Sunday 8 July 2012

finished amulets

  Continuing from The Small Blessings http://pittrivers-amulets.blogspot.co.uk/project at The Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford, I went on to finish off some of the amulets which I started during the project. I have also made a few new ones.
To give the finished amulets a feeling of belonging to the permanent collections, they were all hand labeled and numbered.

plaster, gold and silver leaf

plaster, metal matchbox holder

aluminium, crystal bead, leather

embroidered wool purse, leather, donkey hair, found objects

aluminium, stone, leather

beeswax, plaster, thread, paper

copper, found objects, knitted purse

plaster, gold and silver leaf

Beeswax, plaster and pins

The labels were edged with aluminium and copper, to give a similar feel to the labels in the museum. All the specimens from the project have gone through conservation to check for any infestation and put through the deep freeze. This will protect objects in the museum from potential contamination.

Working on this unique project has inspired my work a great deal. It has led me to try out new techniques, such as mould making and casting and also to consider ways of presenting my work.
Hopefully I will continue to develop some of these ideas in my future work.