When it comes to gifting, we often draw a blank. It is hard to decide what to give and whether the person you are giving it to will like it or not. With a virtually endless list of possible items, the confusion is tremendous. But, have you considered gifting some jewelry?

For those who have never gifted any jewelry to anyone his may seem like a surprise but jewelry is a very popular and probably one of the best received kind of gifts ever. Whether it is a small trinket token in artificial metal and beads or whether it is exquisite diamond necklace jewelry makes a perfect gift item.

Jewelry has a lasting appeal that no other gift can match. Of course, every occasion may not be appropriate for gifting jewelry and jewelry gifts may not necessarily match your pocket but if you want to gift a truly memorable item and make it personal then jewelry is on top of the list.

Precious jewelry has not just the visual appeal but also a value attached to it. This makes your gift memorable and precious. Also, you need not just opt for the conventional jewelry gifts and go for a small unconventional piece that may suit a different style.

Wedding for one are a great occasion when jewelry gifting is appropriate and the perfect way to mark the day. Apart from gifting jewelry to your bride or groom, you could also give little pieces to the bridesmaids, best men, family and close friends. If you are looking for a gift for a friend’s wedding, you can always spend a few dollars on a nice pendant or earring set.

Apart from this, jewelry is the perfect way to mark birthdays and anniversaries. You can even gift your children some nice jewelry like light bracelets or pendants. These can be easy to manage and not too expensive.

With so much variety and price range available in jewelry, it can really ease your gifting woes. And, the best part is that when you gift jewelry you know it will be remembered.

Aromatherapy is the most sought after forms of therapy in today’s world. If the fragrance could heal then there is no alternate to it. Essential Oil content does the dual job of aiding in enhancing the health of the skin and its fragrance gives the mood swings a rest and puts you at peace. Cosmetic aromatherapy for obvious reasons is gaining in popularity too in this form of therapy. We just cannot piggyback our aromatherapy practitioner wherever we go and so the viable alternative should be aromatherapy jewellery. True to its nature aromatherapy jewelry not only adorns and adds beauty to the beholder but also gives its therapeutic effect on all time of the day. It is usually a necklace that is preferred for this particular criterion. The lockets are the source for the space where one could have vial of aromatherapy ingredient and which then would give you the fragrance and the cure. There is always a satisfaction in giving and of course healing. When one adorns the aromatherapy jewellery, it not only provides you with its effects but the residue effects the crowd near you and as natural the individual being in the presence of loved and cared ones would add another jewel to his or her personality by adoring this aromatherapy jewel.

As with all good things they come in small sizes the jewels, it could a bracelet, a necklace, a pendant, or even a wrist band. When on a shopping spree to purchase aromatherapy jewelry make sure the pure essential oil is embedded in its structured place and be sure of the quality. Avail for only genuine products in this criterion. Lavender is the most potent source of aromatherapy essential oils and is recommended to be used in the vial containing the jewellery. Though most of the pendants in the necklace comes chosen by the retailer there are options of jewels wherein the socket is left open for the user to insert essential oil of his or her choice. This allows for you to choose and exhibit and exhale and inhale the fragrance of your choice. These are called diffuser pendant necklaces and are available widely. Apart from the physical beauty this form of aromatherapy jewellery provides it also acts as a stress reliever and allows you to remain at calm and peace when the situation demands it. All in all, aromatherapy jewellery could be termed as a cosmetic that heals with fragrance while looking good.

IF IT'S good enough for the Queen of Spain then it's definitely worth a look. This 24 carat yellow gold jewellery by Gurhan has developed a cult celebrity following that stretches from real royalty to rock royalty - pop diva Cher is a patron. Stars of the screen are devoted fans too: Brad Pitt bought an opal suite for his wife Jennifer Aniston and Sex in the City's Cynthia Nixon wears classic gold hammered earrings. Designed by New York-based Gurhan Orhan - a celebrity in the world of gold jewellery - these pieces manage to combine an enduring classic style with a contemporary edge, perfect for red carpet events.

ALL that glisters is not gold, but that does not mean that gold does not glister. In fact, as metals and other commodities prices soar, the outlook for gold looks as shiny as it has been for 15 years.

That bodes well for a host of mining stocks, especially AIM- listed Peter Hambro Mining and Highland Gold, according to John Meyer, analyst at Numis Securities.

