Caught in a Kupittaan Kulta trap

Sep29

NOTE: Even though this is an old page, I update it every time I get a new piece of Elis Kauppi’s trapped orb jewellery. So if you are a fan of these pieces, do bookmark this page! My Etsy shop is now closed, but I am selling on Instagram: Inglenookery.

I am a massive fan of Nordic jewellery, and especially the designs of Elis Kauppi (1921-2004) made by his firm of Kupittaan Kulta of Turku, Finland. One type of jewellery that Kauppi specialised in is the ‘trapped’ or ‘caged’ bead series, where spherical balls of semi-precious gemstones are caught in shell-like or barred or pronged or other sort of cage, enabling them to move but not escape. This type of kinetic jewellery dates from the 1960s and 1970s.

I am always keeping an eye out for these pieces, as they appeal to me so much, and I have had a few in my Etsy shop (now closed) and now for sale via my Instagram account, Inglenookery. I’ve put the ones for sale at the top of the pics here, so they’re not quite in the design order I’d like, but it’s easier for buyers to find what’s still available.

1960s trapped carnelian orb ring by Elis Kauppi for Kupittaan Kulta. For sale via my Instagram account, Inglenookery.

Trapped citrine orbs in a stylish ring designed by Elis Kauppi for Kupittaan Kulta. For sale via my Instagram account, Inglenookery.

Two different styles of trapped orb rings. The triple-orb rings are now sold; the dangling double-orb citrine ring is still available.

An aventurine bead held by four prongs, allowing the bead to move. Andother Elis Kauppi deign for Kupittaan Kulta. (NOW SOLD).

A stylish ring with an aventurine orb held by four prongs, allowing the bead to swivel in its pretty trap. Another Elis Kauppi design for Kupittaan Kulta. (NOW SOLD).

Smoky quartz trapped orb ring by Elis Kauppi for Kupittaan Kulta. For sale in my Etsy shop, Inglenookery: click on photo for details. (NOW SOLD).

Chrysoprase trapped orb ring, by Elis Kauppi for Kupittaan Kulta. For sale in my Etsy shop, Inglenookery: click on photo for details. (NOW SOLD).

Carnelian trapped orb ring, by Elis Kauppi for Kupittaan Kulta. For sale in my Etsy shop, Inglenookery: click on photo for details. (NOW SOLD).

Kupittaan Kulta ring, designed by Elis Kauppi, with three dangling chrysoprase trapped orbs. (NOW SOLD).

Tiger’s eye trapped orb pendant, by Elis Kauppi for Kupittaan Kulta. For sale in my Etsy shop, Inglenookery: click on photo for details. (NOW SOLD).

Double oyster or clam ring with a trapped moonstone or pale watery blue chalcedony orb and plain exteriors to the shells. Designed by Elis Kauppi for Kupittaan Kulta. These rings come with single, double and triple shells, with plain exteriors or ridged ones; some are worn with the openings running across the finger and others running up it. (NOW SOLD).

A small chrysoprase bead trapped in one of Eliss Kauppi's famous 'oyster' series. I have seen these ring with single, double and triple shells.

A small chrysoprase bead trapped in one of Elis Kauppi’s famous ‘oyster’ series rings for Kupittaan Kulta. For sale in my Etsy shop: click on photo for details. (NOW SOLD).

Carnelian triple clam or oyster shell ring, by Elis Kauppi for Kupittaan Kulta. For sale in my Etsy shop, Inglenookery: click on photo for details. (NOW SOLD).

Another shot of the carnelian triple oyster or clam ring, designed by Elis Kauppi.

Green chalcedony trapped orb ring, by Elis Kauppi for Kupittaan Kulta. For sale in my Etsy shop, Inglenookery: click on photo for details. (NOW SOLD).

Amethyst clam or oyster ring by Elis Kauppi for Kupittaan Kulta. For sale in my Etsy shop, Inglenookery: click on photo for details. (NOW SOLD).

Aventurine clam or oyster ring by Finnish designer Elis Kauppi for Kupittaan Kulta. For sale in my Etsy shop, Inglenookery: click on photo for details. (NOW SOLD).

