Old World Forging
Treasures Across Time
I’ve been a history nerd since I can remember. As a child, I would spend hours poring over books about ancient Egypt, Mexico, and Medieval Europe. What stood out most to me during this time was the jewelry. I was, and still am, largely fascinated by how people, hundreds, even thousands of years ago, were able to craft such beautiful and mind-blowingly intricate objects without electricity or modern tools.
In a way, my creative practice is an ongoing investigation into the ways a human hand can shape, form, and leave its mark on history.
Garnet Obsession
If you have followed my journey for any amount of time, you know I am particularly drawn to garnets, I use them often in my work. Garnet happens to be my youngest son and my late sister’s birthstone. I also love them because they're such incredibly hardy creatures.
We find garnet jewelry spanning almost every period of recorded history. It seems even ancient peoples were just as drawn to them as I am. I particularly love garnet jewelry from the Georgian and Victorian eras, both of which were ripe with these adornments.
I recently set about to crafting a garnet talisman inspired by Victorian era mourning jewelry. The Victorians were obsessed with mortality, ritual, and deeply spiritual. They had a way of romanticizing Death and their adornments reflected this way of life.
Considering the high mortality rates of the time, it is not difficult to understand the central role death played in their worldview. I find that I relate to their culture through my own experience of loss, which has given me a deep reverence for the cycles of life and our inevitable end.
This pendant features ten garnets, each custom cut based on faceting patterns from the 1700s. Set in silver Georgian cut down settings, each one I meticulously forged by hand in my studio.
While the design itself isn’t anything revolutionary, it was a fun challenge for me to create a piece using the exact methods a jeweler might have used 200 years ago. It is a testament to the appreciation of time, history, and the cultures that shaped our present day.
After all, we learn so much by looking back... history reveals not only where we come from, but also what to value and carry forward. I want to leave you with this question to ponder: