Channel Tryst Rope - Gold
Necklace
1999 (made)
1999 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This piece is part of the Royal College of Art Visiting Artists Collection. Every year from 1987 to 2006, while David Watkins was Professor of Goldsmithing, Silversmithing, Metalwork and Jewellery at the RCA, he invited four jewellers and silversmiths from outside Britain to give a week-long masterclass. The artists brought diverse skills, aesthetics and approaches. The first call on their time was to interact closely with the students. In addition, although concentrating on their teaching and working in an unfamiliar studio, each artist generously made an object for the RCA's collection. The Royal College of Art Visiting Artists Collection, now transferred to the V&A, is a major document of international contemporary jewellery, a tribute both to the artists and to the vibrancy of the RCA as a teaching institution.
Organic materials, derived from animal or plant sources, often have a very low intrinsic value, but many have been used in jewellery since ancient times.
The Australian jeweller Rowena Gough (born 1958) sees her button jewellery in the context of South Pacific culture, where the use of shell often has social and political implications. She became interested in this through visits to New Zealand.
Buttons play an important role in her work. She made her first necklace of buttons in 1992, and used baby buttons from the family button box. This particular necklace is made from identical, antique (c. 1900) mother of pearl buttons and a continuous length of forged gold (20 carat) wire. The necklace's length was measured to fall from her neck to her toes.
In an Artists Statement of 2007 she wrote 'The pearl shell button has held an attraction and power for me as a simple object which symbolises both personal history and meaning - across time, across cultures. The experience held in this work is both a reference to my pioneering family history - of women's domestic labours and endeavours - and a fascination with the traditional use of shell carved, sewn and woven into the ritual objects found throughout the cultures of the Pacific.'
Organic materials, derived from animal or plant sources, often have a very low intrinsic value, but many have been used in jewellery since ancient times.
The Australian jeweller Rowena Gough (born 1958) sees her button jewellery in the context of South Pacific culture, where the use of shell often has social and political implications. She became interested in this through visits to New Zealand.
Buttons play an important role in her work. She made her first necklace of buttons in 1992, and used baby buttons from the family button box. This particular necklace is made from identical, antique (c. 1900) mother of pearl buttons and a continuous length of forged gold (20 carat) wire. The necklace's length was measured to fall from her neck to her toes.
In an Artists Statement of 2007 she wrote 'The pearl shell button has held an attraction and power for me as a simple object which symbolises both personal history and meaning - across time, across cultures. The experience held in this work is both a reference to my pioneering family history - of women's domestic labours and endeavours - and a fascination with the traditional use of shell carved, sewn and woven into the ritual objects found throughout the cultures of the Pacific.'
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Channel Tryst Rope - Gold (assigned by artist) |
| Materials and techniques | Antique mother-of-pearl buttons (ca. 1900) and gold wire (20 carat) |
| Brief description | Necklace of mother of pearl buttons, by the Australian jeweller Rowena Gough, London 1999. |
| Physical description | Long continuous and double-sided strand of mother of pearl buttons linked by cross-woven flattened gold wire. |
| Dimensions |
|
| Marks and inscriptions | (unmarked) |
| Credit line | Royal College of Art Visiting Artists Collection |
| Object history | Designed and made by Rowena Gough while leading a masterclass at the RCA. |
| Summary | This piece is part of the Royal College of Art Visiting Artists Collection. Every year from 1987 to 2006, while David Watkins was Professor of Goldsmithing, Silversmithing, Metalwork and Jewellery at the RCA, he invited four jewellers and silversmiths from outside Britain to give a week-long masterclass. The artists brought diverse skills, aesthetics and approaches. The first call on their time was to interact closely with the students. In addition, although concentrating on their teaching and working in an unfamiliar studio, each artist generously made an object for the RCA's collection. The Royal College of Art Visiting Artists Collection, now transferred to the V&A, is a major document of international contemporary jewellery, a tribute both to the artists and to the vibrancy of the RCA as a teaching institution. Organic materials, derived from animal or plant sources, often have a very low intrinsic value, but many have been used in jewellery since ancient times. The Australian jeweller Rowena Gough (born 1958) sees her button jewellery in the context of South Pacific culture, where the use of shell often has social and political implications. She became interested in this through visits to New Zealand. Buttons play an important role in her work. She made her first necklace of buttons in 1992, and used baby buttons from the family button box. This particular necklace is made from identical, antique (c. 1900) mother of pearl buttons and a continuous length of forged gold (20 carat) wire. The necklace's length was measured to fall from her neck to her toes. In an Artists Statement of 2007 she wrote 'The pearl shell button has held an attraction and power for me as a simple object which symbolises both personal history and meaning - across time, across cultures. The experience held in this work is both a reference to my pioneering family history - of women's domestic labours and endeavours - and a fascination with the traditional use of shell carved, sewn and woven into the ritual objects found throughout the cultures of the Pacific.' |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | M.55-2007 |
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| Record created | May 13, 2008 |
| Record URL |
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