World supply was down 7% in the first half of the year because of problems in Indonesia and mine closures in Australia and the US, industry consultant Gold Fields Mineral Services says. Although output should recover in the second half, GFMS still forecasts 2004 output will be 3.6% down on 2003.

With jewellery demand picking up and central bank sales declining, the consultancy expects gold prices to rally later in the year and says they may test 15-year highs by early 2005. Numis rates Peter Hambro a buy, with a target of 715p. Highland Gold is around fair value already, but could move higher in a strong gold market, said Meyer.

Other beneficiaries of rising gold prices include Frontier Mining, Celtic Resources, Avocet Mining, Trans-Siberian Gold and Oxus Gold.

The big boys, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto would also benefit. Both blue-chip stocks are set to do well out of commodity price strength in other areas. Copper, for instance, costs roughly double what it did a year ago and mining firms are turning in record profits - way ahead of market forecasts six months ago and significantly better than analysts were expecting as recently as the early summer, prompting several analysts to make upbeat comments about the sector in recent days.

Merger speculation may continue to underpin selected banking stocks. Now that Banco Santander seems to be free to continue with its purchase of Abbey National, after HBOS decided not to bid, the market is likely to turn its attention to smaller banks, such as Alliance Leicester and Bradford Bingley, as it tries to second- guess the next consolidation story.

A Reuters poll suggests the FTSE 100 will end the year on a positive note - almost 4% higher than where it was at the start of the year. Strong earnings and the growing belief interest rate rises are coming to an end are expected to push the blue-chip index to 4650 by the end of 2004, according to Reuters, which came up with the figure by taking the median of 23 forecasts.

The media group said strategists believe the UK stock market may outperform many other national indices, including the Dow. Not only does the FTSE have a hefty ballast of oil stocks, but the UK market is less sensitive than its US counterpart to rising oil prices.

Pearls are tiny wonders of nature. The only gem created by a living organism, pearl is the most magical and feminine of all gems. They have always been considered the most romantic jewelry gifts. The variety of colors, shapes, sizes and origin makes pearls most fascinating. Whatever your taste or budget, there is sure to be cultured pearl jewelry that will thrill you. Chosen carefully and treated with care, pearls will be a treasure for a lifetime.

A pearl is a hard, lustrous rounded concretion produced by certain animals, primarily mollusks such as oysters.

A pearl is formed when a foreign material, usually a sharp object such as a fragment of rock, a sand grain or parasite enters the oyster or clam and cannot be expelled. This irritates the mollusk and to reduce irritation, the mollusk coats the intruder with the same secretion it uses for shell-building, i.e. nacre. This results in coating the foreign material with layer upon layer of shell material. In this way a pearl is formed.

Looking at the chemistry of the pearls so formed inside the shell of certain bivalve mollusks, we find layers of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) in the form of the minerals aragonite or calcite (both crystalline forms of calcium carbonate) held together by an organic horn-like compound called conchiolin. This combination of calcium carbonate and conchiolin is called nacre, or as we more commonly know it, mother-of-pearl. The unique luster of pearls is a result of the reflection and refraction of light from its translucent layers and is finer in proportion as the layers become thinner and more numerous. The iridescence that some pearls display is caused by the overlapping of successive layers, which breaks up the light falling on the surface.

Pearls are the most valued among all the gemstones because of their delicate translucence and luster. White is the most commonly found color, though pearls are also found in delicate shades of pink, black, cream, gray , blue, yellow, lavender, green and mauve. Black pearls can be fond in the Gulf of Mexico and in waters off some islands in the Pacific Ocean. The Persian Gulf and Sri Lanka are well known for exquisite cream colored pearls called Orientals. Natural seawater pearls are also found in the waters off Celebes in Indonesia, the Gulf of California and the Pacific Coast of Mexico. The Mississippi river and forest streams of Bavaria also produce pearls.

Pearls are formed at times on the inside of the shells of the mollusk. These are usually irregular in shape and have little commercial value. However, those formed within the tissue of the mollusk are either spherical or pear-shaped, and are highly valued for use as jewelry. Besides being used in jewelry pearls are also crushed and used in cosmetics or paint. Pearl is highly valued as a gemstone and is therefore cultivated or harvested for jewellery.

