Artist:

Barbara Walter, born Clarendon Hills, IL 1952  Search this

Medium:

sterling silver with plastic

Dimensions:

1 5/8 x 1 1/4 x 5/8 in. (4.1 x 3.2 x 1.6 cm)

Type:

Decorative Arts-Jewelry

Crafts

Date:

1995

Luce Center Label:

Spy Decoder Ring recalls the plastic decoder rings that once came in cereal boxes. Here the artist plays with the notion of espionage as a romantic childhood fantasy. If the author and the recipient of the encoded message have the same cipher, or code, each may translate the written text into understandable phrases. The four figures on the ring function as handles to move the alphabet around, but, dressed in business clothes, they also call to mind the spies who blend in with ordinary citizens.

Luce Object Quote:

“The myriad connotations of words allow messages to be misconstrued---often, as in puns, with humorous results.” Artist quoted in Touch of a Finger; Turn of a Phrase: Ring Toys of Barbara Walter

Topic:

Figure group  Search this

Dress\accessory\hat  Search this

Object\other\luggage  Search this

Occupation\crime\spy  Search this

Credit Line:

Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Sylvia and Eric Elsesser

Object number:

2002.72.4A-E

Restrictions & Rights:

Usage conditions apply

See more items in:

Smithsonian American Art Museum Collection

Department:

Renwick Gallery

Data Source:

Smithsonian American Art Museum

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/vk75ea2be8a-e68a-4b28-a99a-c995ae1ec897

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:saam_2002.72.4A-E