Tag Archive | my Etsy shop

Rings that remind me of things: Part 12

Apr16

Part 12 of an occasional series about rings in my Etsy shop that remind me of things.

Ring:

Art Deco green paste ring. For sale in my Etsy shop: click on photo for details.

Thing:

The stepped Pyramid of Djoser at Saqqara, Egypt.

So far I have had rings that remind me of an Iron Age hillfort, an alien spaceship, a cream horn, a radio telescope, Noah’s Ark, an octopus tentacle, spider eyes, Pluto and its moon Charon, the rings of Saturn, The Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh and some lichen.

UPDATE: The ring is now sold. Sorry!

Rings that remind me of things: Part 11

Oct5

Part 11 of an occasional series about rings in my Etsy shop that remind me of things.

Ring:

Vintage enamel and sterling silver ring by Joid’art of Barcelona, Spain. For sale in my Etsy shop: click on photo for details.

Thing:

Lichen Xanthoria parietina. Photo by James Lindsey at Ecology of Commanster.

UPDATE: The ring is now sold. Sorry!

Amethyst jewellery

Sep19

I have always had a fondness for amethysts: something about the beautiful violet colour is so appealing. So no surprise that I seem to have accumulated a few pieces of amethyst jewellery for my Etsy shop …

Amethyst and sterling silver pendant, hallmarked Sweden 1970. For sale in my Etsy shop: click on photo for details. (NOW SOLD).

Amethyst and sterling silver ring, hallmarked in Birmingham in 1973. For sale in my Etsy shop: click on photo for details. (NOW SOLD).

Kultaseppa Salovaara amethyst and sterling silver pendant. A great piece of Finnish design from the 1970s. For sale in my Etsy shop: click on photo for details. (NOW SOLD).

Niels Erik From (NE From) amethyst and sterling silver ring. For sale in my Etsy shop: click on photo for details.

An amazing amethyst late Arts and Crafts ring, with seven magnificent amethysts. For sale in my Etsy shop: click on photo for details.

A stunning Niels Erik From amethyst and sterling silver necklace. For sale in my Etsy shop: click on photo for details. (NOW SOLD).

Jugendstil amethyst and 935 silver brooch, with a ginkgo leaf design, possibly by Max Gradl of Pforzheim Germany. This is a great example of early 1900s German Art Nouveau jewellery. For sale in my Etsy shop: click on photo for details.

Caged amethyst pendant necklace, by Elis Kauppi of Kupittaan Kulta, Finland. For sale in my Etsy shop: click on photo for details. (NOW SOLD).

Arts and Crafts style amethyst brooch, vintage lace pin. For sale in my Etsy shop: click on photo for details.

Kultaseppa Salovaara amethyst and sterling silver pendant; a lovely 1970s vintage Finnish piece of jewellery. For sale in my Etsy shop: click on photo for details. (NOW SOLD).

Amethyst is the birthstone for February.

Rings that remind me of things: Part 9

Jul15

Part 9 of an occasional series about rings in my Etsy shop that remind me of things.

Ring:

Banded agate ring. For sale in my Etsy shop: click on photo for details.

Thing:

Saturn’s rings, photographed by the Cassini Orbiter. Photo by NASA, cropped and flipped 180 degrees by me to match my ring. Click on photo for details.

So far I have had rings that remind me of an Iron Age hillfort, an alien spaceship, a cream horn, a radio telescope, Noah’s Ark, an octopus tentacle, spider eyes, and Pluto and its moon Charon.

UPDATE: The ring is now sold. Sorry!

Arts and Crafts cicely (or is it cecily?) leaf motifs

May9

I have quite a few pieces of silver jewellery in my Etsy shop that are inspired by British Arts and Crafts designs, most notably those of Charles Rennie Mackintosh. One of the motifs he and his contemporaries used quite a lot is known as the cicely leaf design – though I often see it written as cecily leaf.

Chalres Rennie Mackintosh design for a stencil to go on the back of a chair, 1902. It features two Glasgow Roses and several cicely leaves. From the collection of the Hunterian Museum.

Charles Rennie Mackintosh design, 1902. It features two Glasgow Roses and several cicely leaves. From the collection of the Hunterian Museum.

Sweet cicely (Myrrhis odorata) is a member of the umbellifer family, similar to cow parsley, Queen Anne’s lace, fennel and wild carrot.

Sweet cicely (Myrrhis odorata). Photo by H. Zell.

Sweet cicely (Myrrhis odorata).

The problem is, the fern-like, divided pinnate leaf of sweet cicely looks nothing like the leaf described as the cicely (or cecily) leaf, with its broad heart-shaped or teardrop-shaped leaf and prominent central rib! I have no idea where the name of the motif came from, but it is in very common use. Maybe it is correctly spelled cecily, and was called after a lady of that name … I’ve had a good old truffle online and I’m none the wiser.

Cicely leaf overlap ring. For sale in my Etsy shop: click on photo for details. (NOW SOLD).

Vintage cecily leaf design peridot glass stud earrings. For sale in my Etsy shop: click on photo for details.

Vintage cicely leaf sterling silver and peridot glass stud earrings. For sale in my Etsy shop: click on photo for details.

Charles Rennie Mackintosh style sterling silver ring with cecily leaf design. For sale in my Etsy shop: click on photos for details.

Charles Rennie Mackintosh style sterling silver ring with cicely leaf design. For sale in my Etsy shop: click on photos for details. (NOW SOLD).

Vintage Ortak brooch with three cicely leaves. For sale in my Etsy shop: click on photo for details. (NOW SOLD).

Vintage jadeite and sterling silver ring with cicely leaf design. For sale in my Etsy shop: click on photo for details. (NOW SOLD).

Charles Rennie Mackintosh style vintage brooch with Glasgow Rose and cicely leaves. For sale in my Etsy shop: click on photo for details. (NOW SOLD).

Vintage Charles Rennie Mackintosh style brooch with Glasgow Rose and cicely leaves. For sale in my Etsy shop: click on photo for details.

Vintage Charles Rennie Mackintosh design pendant with figures and cicely leaf. For sale in my Etsy shop: click on photo for details. (NOW SOLD).

Charles Rennie Mackintosh style necklace with cecily leaves. Made in sterling silver by Carrick Jewellery and hallmarked Edinburgh 1988. For sale: click on photos for details. (NOW SOLD).

But whatever the origins of the motif and its various names, it’s a lovely one that was commonly used.

Moss agate

Mar17

Moss agate is such a beautiful and appealing stone, with its beautiful dark green mossy filaments and sometimes with rusty red or occasionally black inclusions as well. It occurs naturally in Scotland, and so it comes as little surprise that it was, and is, commonly used in Scottish jewellery.

Moss agate is a form of chalcedony, and is sometimes called dendritic agate. Both ‘moss’ and ‘dendritic’ refer to the organic appearance of the filaments within the stone. Despite their appearance, they are mineral rather than vegetable!

I am fascinated by moss agate and always try to have some in my Etsy shop. Below are a selection: some are for sale and some have already sold (marked as such).

Art Deco moss agate necklace. For sale in my Etsy shop, Inglenookery: click on photo for details.

Handmade moss agate ring, hallmarked 1970. For sale in my Etsy shop, Inglenookery: click on photo for details.

Vintage John Hart Scottish moss agate and sterling silver brooch, 1962. For sale in my Etsy shop: click on photos for details.

Vintage John Hart Scottish moss agate and sterling silver brooch, 1962. For sale in my Etsy shop, Inglenookery: click on photos for details.

Moss agate Celtic brooch by Thomas Kerr Ebbutt, hallmarked Edinburgh 1965. For sale in my Etsy shop, Inglenookery: click on photos for details.

Huge moss agate and silver tone metal modernist statement ring. For sale in my Etsy shop, Inglenookery: click on photo for details.

Vintage moss agate and sterling silver bangle, 1971. Click on photos for details. (NOW SOLD).

Vintage modernist ring by N E From with moss agate.

Vintage Danish modernist ring by N E From with moss agate and sterling silver. For sale in my Etsy shop, Inglenookery: click on photos for details. (NOW SOLD).

Vintage John Hart Scottish moss agate and sterling silver brooch, 1962. For sale in my Etsy shop, Inglenookery: click on photos for details. (NOW SOLD).

Vintage John Hart Scottish moss agate and sterling silver brooch, 1971. Click on photo for details. (NOW SOLD).

Vintage Scottish moss agate ring, 1964. Click on photo for details. (NOW SOLD).

Moss agate ring. For sale in my Etsy shop: click on photo for details. (NOW SOLD).

Moss agate ring. For sale in my Etsy shop, Inglenookery: click on photo for details. (NOW SOLD).

Vintage oval moss agate ring, with a Celtic style sterling silver mount. For sale in my Etsy shop, Inglenookery: click on photos for details. (NOW SOLD).

Vintage John Hart Scottish moss agate and sterling silver brooch, 1957. Click on photos for details. (NOW SOLD).

Vintage John Hart Scottish moss agate and sterling silver brooch, 1957. Click on photo for details. (NOW SOLD).

Vintage John Hart Scottish moss agate and sterling silver brooch, 1965. Click on photos for details. (NOW SOLD).

Vintage John Hart Scottish moss agate and sterling silver brooch, 1965. Click on photo for details. (NOW SOLD).

Vintage Art Deco moss agate and sterling silver ring. For sale in my Etsy shop, Inglenookery: click on photos for details. (NOW SOLD).

Vintage Art Deco moss agate pendant and chain, 1920s 1930s design. For sale in my Etsy shop: click on photos for details.

Vintage Art Deco moss agate pendant and chain, 1920s 1930s design. (NOW SOLD).

The photographer’s assistant

Mar4

To photograph the vintage jewellery I sell in my Etsy shop, I use the windowsill in our bedroom as my studio. It faces south-west, so gets the best of the sun on offer to our dark old cottage. I prefer photos that are taken in natural light, and so am limited by our gloomy winter weather in the times I can successfully take photos. But whenever I do, there is always one constant: Ballou, my photographer’s assistant.

Ballou in her natural habitat: on her (our) bed.

As soon as I get the gear for my photographing together (the board from an old flower press, some sheets of A4 white paper, some blu tack and an old kilt pin), she’s alert and ready to go. She’ll jump on to the windowsill next to my set-up, and oversee proceedings. Every single time.

Had enough now.

Thank goodness for the cropping facility in my photo editing software, because there’s often a paw (or even a sniffing nose) in shot.

She’s even managed to sneak into a couple of the shots I have used in my shop. Here she is reflected on the back of a fabulous N E From amethyst necklace:

Rings that remind me of things: Part 7

Feb2

Part 7 of an occasional series about rings in my Etsy shop that remind me of things.

Ring:

Vintage Swedish green chrysoprase and sterling silver ring, made in 1957. (NOW SOLD).

Thing:

The eyes of a jumping spider. Photo by Opoterser.

So far I have had rings that remind me of an Iron Age hillfort, an alien spaceship, a cream horn, a radio telescope, Noah’s Ark, and an octopus tentacle.

Hmmm. Maybe I should get out more ….

Modernist bobbles

Oct13

A few pieces of silver jewellery for sale in my Etsy shop display a technique known as granulation: basically it’s the application of small silver bobbles or blobs to a surface using solder, or joining (fusing) them together to form a bobbly surface. It gives a wonderfully organic, blobby effect, and I love it!

Vintage modernist sterling silver ring with granulated bobbles, made in London in 1973. For sale in my Etsy shop: click on photo for details. (NOW SOLD).

Vintage 1970 modernist Swedish sterling dome ring, imported to London. For sale in my Etsy shop: click on photo for details. (NOW SOLD).

