Nuclear war thematics aside.... my latest project takes much from the marriage dowry necklaces of Chettiar, Tamil Nadu. A while ago, I found this amongst the pages of my beloved copy of Oppi Untracht’s "Traditional Jewelry of India”. I became enraptured by this image:
I often came back to it, only opening the book to scan through for this photo. I can't say what exactly it was that held my imagination so- I actually find a stylistic distaste in the finicky, fine, detailing and precise execution of this style of metalsmithing. My love affair with ethnic jewellery is most often located on the indiscernible line between crudeness and finesse, figurative and abstract, stark and decorative. I think perhaps the phallic formation in this example (the individual components can be worn alone or in a different order) and the vaguely industrial/geometric feel struck me as unusual and oddly aggressive. It was not 'till quite far into my own designing I realised I had misunderstood the scale of these epic pieces. They are huge.
My decision to make use of them as an ‘aesthetic model' for my new piece (to be revealed in August) provides a new way of working for me. Through close analysis, I have been recreating and adapting, picking and choosing the techniques used and transposing them into a very different context. These necklaces make abundant use of hollow forms, which is of primary interest to me, but are compiled in a complex and less obvious way than I am familiar with. As I have been learning, rich ornamentation such as finely fretted sheet and application of fine pearl wires can significantly alter fundamental construction processes.
Often featuring as the poster girl for ‘Indian jewellery’ as you can see here and here, I suspect these wedding Thalis are widely revered as examples of exquisite craftsmanship. Once zoned in, I start to see them pop up all over. Most recently in the fantastic coffee table tome - “Rare bird of Fashion”, essentially a catalogue of Iris Apfel’s outfits. An ethnic jewellery enthusiast, she owns a positively ravishing example of the Kazhutthuru, also offering one of the most detailed and descriptive photos I’ve found (clearly great minds think alike, Iris).
Check out my modest pinterest board on these fascinating necklaces here and discover more info via the photo's links.
