Meret Oppenheim’s concept for a wooden ring explored similar sensory territory to her fur-covered bracelet and ring. In her sketch she described a wooden form over which snakeskin is stretched, the wood inside making the piece unexpectedly light. The leather is fixed with a silver ring, and the piece is available in the surprising colours of green, blue, red and beige, which Oppenheim proposed, as well as in complementary shades of pink and grey. Akin to more dramatic works like Pelzhandschuhe (Fur gloves, 1936), in which red-varnished nails peep out from fur-covered gloves, the ring creates a frisson by uniting human and animal qualities.
Meret Oppenheim (1913-1985) was an artist like no other. She found early fame with the Surrealists, but she would transcend that group to become one of the most important Swiss cultural figures of the 20th century…