Vintage modernist malachite and sterling silver pendant necklace, with granulated decoration. For sale in my Etsy shop: click on photo for details. (NOW SOLD).

Vintage modernist sterling silver pendant with granulated design. Imported to London, 1973. For sale in my Etsy shop: click on photo for details. (NOW SOLD).

It’s interesting that two of the dated pieces hail from 1973, and another from 1970. It seems like there was a whole lot of bobbling going on back then!

Vintage modernist Aksel Holmsen ring. For sale in my Etsy shop: click on photo for details. (NOW SOLD).

This Aksel Holmsen ring isn’t strictly speaking granulated, but its bobbly so I’m bunging it in here.

Here’s a video of a clever jeweller demonstrating his (rather unorthodox) method of making granulation bobbles. As an added bonus, it also includes a cat, yay.

N E From designs, #1: asymmetrical concave discs

Aug18

The more I study Niels Erik From’s modernist jewellery, the more I like it. I don’t know whether it’s to do with my archaeological career, and the years spent working on finds from various excavations, but I am an inveterate typologiser. I just can’t help it. So I have noticed the variations in the various designs that N E From used in his jewellery.

NE From rose quartz ring, with a larger head at 16 mm diameter. For sale in my Etsy shop, Inglenookery: click on photo for details. Design #1.1.1

Usually he made a suite of jewellery types – rings, brooches, earrings, cufflinks, bracelets, necklaces, pendants – and in a variety of themes all riffing on a basic design, and using a range of different semi-precious stones. Putting my Linnaean hat on, I’m going to start with what I rather clunkily call his asymmetrical concave disc design. It probably has a proper name given to it by From, but I don’t know what that is.

The characteristic features of this design are a dished, concave disc of silver, into which is set, asymmetrically and near the edge of the disc, a cabochon semi precious stone (or sometimes a solid silver cabochon) held in a plain collet. The silver around the collet is oxidised to give a blackish effect, to contrast with the rest of the disc, which is untreated and silvery.

N E From amethyst ring, 15 mm diameter head. NOW SOLD: click on photo for details. Design #1.1.1

N E From black onyx ring, 15 mm diameter head. NOW SOLD: click on photo for details. Design #1.1.1

NE From amazonite ring with a smaller diameter head (13 mm). For sale in my Etsy shop: click on photos for details. Design #1.1.1

NE From rose quartz and sterling silver ring, this one with a smaller head at 13 mm diameter. For sale in my Etsy shop, Inglenookery: click on photo for details. Design #1.1.1

This basic design is also found in brooches:

N E From solid silver brooch, for sale by decotini on Etsy: click on photo for details. This design is also occasionally seen as a pendant brooch, with an additional small loop attachment on the back to allow it to be worn as a pendant. 45 mm diameter. Design #1.1.2

and earrings:

Niels Eric From modernist rose quartz clip on earrings. For sale in my Etsy shop, Inglenookery: click on photo for details. (NOW SOLD). Design #1.1.3

and cufflinks:

N E From tiger’s eye cufflinks. For sale at vintagecufflinks.com: click on photo for details. Design #1.1.4

and bracelets:

N E From blue glass bracelet. For sale at scandinaviansilver.co.uk: click on photo for details. Design #1.1.5

and necklaces:

N E From solid silver necklace. Design #1.1.6

and pendants:

Niels Erik From rhodochrosite and sterling silver pendant. Click on photo for details. (NOW SOLD). Design #1.1.7

N E From amethyst pendant. For sale at JohnKelly1880.co.uk: click on photo for details. 42 mm diameter. Design #1.1.7Okay, now we’ve got the basics out of the way, let’s start riffing.

Multiple discs in a row:

N E From Baltic amber moderist brooch. For sale in my Etsy shop: click on photo for details.

N E From Baltic amber brooch. NOW SOLD: click on photo for details. Design #1.2.1

Multiple discs in an equal sized trefoil arrangement:

N E From amethyst brooch. NOW SOLD by VintageJewelsNL on Etsy: click on photo for details. Design #1.2.2

N E From rose quartz pendant. #1.2.3

Multiple discs in an unequal sized trefoil arrangement:

N E From silver earrings. For sale on Etsy: click photo for details.