Diamonds are a girl’s best friend is a cliché that has completely lost its luster. In fact, men’s accessories and ornamentation are quite a rave today. What was for long considered the sole territory of feminine jewelry is now quite a uni-sex fashion symbol.

Men may still like to see women sport the sparkles of a diamond but they sure don’t mind picking up a rock or two for themselves either. There is a large variety of diamonds for men available in stores now and the most popular item of ornamentation is of course the ring. Rings have long been worn by men but largely in the form of wedding bands or family heirlooms. But now, an increasing number of men go for a glittery diamond for no reason at all. More so, women now gift diamonds to men – quite a reversal in tradition!

Well, traditions are meant to be broken and diamond ring designs for men are quite in the category of trendsetters. With conventional styles and designs being shunned for a newer chunkier aesthetic, diamond rings for men are making a mark of their own.

When men go out shopping for a diamond ring, they must start by considering the color of gold they prefer. The classic favorite is the yellow gold setting. It is quite conventional and does suit most skin types. For people willing to experiment white gold and platinum gold offer some great choices. The catch when choosing the later two colors is that you must wear the ring to ensure it suits your skin, tone and color. The white luster of these metals may not suit every skin type. Also, platinum gold is quite a pocket pincher so most people limiting their budget don’t opt for it.

Once you have the gold color finalized you can move on to looking at various setting patterns. You can choose from a variety of styles labeled differently such as: channel setting, pave setting, flattop setting, gypsy setting, and bead setting. Try on a whole range of samples and decide which you like the most.

When buying a diamond ring for someone else, make sure you know his or her size and hand structure well. Men with large hands would prefer to sport a wide band ring whereas people with thin hands would look nicer wearing a narrow band. You can also choose from a variety of diamond sizes and shapes. In fact, there are a large variety of possible combinations that can suit men with different skin tones and hand textures.

UK JEWELLERY retailers were charged with being "massively out of touch with their market" yesterday after the publication of a study from the research group Mintel which showed a decline in jewellery sales as a percentage of overall UK retail sales.

The consumer has "lost interest in lumps of gold", the big pieces of jewellery that the older generation preferred, Richard Perks, a Mintel senior analyst, said.

Mr Perks estimates that "annual sales of jewellers would be pounds 1bn more than they are currently" if their market share had remained stable. Jewellery sales have declined as a percentage of the overall retail market in the UK from 1.88 per cent in 1991 to 1.42 per cent in 2003.

Mr Perks believes that the UK market for precious metals will continue to grow but says the industry needs designers working with young graduates to look more closely at what the consumer wants. He said: "Successful retailers at the moment are those that know their target market and really home in on it. Argos, whose jewellery sales are performing strongly, represent the low end market, but they have a specified target market who want fashion pieces at value cost."

Michael Hoare, the chairman of the National Jewellery Steering Group, said there was a "glaring lack of market intelligence" within the industry.

Mintel said that people in the 20-34 years age range, were now buying the largest quantities of jewellery. Women with disposable income are willing to spend money as self-purchasers and gift buyers. Retailers successfully marketing to this group act swiftly to fashion trends, including the growing preference for white metals over yellow gold.

Celebrities such as David Beckham have added to the demand for jewellery for men, which now represents 10 per cent of the UK market.

For thirty-six years now, Sotheby's has been staging sales at the Gleneagles Hotel, in Auchterarder, Perthshire, tempting not only the Scots but also the sportsmen who flock to the North in pursuit of the stag, the salmon or the world's most famous eighteen holes. This year, the auction house is offering its characteristic mix of vintage and sporting guns (30 August), Wemyss ware and jewellery (31 August)--and probably its most impressive paintings sale ever, on 1 September, which is expected to realise around 4 million [pounds sterling]. At its core is a group of thirty-five paintings by Jack Vettriano (b. 1951), the hottest property in Scotland, and a cache of thirty works by Francis Campbell Boileau Cadell (1883-1937), widely regarded as the most versatile and accomplished of the Scottish Colourists.

The meteoric rise of Jack Vettriano is nothing short of phenomenal. This self-taught artist who left school at sixteen to work as a mining engineer in the local coalfields has become a popular cult hero, adored by the public if not always by the critics. His girlfriend gave him a box of watercolours for his twenty-first birthday, and the rest, as they say, is history. In 1989, he showed two paintings at the Royal Scottish Academy and sold both on the first day. The following year, three were snapped up at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition. Since then, thanks not least to clever marketing by the Solstice Gallery in Edinburgh and the Portland Gallery in London, which saw his slick film-noir-ish images reproduced on greetings cards and posters--over 500,000 posters of his paintings have been sold worldwide--there have been sell-out solo shows in Edinburgh, London, Hong Kong and Johannesburg.

