This week, we’ve been featuring motifs with a sensibility vaguely reminiscent of the art of our relations in Asia: branches and stones, snow and light, earthy red tones to warm one’s spirit in the cold winter air.
Today, with Wings’s newest work, we continue with the same theme, one that evokes images of red desert wildflowers birthed beneath thundering monsoonal skies. It also harks back to a recent entry in our Tuesday Jewels and Gems series, one from a mere two weeks ago.
It’s a work completed only today, and it is a masterpiece. From its description in the Bracelets Gallery here on the site:
Red Flower Rain Cuff Bracelet
A monumental cabochon of red flower jasper serves as the focal point of this magnificent unisex cuff. The stone, a warm, earthy rose shade with a mulberry and charcoal matrix of dendritic wildflower blossoms, is set into an elevated scalloped bezel, trimmed with twisted silver, and accented with a tiny chatoyant tiger’s eye cabochon at one side. The cuff, wide and weighty, features a hand-stamped row of matched thunderhead symbols chased along the center of the band, flanked at either edge by a single row of thunderheads. The band itself tapers slightly at either end for a comfortable fit. In the inner band, morning stars and other celestial symbols are scattered like constellations tossed across the pre-dawn sky. Band is 1-11/16″ across, narrowing to 1-3/8″ at either end; the bezel is slightly wider, 1-7/8″ long by 1.25″ wide; the visible portion of the stone is 1.5″ long by 1-1/8″ wide (dimensions approximate). Other views shown below.
Sterling silver; red flower jasper
$1,550 + shipping, handling, and insurance
The band alone is phenomenal, a stunning work of art. The stampwork is clean and clear and uniform, tracing beautifully straight lines across cuff’s surface. Wings wisely elevated the bezel, setting it atop a slender column of sterling silver, setting it off from the background and protecting the integrity of the band itself. The inner band evokes more imagery of the heavens: instead of rain clouds, celestial spirits, guiding stars and lunar eclipses.
Unmentioned in the description are the other directional symbols: at either of the cuff’s gently tapered ends, a single centered arrow, shaft broken in a nod toward peacemaking and a willingness to change direction when need be.
But the stone is clearly the cuffs focus, and the simple setting shows it off to spectacular effect. The tiny round tiger’s eye cabochon accent on one side is an inspired choice, unobtrusive, yet effective in highlighting the beauty of the center stone.
When I wrote about red flower jasper two weeks ago, I noted that this cabochon had begun to speak to Wings, softly, subtly, yet directly:
Wings acquired this one, if memory serves, about four years or so ago. For a very long time, it sat in its proper case; for the last few months, it’s been on his workbench, awaiting just the right inspiration.
I also admitted that it spoke to me on a very elemental level:
To me, it’s a beautiful example of Nature’s own artistic ability, one rendered in soft subtle shades that bespeak warmth and life. One a day this cold and snowy, that’s a welcome gift indeed.
It’s a perfect piece for all seasons, one that embodies the rains and wildflowers of summer, evoking them to warm the spirit in winter.
It is, truly, a magnificent piece, big and bold and yet beautifully understated, a work of spare elegance and simplicity. And once on the wrist, it’s so warm and comfortable that you won’t want to take it off.
Trust me on that.
~ 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.