Trapped rhodochrosite orbs, in a ring designed by Elis Kauppi for Kupittaan Kulta. For sale in my Etsy shop, Inglenookery: click on photo for details. (NOW SOLD).

Moss agate trapped bead, held by the four prongs. Designed by Elis Kapuppi for Kupittaan Kulta.

Pendant with a moss agate trapped bead, held by the four prongs. Designed by Elis Kauppi for Kupittaan Kulta. For sale in my Etsy shop: click on photo for details. (NOW SOLD).

Amethyst trapped orb pendant, by Elis Kauppi for Kupittaan Kulta. For sale in my Etsy shop: click on photo for details. (NOW SOLD).

Caged amethyst bead ina heart-shaped sterling silver cage, by Elis Kauppi for Kupittaan Kulta.

Caged amethyst bead in a heart-shaped sterling silver cage, a pendant by Elis Kauppi for Kupittaan Kulta. For sale in my Etsy shop: click on photo for details. (NOW SOLD).

Tiger’s eye trapped bead pendant by Elis Kauppi for Kupittaan Kulta. For sale in my Etsy shop: click on photo for details. (NOW SOLD).

Tiger's eye trapped bead pendant by Elis Kauppi for Kupittaan Kulta. Coming soon to my Etsy shop.

Another tiger’s eye trapped bead pendant by Elis Kauppi for Kupittaan Kulta. For sale in my Etsy shop: click on photo for details. (NOW SOLD).

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 10

Aug3

Part 10 of an occasional series about rings in my Etsy shop that remind me of things.

Ring:

Vintage foiled raked glass ring with a lovely swirly pattern. For sale in my Etsy shop: click on photo for details. (NOW SOLD).

Thing:

The Starry Night, Vincent Van Gogh, June 1889. Museum of Modern Art, New York.

UPDATE: The ring has now sold. Sorry!

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, and the rings of Saturn.

A rare early Bernard Instone brooch

Jul18

I am so excited to be able to offer for sale in my Etsy shop a rare early Bernard Instone brooch.

Early Bernard Instone brooch. For sale in my Etsy shop: click on photo for details. (NOW SOLD.)

The brooch has a matrix turquoise held in a split / scalloped collet, set within a sterling silver triangular frame filled with handwrought sprays of leaves, flowers and triskeles / trinity knots.

Even though the brooch is not marked, I believe it to be an early piece by Bernard Instone. A very similar piece is currently for sale at Tadema Gallery, and mine bears an uncanny similarity in form, motifs and style of manufacture. The two brooches are undoubtedly by the same hand.

Bernard Instone studied at the Birmingham School of Jewellery at Vittoria Street, part of the Birmingham School of Art, under Arthur and Georgie Gaskin. He worked for John Paul Cooper for a while before opening Langstone Silver Works in Digbeth in 1920. The influence of both the Gaskins and Cooper can be seen in this piece: intricate and ornate floral decorations surrounding semi precious cabochons. Instone went on to develop a rather less busy, more fluid style. This piece is an interesting example of his early work.

I have written a more detailed blog post about Instone here.

UPDATE 19 July 2016: Wow, less than 24 hours in my shop and it sold!

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.

Animal jewellery

May3

I love nature and wildlife so I’m always happy when I get my hands on some animal jewellery. I have some new pieces in my Etsy shop as of yesterday:

Vintage sterling silver frog stick pin. For sale in my Etsy shop: click on photo for details. (NOW SOLD).

Vintage handpainted lapwing pendant in sterling silver handmade surround with chain. For sale in my Etsy shop: click on photo for details. (NOW SOLD).

Vintage sterling silver and blue glass dolphin brooch. For sale in my Etsy shop: click on photo for details. (NOW SOLD).

They join the animal jewellery I already have: click on all photos for more details.

Vintage horse and bear pendant and chain, based on a Viking-period design. Finnish. (NOW SOLD).

Vintage Art Deco enamel and silver sailfish brooch. (NOW SOLD).

Vintage puffy fish charm bracelet. (NOW SOLD).

Vintage cloisonné enamel brooch, Ancient Egyptian Horus or Ra-Horakhty falcon, Egyptian Revival pin. (NOW SOLD).

Vintage silver butterfly brooch.

Vintage Scandinavian silver leaping deer brooch by A Klokker, Denmark. (NOW SOLD).