Two years ago at Gleneagles, Vettriano's The cafe was knocked down for a record 44,000 [pounds sterling], and records have tumbled ever since. At Sotheby's sale at Hopetoun House in Edinburgh this April, his most famous image, The singing butler, became the most expensive painting ever sold at auction in Scotland when it realised 744,800 [pounds sterling]. Little wonder, then, that this month's sale sees so many Vettrianos, most of which had probably been acquired for a few thousand pounds in the early 1990s, and are now conveniently packaged in a separate catalogue. Star billing goes to Mad dogs, probably the artist's best loved picture after The singing butler. It comes with an estimate of 200,000 [pounds sterling]-250,000 [pounds sterling]. There seems to be no sign yet of the Vettriano bubble bursting, though one wonders how successful an artist has to be before he or she stops playing the antiestablishment card.

To the delight of Sotheby's, Vettriano-mania has brought a number of new buyers through its doors in the past few years. Better still, some have also gone away with something else, too. This year's sale has something for most tastes and budgets, with the likes of John Duncan Fergusson's pencil study for Rose rhythm of 1916 estimated at just 1,000 [pounds sterling]-1,500 [pounds sterling]. But it is Fergusson's fellow Colourist Cadell who steals this particular show. Cadell steeped himself in French Impressionism as a student at the Academie Julien in Paris 1899-1902, and, during subsequent trips, in the intense, saturated Fauvist colours used by Matisse and Derain. Unlike Fergusson and Peploe, however, Cadell returned to Scotland and took to painting still-lifes and interiors, spending the summers painting landscapes on the island of Iona.

Dominating this sale is a large canvas of the gesuati in Venice, painted during a seminal trip to Venice in 1910 that led to an explosion of vivid, high-key colour (estimate 150,000 [pounds sterling]-200,000 [pounds sterling]). The white sofa, dated three years later, is a delicious Impressionistic exercise in loosely painted rich creamy whites and pastel hues (70,000 [pounds sterling]-100,000 [pounds sterling]). Most striking of all is The red chair, which epitomises a later group of more deliberate structured interiors with formal geometries and pure primary colour--but even here Cadell cannot resist the soft pools of reflected colour (100.000 [pounds sterling]-150,000 [pounds sterling]).

After the Great War, Cadell began painting on Iona using unprimed board which gives his pigment a more chalky consistency and an almost luminous quality, A characteristic view of Treshnish Point is offered here for 15.000 [pounds sterling] 20,000 [pounds sterling]. The market rarities, however, are sixteen pen and ink with watercolour wartime illustrations of Tom and Jack and their training camp antics--including playing football which display Cadell's deft and expressive economy of line. The group was bought through Alex Reid & Son in Glasgow by one of Cadell's most loyal patrons, Ion Harrison, and is now consigned to auction by his descendants.

Apart from Jack Vettriano, the Scottish artist who has seen the most dramatic price-change in recent years is Anne Redpath, the most significant Scottish artist of the fifties and sixties. Dominating the group here is her characteristic--and delectable A pale still life (estimate 30,000 [pounds sterling]-50,000 [pounds sterling]).

FORGET RED roses for St Valentine's Day: diamonds are still a girl's best friend, and if you buy at auction you can pay a fraction of the retail price and leave the value-added tax (VAT) collectors empty-handed too. I know: I paid pounds 458 for a ring that costs nearly pounds 16,000 new.

The difference is that the cost of raw materials and of making old jewellery have already been absorbed. Pieces sold by UK individuals at auction do not attract VAT, except on the buyer's premium, and most dealers pay VAT on their profit margin instead of charging buyers VAT on the retail price. And old jewellery is generally of finer craftsmanship than contemporary pieces.

Buy new jewellery and not only will you pay VAT at 17.5 per cent, but you will be paying for the raw materials at present prices, the full manufacturing costs and the profit margin of the maker, wholesaler and retailer. Jewellery shops have some of the highest margins on the High Street.

