H4 x W2.2 cm

Wriggle Rings, 18ct gold, diamonds

Rik Rak Bracelets, 18ct yellow or white gold

Necklace, Gold Variations Series 18ct gold, platinum set diamonds, stainless steel neckwires, L45 cm

Wriggle Rings, 18ct white gold, diamonds

Right: Rik Rak Bracelets, 18ct yellow or white gold

Wriggle Rings, 18ct gold, diamonds

Wobbly Ring, 18ct gold, diamonds

Foxtail Chain Bracelet/Necklace

18ct gold, titanium, L38cm

Kiss Series Ring I, platinum, 18ct gold, platinum fusion inlay, aquamarine, size M

Jacqueline Mina OBE (b.1942)

Jacqueline Mina OBE (b.1942, Buckinghamshire) studied at Hornsey College of Art and the Royal College of Art, graduating in 1965. Widely regarded as one of Britain's most significant contemporary jewellers, she has spent more than six decades redefining the possibilities of gold and platinum through sculptural form, refined craftsmanship and a masterful understanding of light and surface. From 1972 to 1994 she taught at the Royal College of Art, where she influenced a generation of artists working in jewellery and metalwork. Her work is represented in major museum collections worldwide, and The Scottish Gallery has been proud to champion her work since the 1980s.

Selected Public Collections

Victoria & Albert Museum, London

National Museums Scotland, Edinburgh

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, New York

Museum of Arts and Design, New York

The Goldsmiths' Company, London

Crafts Council Collection, London

Earrings with Garnets

18ct gold, platinum fusion inlay, garnets, H4 x W2.1 cm

Necklace, Gold Variations

Series, 18ct gold, platinum set diamonds, stainless steel neckwires, L45 cm

Ring, Aleatoric Series, 18ct gold, platinum fragments

fusion inlay, platinum set diamonds, H3 x W2.4 cm

Kiss