Art Deco scorpion brooch with glass jewels. (NOW SOLD).

Vintage silver and enamel peacock brooch from Thailand. (NOW SOLD).

Elegant vintage Danish sterling silver clipon earrings. (NOW SOLD).

Vintage enamel and silver butterfly bar brooch.

Vintage 830 silver bird ring, Danish silver openwork ring, eagle, hawk, raptor or dove, Scandinavian silver. (NOW SOLD).

Vintage sterling silver fish brooch.

Vintage enamel and silver red cardinal bird brooch. (NOW SOLD).

Vintage lion and unicorn heraldic brooch. (NOW SOLD).

Vintage sterling silver brooch with birds and grapes, French by H Teguy.

Vintage 800 silver brooch with birds and grapes, French by H Teguy.

Vintage mesh metal purse with dragon design and blue cabochons. Okay, it might be mythological but it’s still an animal ….

Rings that remind me of things: Part 8

Apr19

Part 8 of an occasional series about rings in my Etsy shop that remind me of things.

Ring:

Vintage sterling silver bypass ring with two spheres. For sale in my Etsy shop: click on photo for details. (NOW SOLD).

Thing(s):

Pluto and its moon Charon. Photo composite made by Jcpag2012 from originals by Pat Rawlings and NASA.

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, and spider eyes.

21 APRIL 2016 UPDATE: The ring has now sold. Sorry!

A Charles Rennie Mackintosh Mockintosh

Apr14

Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868-1928) is the most iconic of all Scottish Arts and Crafts designers. Glasgow-born and based Mackintosh was a talented architect, furniture designer, artist, and more. His works have inspired a range of replicas and items inspired by his designs, and these are fondly known as ‘Mockintoshes‘ (I’m a sucker for a bit of word play).

I recently acquired a piece of silver jewellery, a pendant, in a style that I thought was almost certainly Mackintosh, but with a motif I didn’t recognise. The pendant has two turbaned figures with what look like long capes facing each other. They are so stylised that it is easy to look at the design and not see the figures immediately.

Charles Rennie Mackintosh-inspired sterling silver pendant by Malcolm Gray of Ortak. For sale in my Etsy shop: click on photo for details. (NOW SOLD).

I wondered what the inspiration for the piece was. Some internet truffling was in order. Luckily for me I hit pay dirt in the first place I looked: the Wikipedia page on Rennie Mackintosh:

Cabinet designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, in the collections of the Royal Ontario Museum, Canada. Photo by Tony Hisgett.

Going to the Royal Ontario Museum website, I found that the cabinet was designed by Rennie Mackintosh in 1902, and made by Francis Smith and Son in Glasgow that same year. The cabinet is in white painted oak, and the insides of the doors are lined with silver foil inlaid with a design in coloured glass of a woman holding a stylised rose in the design known as the Glasgow Rose. The Museum acquired its example in 1983-4.

More truffling showed that Mackintosh’s original design for the cabinet (accession no GLAHA 41118) is held by the Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery at the University of Glasgow. The Hunterian holds a huge collection of material by and related to Mackintosh. The pair of cabinets were designed for Mrs Rowat (the mother-in-law of Mackintosh’s friend and mentor, Francis Henry Newbery) for the living room of her house at 14 Kingsborough Gardens, Glasgow.

Mackintosh had a duplicate pair made for his own home in Glasgow, and this pair is now on display in ‘The Mackintosh House’ in the Hunterian Museum (accession nos GLAHA 41221 and 41222), where they can be seen flanking one of the fireplaces.

As well as featuring the Glasgow Rose, the design also features the heart-shaped leaf motif known as the ‘cicely leaf’ or ‘cecily leaf’. Both motifs were used by Mackintosh and so are often found in Mockintoshes. I’ve written a short blog post on the cicely leaf motif here.

Charles Rennie Mackintosh Society website.

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).

Inglenookery

West Country witterings

Archives

Caught in a Kupittaan Kulta trap

Amethyst jewellery

Rings that remind me of things, Part 10

A rare early Bernard Instone brooch

Rings that remind me of things: Part 9

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

Animal jewellery

Rings that remind me of things: Part 8

A Charles Rennie Mackintosh Mockintosh

Moss agate