Typically, a new solitaire ring costing around pounds 5,000 would sell for less than half at auction. New jewellery retailing at less than pounds 1,000 depreciates even faster. It can take 25 years for such pieces to fetch their original retail prices on the secondary market. You should look on buying jewellery as a game of Snakes and Ladders. The snakes represent pitfalls to snare the unwary, and the ladders give you value for money. But, with guidance it is possible to sidestep the pitfalls. All the major auction houses have specialists to advise potential buyers.

Catalogues for jewellery auctions appear on websites well before the sale. Or you can buy a catalogue and have it mailed. If you see something you like, ask the specialist for a condition report. This will cover repairs to alterations, the quality of the stones to the condition of the setting. Ask for guidance on the price at which it is likely to sell, because catalogue estimates tend to be conservative. Daniela Mascetti, head of jewellery at Sotheby's, says: "Today's buyer is tomorrow's seller; it is not in our interest for a client to overpay."

At Christie's, South Kensington, Keith Penton encourages potential bidders to scrutinise pieces through a 10x lens. The close examination is crucial, because the magnification will reveal defects as well as attributes of the piece. Having sought advice from many auction house specialists, my experience is that they are enthusiastic and very informative tutors.

Jean Ghika, at Bonhams, receives most requests for guidance on diamond- set jewels. Most potential bidders will have heard of the "four C's" - colour, clarity, carat and cut - but usually they do not know how to apply them. Ms Ghika's advice on a diamond ring is simple: "Buy as white a stone, free from natural inclusions, as your budget allows."

It is possible to buy interesting antique jewels set with semi- precious stones from pounds 150, although the sky is the limit as aspirations increase. Art Nouveau and Art Deco are in great demand, but pieces from the late 20th century are not as popular and prices are more affordable. But buy only what you like, always buy quality and preferably a signed piece by a well-known maker.

Auction houses are but one source of jewellery. There are thousands of dealers in the UK. Wherever you seek your jewels, train yourself to recognise what is good. Go to auction views, visit antique centres, talk to dealers and auction-house specialists, and compare prices. Is jewellery a good investment? As one old-timer says: "It depends what you pay." Do your homework, avoid pitfalls and you could do very well.

For myself, I wanted to see if I could buy a piece of jewellery at auction for a few hundred pounds that would cost a few thousand to buy new. Having scanned the pre-Christmas auction catalogues, I decided on a diamond and sapphire dress ring made by John Donald in 1967. An innovative artist- craftsman in the 1960s, today John Donald is a jewellery designer of international repute based in the City of London. His jewellery does not often appear at auction.

Bonham's offered the ring in Knightsbridge last November, saying it had "a mixed-cut sapphire set to the centre in a yellow 18-carat gold bombe style mount, comprising a series of abstract textured cubes accented by 14 brilliant-cut diamonds, weighing approximately 1.00 carat in total". The piece was offered in its original case, which is a plus factor, and the estimated price was pounds 400 to pounds 600.

A specialist at Bonham's considered the ring a good example of John Donald's 1960s work. The sapphire was described as "a little milky" with black inclusions and the pavilion (the base) being off- centre. As that made it sound as if the sapphire had come from a Christmas cracker, I left a bid of pounds 700, despite being told the estimate was conservative.

I was the only bidder and the ring was knocked down to me at pounds 380, or pounds 458.13 including the buyer's premium inclusive of VAT. I saw the ring for the first time when I collected it and felt I had a bargain. To obtain the cost of supplying a facsimile ring today, John Donald was asked for an insurance valuation. This was a jaw-dropping pounds 15,751.

Introduction

Both registered nurses and pre-registration nurses provide diabetes care, though the latter can lack necessary skills and insight in this treatment area. This article discusses an accredited diabetes module designed to address this. The module for pre-registration nurses undertaking a higher education diploma incorporates a variety of teaching methods and a week's placement in a diabetes unit. On completion, students must pass a two-hour written examination. For those studying the module, feedback has indiated that education can increase confidence and interest in the area of diabetes care.

KEY WORDS

* Learning

* Module

* Placement

* Insight

* Diploma

The need for providing staff involved in the care of people with diabetes with relevant skills is one aspect of the National Service Framework for Diabetes delivery strategy (Department of Health, 2003). Diabetes UK provides a list of courses/programmes to meet the educational needs of registered nurses (Diabetes UK, 2003). However, it is not just registered nurses who deliver diabetes care. Indeed pre-registration nurses are often responsible for delivering care to people with diabetes, some of whom have very little insight into the development and progression of diabetes.

