Broche c. 1906

This gold brooch with turquoise stone was made by Frans Zwollo. It's small, about the width of your palm, and the kind of thing you might pin to your lapel or a light summer scarf. Imagine Zwollo working away at this piece. He would have started with a flat piece of gold, thinking about how to coax it into this biomorphic form. Look closely and you’ll see these swooping wings, so detailed that you can see each individual feather etched into the gold. And, coiling around the wings, two symmetrical snakes curve inwards towards a central turquoise stone. It's the colour of sea foam. The artist is in conversation with an ancient language here – of heraldry, myth, and symbolism. I see the movement between craft and storytelling. It suggests an ongoing interest in how we adorn ourselves. It's about what we choose to carry with us and how we fly through the world.