Hathphul

This is a picture of my cousins Hathphul which she wore at her wedding in Sept 2010.

The word “Hathphul” translates directly to “Flower for the Hand” this specific ornament is worn by an Indian bride for the purpose of adornment. “the ornament literally bridges the gap between bracelet and finger rings with delicate gold chains” (Krishnan- 1999).

My intention is to use the idea of the Hathphul to create my own range of “flowers for the hand”.

Hathphul

The word “Hathphul” translates directly to “Flower for the Hand” this specific ornament is worn by an Indian bride for the purpose of adornment. “the ornament literally bridges the gap between bracelet and finger rings with delicate gold chains” (Krishnan- 1999).

My intention is to use the idea of the Hathphul to create my own range of “flowers for the hand”.

Earrings from the Old Days

Bale Jabbedar - North India, late 19th century, Gold enamelled earrings set with diamonds.

Karnaphul Jhumka - South India, late 19th- 20th century

Nagavadura - Tamil Nadu, Vellore; c.1880 - Stylised gold cobras

These are some egs. of Ear Ornaments that were used by Indian women in the old days.

(Indian Jewellery, Dance of the Peacock)

Suryakanthi Kathola

I think it is so amazing how different cultures had their own beliefs and how they found ways of incorporating their beliefs in the jewellery that they wore.

I found this really cool earring that is called Suryakanthi Kathola(sunflower earrings). These enormous gold solar symbols were worn suspended over the ears, they were intended to harness the power energies of the sun.

Indian Jewellery, Dance of the peacock,pg168.

Background

According to Krishnan (Indian Jewellery - Dance of The Peacock,pg168), Early sculptures demonstrate that ear ornaments were an important constituent of Indian Female Attire.


Symbolism
To a married woman, the ear ornament is auspicious, Bare earlobes signified widowhood.
Additionally a woman's wealth was conspicuously visible and the ear ornament became a statement of her status and power. Elongated earlobes were considered a sign of beauty and wealth. It was believed that the longer the earlobe , the greater the woman's wealth.

Earrings

(Traditional Jewellery of India - Oppi Untracht, pg.16)

Ive decided to incorporate the fashion theme into what I'm doing already which is working with Indian Bridal Jewellery.

I haven't made earrings on a while so i thought, why not for this project...Earrings play a role in the adornment of an Indian bride as you can see in this picture.

Fashion

The project that I am working on right now falls under the theme of "Fashion." In order to do this I first had to look at my recent copies of Glamour Magazine so that i could find some sort of common thread with the jewellery that people are wearing.

These pictures show pages from my journal where i created a story board effect that gave me an understanding as to "what's happening" in the fashion world!

What i noticed i from paging through magazines and speaking to other jewellery students is that most people are wearing fewer pieces of jewellery, but the jewellery that's being worn, be it earrings/neck pieces/rings etc, have become very bold, almost as if people are wearing statement pieces.

Arsi

Here i was thinking that not many people use mirrors in there jewellery...Mirror Rings have been used for over 300 years. They were originally worn by Muslim women but over the years they have been accepted by the Hindu women. They are called Arsi in Northern India.

One of the most richest periods of the development of traditional jewellery in India took place during the Mughal Dynasty(16th-19th century). Niccolao Manucci, a Venetian traveler who spent 60 years India, was lucky enough to be allowed into the private quarters of the mughal courts...he was a part time physician and soldier so he was allowed into the women's courts as well.

In his records he wrote" I have not relied on the knowledge of others;and i have not spoken of nothing which i have not seen." He gives a vivid description of court women's jewellery, "On fingers there are rings, and on the right thumb there is always a ring,where, in place of a stone, there is mounted a little mirror,having pearls around it. This mirror they use to look at themselves,an act which they are very fond, at any and every moment"

I'm not upset anymore...I'm actually glad it existed way before i was born and in a way i am continuing with something that is part of the history of Indian jewellery.

Reference: Traditional Jewellery Of India- Oppi Untracht

My Intentions

I want to create a set of bridal jewellery based on traditional indian bridal jewellery. My intention is to hire out the set for weddings. Ive been using henna patterns(mehndi) as a reference to my work so far...But i recently rediscovered this bracelet which was given to me about ten years ago by my gran, its a piece from a bridal set with belonged to my great granmother.. my mission now is to gather the other pieces from the set and try use them as a reference for my own work. The aspects that i will probably use is the techniques such as piercing and chasing, i going to try to find out if the motif is symbolic...it could be an aspect that use in my work as well.

Wedding Day

These are some pics of the wedding...She looked so beautiful.

Mehendi ceremony

My research report is going to be based on Hindu weddings and Mehendi. I went for my cousins wedding a few weeks ago, thankfully it was a traditional Hindu wedding so i manged to get pictures and information that should help me with my report.

Hindu weddings normally take place over 4 days, This is the mehendi ceremony, usually takes place on the Thursday. The mehendi night is a gathering of the bride and the women of the family as well as female friends, traditional music is played and mehendi is applied on the brides hands and feet. The elders of the family speak to the bride about marriage and give her advice about how she should act as a married women.The patterns that are drawn on the hands and feet mostly consist of flowers...Flowers are very important in Hinduism, they are used as offerings to God.

Mehendi

source: http//www.bandphotography.com

My jewellery is inspired mehendi patterns...mehendi is used for adornment purposes on Indian Brides.

Bridal Mehendi

source: http//www.fatmamehendi.com/images/services.jpg