In 1996 a report from the British Diabetic Association (BDA)--now Diabetes UK)--advised that: 'Preregistration nurses should receive some training from a senior diabetes specialist nurse. Nurses' training should include skills to enable them to work as part of a multidisciplinary team' (BDA, 1996, pg5). In discussion with colleagues, 'training' does take place but contact time is variable.

This article discusses a diabetes module set up as an attempt to address the above BDA recommendation. An accredited option module for pre-registration student nurses undertaking a higher education diploma in nursing/registered nurse with BSc (Hons) top-up was developed.

Believed to be the first in the UK at the time of development, nursing students in the adult treatment branch of their educational programme at Kingston University in Surrey can choose from a menu of five different option modules, prior to qualifying as a registered nurse. The aim of the option module 'Introduction to Diabetes Care' is to '... enable students to increase the breadth and depth of their evidence-based knowledge and practice in order to meet the needs of adults with diabetes'.

Setting up the module

The module was originally the idea of the module leader in 2001 and was created in anticipation of recommendations of the National Service Framework for Diabetes strategies document (DoH, 2003) for workforce planning development. The module went through the normal university validation requirements in June 2002 (with both internal and external scrutiny). This demanded attention to the development of suitable level 2 and level 3 learning outcomes, and the inclusion of a variety of teaching and learning strategies which total 150 hours for a module of 15 credits.

Successful validation also required the inclusion of learning opportunities in practice and a suitable assessment that would give the students 15 credits at the level at which they are studying the module.

Most students access the module at level 2 (diploma) but there are some who have performed sufficiently well in the earlier part of their programme who access the module at level 3 (degree). These credits can then be used towards the achievement of a nursing degree after the completion of their original diploma.

A variety of teaching methods are used including straightforward lectures, discussion, demonstration for practical aspects, group work to facilitate learning and both self-directed and guided study so as to offer variety, provide interest and satisfy the different learning styles of different students (Stengelhofen, 1996).

Course content

Classroom contact is a total of 20 hours usually delivered in 10 two-hour blocks over a period of eight weeks, although the whole module stretches over 18 weeks in order to include a week's placement in a diabetes unit and one classroom revision and evaluation session. Students undertake these placements in about five diabetes clinics, located within South West London, which take one student a week for six consecutive weeks.

At the end of the module the students sit a two-hour unseen written examination in which they are required to obtain a pass. The maximum number of students who can undertake the at one time is 30, and recruitment to the module has been close to this ceiling.

At the beginning of the module the students are issued with an accompanying handbook, which sets out learning and practice outcomes, the lesson timetable, the assessment, reading list and contact numbers for the module leader. By the end of the module, students will be able to demonstrate achievement of learning outcomes against specific curriculum themes and against learning outcomes specified by the English National Board in 2000 for entry to the nursing register. The module is delivered by a number of university lecturers but, importantly, their input is supported by healthcare professionals who have a specific interest or work in diabetes care.

Shaun Leane was named Jewellery Designer of the Year 2004. And aside from his avant-garde larger-than-life creations for Alexander McQueen's catwalk, Shaun's own sharp-edged designs in feather, horn and heart effects have been bought by a coterie of famous names including Susan Sarandon, Kate Moss and Liv Tyler.

Jess James is the man with the eye for design-led jewellery whether it be charm-like baubles, architecturally-sculpted bracelets, or engagement rings with satellite diamonds embedded in the band. His 16 years in Soho pandering to a media savvy crowd has seen his stable of designers grow to a livery yard-sized 50-plus names.
Slovenian born Lara Bohinc's graphic jewellery designs have long been a favourite with the fashion crowd, continually appearing within the most coveted of glossies folds. Large wrist cuffs with clusters of butterflies intricately cut out, Art Deco-like drop earrings and space-aged elongated orbital rings are a hint as to Lara's future retro and unquestionably inventive styles.

