This edition of the blog goes back a little in time from the last, to 2014. I’m ashamed to say my memory had a senior moment and I couldn’t remember the name of the jeweller who made the piece you see below, and then it suddenly appeared when I was re-organising some digital files. I’m really pleased as it’s a super piece and one that has provoked a lot of comments whilst wearing.
The jeweller is Ana Simōes. I discovered her and her work when visiting some open studios in London - I think near Woolwich, but that bit of the puzzle still evades me. She had just three pieces of this ilk, together with a collection of silver jewellery, which it turned out she had moved on to - and has developed since, as you will see if you use her name to link to her website.
The piece I bought is made from cut and folded base metal which has been powder coated and riveted together, with one section tied with a silk braid. It is an ingenious construction showing great skill and attention to detail and I absolutely love it.
We had a really in-depth discussion at the time about her moving on from this ‘non-precious’ material base to silver; which was primarily as she found the former a very difficult sell. People were looking for precious metals in order to ‘justify’ a hand-made price tag.
I was at the time researching for the Ruthin Craft Centre exhibition I co-curated with Dr. Elizabeth Goring called Not Too Precious, which celebrated jewellery made from all materials except those labelled as ‘precious’ (silver, gold and the like), so this was particularly relevant. It is a debate that does and will continue, especially with contemporary questions over the sustainability, credibility and ethics of silver, gold and stone mining (economics aside).
Does a piece of jewellery have to be made of precious materials to be ‘precious’? As you can see below - absolutely not - but if potential customers are blinkered by preconceptions of preciousness in this field, it will remain a difficult nut to crack.
In an unashamed plug - you can buy the catalogue for the Not Too Precious exhibition direct from Ruthin Craft Centre by following this link. http://ruthincraftcentre.org.uk/publication/?publication-categories=jewellery&publication-authors= It’s a beautiful hardback production with an insightful essay penned by Elizabeth on the subject.
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Ana Simōes, Brooch, powder coated base metal, silk, 2014