The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of November 14, 2025

Gold necklace with a chain of overlapping teardrop shapes at the center of which hangs a beetle-like insect ornament. The insect has an oval body, flanked by four legs and squaring at the top. It connects with a circular section, two longer protrusions curving around a three-pronged protrusion on top of the sections. Between the prongs nestle two spherical bundles of smaller spheres, also coating the head and body and, more sparsely, protruding limbs.

Necklace

1953

John Paul Miller

(American, 1918–2013)
America, Ohio, Cleveland
gold
Overall: 43.2 cm (17 in.); Pendant: 7 x 4.6 cm (2 3/4 x 1 13/16 in.)
Silver Jubilee Treasure Fund 1953.181
Location: 228B Cleveland Artists

Description

John Paul Miller's fascination with jewelry technique emerged in his groundbreaking rediscovery in the early 1950s of granulation, an ancient, forgotten technique of fusing gold beads to a gold surface without using solder. The fleeting creatures of earth, sea, and sky, such as the insect on this necklace, became his muses, inspiring a body of work full of curiously textured forms.
  • John Paul Miller Entry Card to 1953 May Show. Cleveland Museum of Art May Show Records, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives. archive.org
    Hoffman, Jay, Dee Driscole, and Mary Clare Zahler. A Study in Regional Taste: The May Show, 1919-1975. [Cleveland]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1977. Reproduced: P. 63, no. 70; Mentioned: P. 80, no. 70
    Cleveland Museum of Art. The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 150
    John Paul Miller collection. 1850-2010, bulk 1940-2000. Cleveland Museum of Art Archives. archive.org
    Channing, Laurence, "Before Neo: The May Show", Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine. Vol. 45 no. 07, September 2005 Mentioned & reproduced: p. 8 archive.org
  • Gallery One 2012. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 12, 2012-March 5, 2017).
    Crafting Modernism: Mid-Century American Art & Design. Museum of Arts and Design, New York, NY (organizer) (October 11, 2011-January 15, 2012); Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester, Rochester, NY (February 25-May 20, 2012).
    Museum of Arts and Design (10/11/2011 - 1/15/2012) and Rochester Memorial Art Gallery, NY (2/25/2012 - 5/20/2012): "Crafting Modernism: Mid-Century American Art & Design"), ex. cat. no. 165, p. 218.
    The Jewelry of John Paul Miller. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 13, 2010-January 2, 2011).
    CMA 2010: "The Jewerly of John Paul Miller" (6/15/2010- 1/2/2011), no catalogue
    Object Lessons: Cleveland Creates an Art Museum. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 7-September 8, 1991).
    A Study in Regional Taste: May Show 1919 - 1975. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (July 13-August 21, 1977).
    May Show Retrospective - 50 Years. The Cleveland Museum of Art (April 23-June 16, 1968).
    Exhibition of Crafts. The Society of Arts and Crafts, Boston, MA (organizer) (April 4-May 1, 1965).
    Fine Arts Center, Indiana University, IN (2/2/1959 - 2/25/1959), Newcomb College, Tulane University, LA (3/10/1959 - 2/31/1959); "The Medieval Craftsman and his Modern Counterpart" cat. no. 11g
    Contemporary Crafts from Museum Collections. Museum of Arts and Design, New York, NY (organizer) (September 25-November 30, 1958).
    Work of John Paul Miller. The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL (organizer) (March 1-April 20, 1957).
    Craftsmanship in a Changing World. Museum of Arts and Design, New York, NY (organizer) (September 29-November 4, 1956).
    The May Show: 35th Annual Exhibition of Works by Cleveland Artists and Craftsmen. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 6-June 14, 1953).
  • {{cite web|title=Necklace|url=false|author=John Paul Miller|year=1953|access-date=14 November 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1953.181