It was a promising idea to devote an exhibition to the art dealer and promoter Samuel Bing. In histories of art nouveau he is noted as the founder of the Paris gallery L'Art Nouveau, which showed the new style and gave it its most commonly used name. The exhibition enables us to see exactly what it was that Bing exhibited and this in itself is a revealing exercise: Bing showed a surprisingly wide selection of contemporary pieces, by no means confined to what we now think of as art nouveau, and he later refined his interests, fostering very particular aspects of the new style. Perhaps the most interesting thing about Bing was his international role as a patron and publicist as well as a dealer; the exhibition with its catalogue makes an important contribution to the history of taste as much as to the history of art.

It is a pity then that the catalogue is so bitty in its treatment of Bing's career. A more unified account would have been better than twelve essays on separate topics: they overlap in coverage and vary in quality. They also leave some questions unanswered: I would like to have known more about Bing's interest in sculpture and about when and why it was that art nouveau, rather than any of the other sobriquets, was adopted as the name of the style. Fuller descriptions of at least the principal items in the exhibition would have been preferable to a checklist. Nevertheless, the catalogue is beautifully produced with luxurious illustrations. Of the essays, the best are the closing summary by Rudiger Joppien, and the contributions from Gabriel Weisberg, who, with Edwin Becker and Evelyn Posseme, has jointly curated the exhibition.

The great achievement of this show is to have traced and assembled over 400 works of art with a Bing provenance (the only exceptions in the exhibition are multiples such as prints and bronzes and a few chairs, where it has not been possible to identify which example passed through Bing's hands). Before he became involved in art nouveau, Bing was a dealer in Asian art, chiefly Japanese. It is evident that his role as an importer and dealer in Japanese art was at least as important as his promotion of art nouveau. He sold to connoisseurs and museums, and also to penniless artists: Van Gogh bought numerous Japanese prints from him (a selection is on display in the museum's print room to accompany the Bing exhibition). Bing's reputation as a Japanese specialist continued even after he had begun to sell modern art. The Japanese objects in the exhibition are of superb quality and it is a pity that so little information is given about them either on the labels or in the catalogue: many of them are described simply as 'Japanese 19th century'. Bing also produced a magazine about Japanese art, published in French, German and English, rented a floor of the Fine Art Society to sell Japanese wares in London and organised exhibitions of Japanese art in America. These were typical of the entrepreneurial and proselytising methods he then applied to the art of his time.

Bing opened his new gallery L'Art Nouveau in December 1895. The first two shows were mixed exhibitions, including furniture by Van de Velde, glass by Daum and Tiffany, jewellery by Lalique, metalwork by W.A.S. Benson, sculpture by Rodin and Bourdelle and paintings by Symbolist, Pointilliste and Nabis artists. Bing subsequently sold Morris wallpapers and fabrics, organised a show of modern book design that included work by Max Klinger, Aubrey Beardsley and Charles Ricketts and held solo exhibitions by Munch, Signac, Meunier, Carriere and Raffaelli.

Apart from Lalique, Signac and Raffaelli, all the artists and makers named above are represented in the present exhibition. Judging from the works selected here, Bing's gallery promoted newness rather than any unifying aesthetic. He chose sculpture, jewellery, ceramics and glass of outstanding quality but the paintings are disappointing. Is this because it is no longer possible to identify which paintings Bing showed, or because owners refused to lend, or is it an indication of a failure in Bing himself where painting was concerned? Signac reported that Bing did not know what he himself or his clients wanted. He never showed innovators such as Cezanne or Degas and his commissions went to decorative painters such as Brangwyn, Besnard and de Feure. It is significant that he relied on Meier Graefe as a consultant and had to be persuaded by the latter to show the controversial work of Munch.

A powerful feature of the installation at the Van Gogh Museum is a montage of life-size sepia enlargements of photographs of Bing's gallery. Taken from various angles, they give a strong sense of place and enable us to reconstruct the experience of visiting the gallery, with its exterior friezes and patterns made from stencils designed by Brangwyn, its domed and galleried central hall, its staircases, balconies and split levels leading to various exhibition spaces, some of them conventional art galleries with pictures on the walls and objects in glass cases, others furnished as complete rooms, including several by Van der Velde. It combined elements of an art gallery, a department store and a private house. The Van der Velde connection is significant, for Bing's ideas were not original: the new gallery was recognised by contemporaries as being inspired by Picart's Maison d'Art in Brussels, with its ideal of unifying art and craft, promoted by Van der Velde and deriving from Ruskin and Morris.