Adornment: Displays of Wealth and Status

For thousands of years people of all countries and cultures have ornamented themselves with costly, intricate, and often symbolic, jewelry to attest to their wealth, status, and importance. Gold, silver, gems, pearls.  Crowns, earrings, pendants, bracelets. Cultures from the ancient Persians and Koreans to 18th century ethnic Indonesians to modern Chinese and South Asians have loved beautifully crafted adornment.  Celebrate the beauty of these objects while learning about their history and background.  

Mary Mead was born and raised in Japan, which instilled in her a love of the Far East – its diverse cultures, arts, and religions.  After a start as a high school teacher, she spent 20 years in the telecommunications business, and then returned to teaching, this time at the university level.  She taught world and comparative religions classes at various colleges and universities before retiring.  Mary holds a PhD and five master’s Degrees.  She has been a docent at the Asian Art Museum for ten years and serves on the Docent Council and the School Tours Committee, as well as being Chair of the Community Speakers Program. 

The Asian Art Museum of San Francisco houses one of the most comprehensive Asian art collections in the world and graciously shares their beauty and history with the community through inspiring educational docent talks.