Beads in jewellery go far back in time, long before the craft of metalworking. The very early beads often had symbolic or amuletic value, and in some instances they were used as currency. The desire for beads as personal adornment is universal to all cultures and continues through to this day in a contemporary approach.

Robert Ebendorf, an enthusiast for incorporating ‘found objects’, chose to make his beads of papier mâché from Chinese newspaper and gold foil. Ebendorf’s dyslexia forms part of the inspiration, he is more fascinated by the visual patterns words can produce, rather than their meanings.

Robert Ebendorf’s early work followed Scandinavian aesthetics, as he returned again and again to Norway where he had his first training as a metalsmith. By the mid-sixties though he began to construct his jewellery from found objects, and is renowned for his collages.