Last Sunday I was at London Fashion Weekend, whilst on the first floor of Somerset House I stumbled across this gorgeous little stand in the jewellery room. That stand was adorned with a taxidermied pigeon and beautiful little gold claws grasping and precious stones. That was Tessa Metcalfe. On the train ride home I scoured the website and fell in love with almost everything on it.
They're stunning in a creepy, fairytale, slightly morbid, mythological way. Which considering the artist her self is inspired by Hans Christian Anderson's Ugly Duckling is really very apt. All the pieces are cast from pigeon feet found around the city of London as road kill or that have met their end naturally, this ties in fantastically with her 'Finding Beauty in the Gutter' approach to art and never letting anything go to waste.
Her entire collection changes the way you look at the 'rodents of the sky' and instead you see them as a beacon of forgotten, fantastical, beauty.
The collection tends to be created out of solid silver with gold plating detail and beautiful precious stones such as sapphires, rubies and opals. To me they are directly conjuring images of an Angelina Jolie inspired Maleficent, dark, deadly but beautiful and bizarre. Imagine a taloned claw of a magnificent wicked witch grasping a crystal ball in the highest room of the tallest tower - and that's what this jewellery line is.
Some of my favourite pieces are the Pigeon Grasp Claws with London Blue and Swiss Topaz Rings and the Hexagonal Prism Aquamarine Necklace. I love this ring because of the way the claws look like they're clinging to your finger, but what I like even more is the fact that these tiny little claws have there own tiny little rings made from beloved classic stones. The necklace I think is incredible because from the front it looks like the aquamarine crystal is only held in place by these two bird claws holding it. The optical illusion make it a stunning piece of jewellery.
Some of these pieces are expensive, and probably don't suit everybody's budget. But they are the most exquisite pieces of jewellery I have ever come across - so well worth every penny. But more than that there are many pieces that are available for less that £100!
To shop Tessa Metcalfe Jewellery and have your own piece of fairytale law, click
here.
All images are from the Tessa Metcalfe Website.
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