N E From silver earrings. For sale on eBay: click photo for details.

Rings of six discs:

N E From rose quartz brooch. For sale at Estate925 at trocadero.com: click on photo for details. Design #1.2.5

N E From amber pendant. Design #1.2.6

Discs interspersed with open circles:

Niels Erik From rose quartz modernist bracelet with five discs. For sale in my Etsy shop, Inglenookery: click on photo for details. Design #1.3.1

N E From rose quartz bracelet with six discs. NOW SOLD: click on photo for details. Design #1.3.1

N E From rose quartz necklace. (Possibly a bracelet later converted into a necklace?). Design #1.3.2

Discs with surrounding circles:

N E From rose quartz earrings. Design #1.4.1

N E From chrysoprase bracelet. Design #1.4.2

N E From amber necklace. Design #1.4.3

N E From amethyst pendant. NOW SOLD: click on photo for details. Design #1.4.4

NE From Baltic amber pendant and chain. For sale in my Etsy shop, Inglenookery: click on photo for details. Design #1.4.4

Discs with surrounding double circles:

N E From chrysoprase brooch. NOW SOLD by VintageDesignSilver on Etsy: click on photos for details. Design #1.5.1

N E From rose quartz earrings. NOW SOLD by PatriciaJon on Etsy: click on photo for details. by Design #1.5.2

N E From amber pendant. Design #1.5.3

Discs with surrounding ovals:

N E From amber bracelet. For sale at vintage-jewels.nl: click on photo for details. Design #1.6.1

N E From rose quartz necklace. Design #1.6.2

I’m sure there are plenty of other variations I haven’t come across yet. It’s fun looking!

Cabochon semi precious stone types I have seen used in the various designs:

Single arrangements:

Design #1.1.1 (ring): amber, amethyst, chrysoprase/green chalcedony, glass (blue), ivory, malachite, onyx (black), rhodochrosite, rose quartz, solid silver, tiger’s eye.

Design #1.1.2 (brooch): amber, chrysoprase/green chalcedony, glass (blue), rose quartz, solid silver.

Design #1.1.3 (earrings): amethyst, chrysoprase/green chalcedony, rose quartz, solid silver.

Design #1.1.4 (cufflinks): amber, rose quartz, tiger’s eye.

Design #1.1.5 (bracelet): chrysoprase/green chalcedony, glass (blue), rose quartz, solid silver.

Design #1.1.6 (necklace): solid silver.

Design #1.1.7 (pendant): amber (small and large), chrysoprase/green chalcedony (large), rhodochrosite (small), rose quartz (small and large).

Multiple arrangements

Design #1.2.1 (row brooch): amber, rose quartz, tiger’s eye.

Design #1.2.2 (equal trefoil brooch): amber, amethyst, rose quartz.

Design #1.2.3 (equal trefoil pendant): rose quartz.

Design #1.2.4 (unequal triple earrings): solid silver.

Design #1.2.5 (ring of six discs brooch): chrysoprase/green chalcedony, rose quartz.

Design #1.2.6 (ring of six discs pendant): amber

Discs interspersed with open circles

Design #1.3.1 (bracelet): amethyst, rose quartz.

Design #1.3.2 (bracelet): rose quartz.

Discs with surrounding circles

Design #1.4.1 (earrings): rose quartz.

Design #1.4.2 (bracelet): chrysoprase/green chalcedony.

Design #1.4.3 (necklace): amber.

Design #1.4.4 (pendant): amethyst, tiger’s eye.

Discs with surrounding double circles

Design #1.5.1 (brooch): amethyst, chrysoprase/green chalcedony.

Design #1.5.2 (earrings): rose quartz.

Design #1.5.3 (pendant): amber.

Discs with surrounding ovals

Design #1.6.1 (bracelet): amber.

Design #1.6.2 (necklace): rose quartz.