posted 07-04-2007 02:45 AM            

I like seeing skulls in silver and jewelry. It was never really a very common motif, though. In art, the skull most commonly appeared in Dutch vanitas still life paintings. The skull, along with items such as candles and partially peeled fruits, symbolized the fleeting nature of life and inevitability of death. I have never seen a skull in silver flatware or hollowware. I have seen a few examples in antique jewelry, including a couple Georgian gold mourning pieces where the skull was executed in white enamel (sadly these pieces were too dear for me to purchase), and a handful of late Victorian and Art Nouveau pieces like stickpins, brooches, and a pendant; both the early mourning pieces and these turn-of-the-century items, I suspect, were created with the vanitas or memento mori (reminder of death) theme in mind.

Pictured above are some circa 1895-1905 examples, including two gold-plated stickpins, a sterling pendant, silver plated cufflinks, and a sterling brooch.

Additionally, the skull frequently turns up in connection with sundry fraternal groups and college fraternities, appearing on symbolic lapel pins and watch fobs. I am not really familiar with the symbolism of these groups, and am not sure exactly what the skull symbolizes in the context of these pieces.

Above, I show a c. 1895 Knights of Pythias fob, a gold lapel pin showing a skull with a key through its eye socket and the date 1913, and a small lapel pin with "36" on the skull's forehead.

While skulls have enjoyed a certain popularity in jewelry over the past several decades, such as in Goth, biker, and hippie cultures, they are currently enjoying a revival in mainstream fashion, probably because of many designers' current predilection with rock- and punk-inspired designs. Skulls appear not only on low-end to haute couture garments, but also on jewelry. Many jewelers now make skull motif items. For instance, popular jeweler Roberto Coin currently offers a diamond-studded skull design in earrings and pendants, and Barry Kieselstein-Cord makes a sterling bracelet featuring a trio of 18k gold skulls.

Pictured above is a fall/winter 2006 carved buffalo horn skull necklace by Belgian fashion designer Ann Demeulemeester (background is an Alexander McQueen skull scarf).

I post this in the hope that others might have skull jewelry or silver to share!

posted 07-10-2007 10:19 AM            

Here is a recent purchase; not a skull, but a whole skeleton! This bizarre necklace is made of silver and set with interesting stones. The arm and leg connectors are shaped like real bones, and the back of the torso has a nice rib cage, though it does not show through on the front. It is marked(?) as shown. In spirit it seems like something Sam Kramer might have done, but it isn't his style. Probably just an art school student piece, but certainly an eye catcher!@

Brent

posted 07-10-2007 12:48 PM            

posted 07-10-2007 12:31 PM

Here's my contribution, although I've never been able to track down the fraternity. Probably late 19c. Ruby eyes and lots of detail.

(Sorry meant for this to go in the Skull? thread).

posted 10-27-2007 12:14 AM            

Glad Samhain.

posted 10-27-2007 12:33 AM            

The designer has an interesting story about his involvement in the silver jewelry trade. This is probably one of the more unusual apprenticeships.

quote:

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My Story
I have been incarcerated in the California "Draconian" Prison System since the early 80's.

During these years that I have been in some of the most notorious prisons such as Folsom, Corcoran SHU (for two escape attempts), Pelican Bay mainline (wars, stabbings, killings, etc.). I steadily practiced my craft by carving designs in bars of state soap. Some are still in Ad-Seg offices where I was housed. When I wanted to do something bigger, I would take a palm brush and cut the bristles down to stubs and then use it to grind the bar into powder. I would take the powder and add the proper amount of water, mix it with my hands, and produce a perfect clay to create a sculpture with.

I enlisted in the hobby shops in most of the prisons and was taught by a good friend (see picture – left side) the “lost wax casting" method of jewelry casting. I made jewelry for five years until they canceled the program, but I was bale to turn this tragic situation into another trade that is more satisfying to me. That is creating original designs which you can find in Outrider today.

Creating Art in Prison
There is history with these designs. For example, the “Deadman's Anchor" on page 14 has a story to go with it. I was going to the prison library to have a clerk xerox a copy of the wax design so that I could send Dallas a copy of it (this is the only from of picture I can take of the originals as I don't have access to a camera), when the yard went down because a white guy was seriously stabbed in the neck.

We were surrounded by guards all around the yard and guards were on the building roofs with “mini-fourteens" locked and loaded ready to shoot. We were in for a long day of bing strip-searched to see if the weapon and/or attacker could be found.

I have been through this routine a hundred times before, but not when I had wax designs with me. I had the Anchor, the Guardian Pendent, and the Eagle in a plastic square sewing box for protection. But I was worried how th guards, who would be searching me, would treat them and I could picture them bing broken by the end of the day. So, as I lay on my stomach, I reached into my jacket, pulled out the box, removed the designs, and started uprooting grass to put on top to hide them. I then put a buttercup on top of the grass mound to give me a simple location because my next task was to roll myself five full rolls away from the hidden designs so that when I got searched they would stay safe away from me.

After I was searched and alone again, I rolled back and placed the designs gently back in their container.

We were on lock down for 61 days (whites only). It was lucky that I had a cellie who was poraling. He took my designs out with him and mailed them to Dallas in the free world.

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A prisoner with a web site, who takes orders for custom wax carving. Here is his guarantee statement. Because this is a commercial website, I shall not link to it.

quote:

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Before you purchase a piece of fine jewelry art from this prestigious jeweler, consider that you are not just buying biker jewelry from a jeweler with no credentials in biker/rock/convict lifestyle, for he has the real stuff made by myself.

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