Brooch of enamelled copper and glass beads, designed and made by Stephanie Fleck, Germany 2011

A large eye, of irregular and undulating form, enamelled in vibrant primary colours (the iris blue with individual lapis lazuli beads attached in lines radiating from the red and blue pupil; the eyeball yellow with spots of other colours and edged with yellow glass beads). Around the eye is a jagged frame of red enamel edged with beads of tigers eye on lime green thread. From the lower edge of the red enamel frame hang four brass chains of assorted links - circular links of twisted wire, flattened square links and plain circular links - attached to which are a diverse selection of small pendants including two insects of stamped copper and wire with gold leaf applied patchily to their undersides; seven enamelled ovoid drops (three red and four blue) perhaps evoking insect backs; six domed or bell-shaped forms with fragments of gold leaf applied to the convex surface, the interior enamelled and with a glass or turquoise bead within; and eight faceted glass bead drops (one larger yellow, seven iridescent blue/green).

The back of the eye is enamelled and beaded in a similar style but with more muted colours: the red frame edged with a double string of pink glass beads, the triangular openings with red glass beads, and the line of the eye edged with blue glass beads, all threaded on lime green. The eyeball is enamelled blue and the lines of the iris are depicted in multicoloured glass beads threaded on dark blue. The enamelled copper at the corners of the eye is cut and angled to form the fittings for the double steel pin by which the brooch is worn.

Supported by the Friends of the V&A

purchased from Galerie Marzee at COLLECT 2015

Stephanie Fleck’s jewellery looks to the primitive and to the bold colours of Africa. This piece is an excellent demonstration of her fascination with folk traditions and her ability to reinterpret them with exuberance and vitality. The eye, like an amulet or talisman gazes from the undulating enamelled copper, the lines highlighted by rows of tiny beads threaded across its surface. In the chains below are caught a magpie-like assortment of pendants – vibrantly enamelled discs, roughly stamped-out copper insects, and faceted glass beads. Their random nature, and the brooch as a whole has a spontaneity that pays tribute to the inventiveness of indigenous craftsmen.

M.17-2015