A couple of weeks ago, I promised that I would soon bring you a brand-new flask by Wings, a collector’s item and masterwork. When I did, I had no idea just what a masterpiece it would turn out to be.
When choosing the theme for Monday’s photo meditation, and subsequently, in choosing yesterday’s featured stone in our Jewels and Gems series, I likewise had no idea that blue and green would be a continuing motif today. I promise you that Wings and I did not plan this; I chose the blues and greens as I described in those posts, and only late yesterday learned which stones he’d chosen for the piece I’d planned to feature today.
More brilliant blues and greens.
I also didn’t know that we’d be occupied all day today getting the hay in, racing to beat the rain. We made it, and as I write this, the rain is just in the offing. But it’s made for a long day, and a long-delayed post.
It will have been worth the wait.
This is one of those pieces that is art and medicine, form and function simultaneously, an authentic period piece that, like so much of our peoples’ collective history, is likewise an ongoing part of our present. it’s a work of art, but one that is meant to be used, to hold both the motifs and the medicine of healing and harmony.
And it is magnificent.
From its description in the Collectibles Gallery here on the site:
Spirit animals can carry us places we would never be able to go on our own, and bring to us the spirits that inhabit other realms. When they do, it’s powerful medicine. Native peoples have carried medicine in hand-made flasks since the dawn of time, and this flask, authentic in every detail, invokes the spirits of the dawn itself. A Morning Star, the light that guides our spirits from the dark into the light of the new day, is overlaid on the center of either side, leading a sunburst of sacred hoops opened into sixteen rays. Concentric circles of hand-stamped traditional patterns ring the center; at the edge, the symbols form a kiva steps design evoking the sacred space whence life and spirit emanate. The outermost edge of the flask is overlaid with a slender strand of sterling silver wire. The removable cap is edged in matched thunderhead patterns set at the top with a cobalt-blue cabochon of lapis lazuli, rings with patterned wire in the form and texture of raised sterling silver beads. On the reverse, at the base of the cap, a tiny malachite cabochon the color of the earth’s green is bezel-set; a loop is attached at the cap’s back, with two more loops at either side. The Dawn Horse’s own tail, the color of the night sky, trails behind via a silver squash blossom from one loop; from the other, a solid and silky sterling silver link chain to hold the flask securely. Flask stands 3-1/8″ high by 2.5″ across; horsehair tassel hangs 3″ (including squash blossom); chain length 23.5″ (dimensions approximate). Other views shown below.
Sterling silver; lapis lazuli; malachite; horsehair
$2,500 + shipping, handling, and insurance
It’s difficult to see the horsehair detail against the dark background, but if you look closely at the left-hand side of the image just below, you’ll see the strands visible in front of the chain. The hair came from one of our own horses, the color of the night sky just as dawn is beginning to awaken from slumber, the light from its very breath turning jet black to a darkened sepia tone.
The stampwork on this piece is nothing short of spectacular: heavy, incisive, even, all done entirely freehand. The flask itself is from silver of a remarkably heavy gauge; it has a substance, a feeling of solidity, that both contrasts with and thoroughly complements its silky finish.
The chain holds similar qualities: silken and shimmery, like a cascade of molten silver pouring down from the flasks’s loops. It compels you to touch it, let it pour through your fingers.
And the cap: The cap is a work of art all on its own, shining with powerful symbols, topped by a bit of indigo in the form of lapis lazuli resting in the embrace of silver bead wire. It rests above a tiny malachite stone that brings the deep blue of the fading night down to earth’s own green in the light of day.
As the description notes, the cap is removable. It was, after all, made for actual use, should the person for whom Spirit intends it decide to do so. As I’ve noted here on previous occasions, our peoples still use such flasks for medicine, most commonly traditional tobacco: It’s an offering, a gift, a way of giving thanks in tangible form.
It’s rare when medicine and art come together in a single piece so perfectly, or so powerfully.
This is a special work, one Spirit clearly intends to find a specific person in need of the healing it holds: the animal spirits, the guidance and illumination of the sky spirits, the medicine spirits that it wears without and will carry within.
This is Wings’s work at its most powerful.
~ Aji
All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2015; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owners.
