Marjan Unger

Marianne de Boer, later known as Marjan Unger (11 February 1946 – 27 June 2018), was a Dutch art historian. She acquired a public reputation as the author of a standard work on Dutch jewelry and as a jewelry collector.

Life and work Early life and education Marianne de Boer was born into an entrepreneurial family exactly nine months after the liberation. She was born and grew up at Bussum, a small town located between Amsterdam and Utrecht, and close to the (subsequently reclaimed) southern part of the Zuiderzee. It has been described as a "bulky standard work" ("...het lijvige standaardwerk van haar hand"). She produced a new arts magazine "Morf", aimed at arts students, and selling circa 20,000 copies twice yearly between 2004 and 2008. It was a mixture of old and new texts giving wider context for Unger's lectures, and those of colleagues.

Later career Continuing with her researches led to the award of her doctorate from Leiden University on 17 March 2010. Her dissertation was entitled "Sieraad in context, een multidisciplinair kader voor de beschouwing van het sieraad" (loosely, "Jewelry in context: a multi-disciplinary framework for evaluating jewels"). The pieces donated included items she had commissioned from known designers but also many pieces produced by unknown artists from outside the jewelry mainstream. Alongside the jewelry collection, items donated also included a large collection of ABBA button-badges and some coin-based jewelry.

Marjan Unger's second book, "Jewellery Matters", was written jointly with the Rijksmuseum curator Suzanne van Leeuwen and was published in 2017.

Publications, a selection Unger, Marjan, Keramiek en Delft 1996 = Ceramics and Delft 1996. Delft : Terra Keramiek, 1996. Unger, Marjan, Het Nederlandse sieraad in de 20ste eeuw. Bussum: THOTH, 2004. Unger-de Boer, Marianne, Sieraad in context, een multidisciplinair kader voor de beschouwing van het sieraad, Phd thesis, 2010. Unger, Marjan with Suzanne van Leeuwen, Jewellery Matters. Rotterdam/Amsterdam, 2017.