This special client and I share quite the history. We met in Europe as college roommates, sharing a curiosity of the world around us and a love and study of art. She was a painter, I was a printmaker. Fast forward to the 21st century and she was retiring from a career in museum curation where she designed and installed exhibits for a premier science museum in New England. Several years ago, during the design of an Egyptian exhibit, she made the acquaintance of the woman in charge of this touring show. My friend was teased because of her need to “feel” the past, touching items not generally open for handling. As a very kind gesture, once the exhibit was ending, this woman gifted my friend a tiny shawabti – a figurine placed in a tomb to serve as a slave for the soul. During a recent roommate gathering, my friend asked if I could do something with this teeny piece of antiquity so that she could touch and wear it. We decided on the simplest approach, so not to take away from the integrity of the artifact. We “pigtailed,” or fed, wire through the bead, twisted the ends through the links and into a chain. This was intentionally not centered since there’s a shorter link for offering different lengths to wear this necklace. She adores this piece, a connection to the distance past. Who knows how far into the future this little shawabti will travel.
- Materials: 18k yellow gold, Ancient glass
- Client location: Plymouth, MA
- Kind Words: Raimie, it’s a testament to what you create where people can wear objects instilled with memories, with love, with the need for connection. And, those are objects that will make it through time. Someday, somewhere, someone will wear that necklace with the little shawabti that you made.