When the word “chinaware” crops up in conversation, chances are your nana’s pantry springs to mind, but Napier jewellery designers have used china cups to create China Horse Jewellery…
When the word “chinaware” crops up in conversation, chances are your nana’s pantry springs to mind.
Dainty little tea cups; delicate plates patterned with all manner of floral intricacy; sugar pots with that strategic cavity placed just so in the lid, enabling silver spoons easy storage.
There’s a history, a patina of charm and nostalgia to the medium that immediately conjures up the sensation that life should be lived for its pleasures. Rituals (not to be mistaken with routine) should be revered. And decoration, in all its forms, embraced.
This evocative nature is intuitively understood by China Horse Jewellery. Janice McCorbishley and Donna McColl, the savvy mother and daughter team behind the Napier-based outfit, have created the ultimate justification for an endemic collecting habit.
Jealous? You should be: their work is an exquisite re-invention of those exact cups, saucers and plates that you might find in your grandma’s parlour. Earrings, pendants, and bracelets are artisan, one-off pieces, hinting at long-lost stories. The clean and elongated forms contrast with beautifully hand painted motifs. Images of wild roses, daisies, and dancing couples assume a contemporary quality when combined with brass and silver smithing work that is reminiscent of chain mail.
It is this careful juxtaposition between surface detail and shape which renders the China Horse collection so enduring. It’s not always easy to take tradition and antique and re-interpret the context, especially in the highly competitive jewelery market. Emotional response is always going to play a large role in our body-decorating decisions, and the girls have cleverly translated that sensation of nostalgia into beautiful, contemporary design.
So while your Nana would, I think, be quite proud, beware of envious girlfriends.
Available at Red Peach Gallery (www.redpeachgallery.com) in Napier.
Photography by Jody Percy of Bear Photography (www.bearphotographynz.com)
By Willow Sharp
1 March 2012
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