I have a tiny brooch for sale in my Etsy shop – it’s a sterling silver letter ‘L’ in a lovely ornate script, decorated with foliage and curling tendrils.
William Morris silver letter ‘L’ brooch, made by Ortak/Malcolm Gray. For sale in my Etsy shop, Inglenookery: click on photo for details.
Four years ago I sold a letter ‘C’ in this series: an alphabet of brooches in a William Morris design, made by Ortak, the Orkney firm of jewellers based in Kirkwall on Mainland, the largest Orkney island off the north cast of Scotland. I have since sold an ‘M’ in this series, and seen others:
Ortak silver letter ‘A’ brooch. Photo by CAtaway on flickr.
Ortak silver letter ‘B’ brooch, sold by the Etsy shop Maisonette de Madness. Click for details. (NOW SOLD).
Vintage tiny William Morris design sterling silver brooch forming a letter ‘C’, and made by Ortak in the 1970s. Sold in my Etsy shop, Inglenookery. Click for details. (NOW SOLD).
William Morris letter ‘H’ brooch, made by Ortak/Malcolm Gray. Photo by her.dream
William Morris silver letter ‘M’ brooch, made by Ortak/Malcolm Gray. Sold in my Etsy shop, Inglenookery: click on photo for details. (NOW SOLD).
Ortak sterling silver brooch, letter ‘P’, sold on eBay.
From my internet truffling, it seems that these letters are most similar to those used by William Morris in his Kelmscott Press edition of Chaucer’s collected works. You can see the letters here.
Morris is one of the founders of the Arts and Crafts movement, and a designer of beautiful textiles, tiles, stained glass, furniture, book design and calligraphy—you name it, he probably designed it.
Morris’s skill at calligraphy is well known, and his illuminated manuscripts and book illustrations are gorgeous and wonderful. Here are some letters designed by Morris that might also have been part of the inspiration for the brooch series above:
Letters designed by William Morris.
