These beautiful earrings from Laura Eyles dangle beautifully on the wearer. The earrings are made of blackened sterling silver rectangular frames, holding mother of pearl in each.
They are asymmetrical, with one earring featuring a beautiful baroque pearl hanging under two sections of mother of pearl, and the other featuring three sections of mother of pearl. These earrings are complete with butterfly backs.
Dimensions:
Total length: 55mm
Length from post: 53mm
Width: 13mm
Materials: Sterling silver, mother of pearl, freshwater pearl.
These mother of pearl earrings are an extension of Laura Eyles' hand carved button work that she created for her solo exhibition 'A Pearler's Life For Me' at e.g. etal. Before the birth of plastics, mother of pearl was used for making buttons. In the 19th century, Broome was one of the world's major suppliers of mother of pearl for the button making industry.
Laura says that working with the material of the shell from the oyster that makes her south sea pearls allow her to consider the whole life cycle of the oyster, it's pearl making and it's shell collection. Carving and drilling buttons connects her with history and an industry that worked with beautiful natural materials.
The titles of these mother of pearl pieces are all of memories of her time spent living and working on the Dampier Peninsula at Australia's oldest family run South Sea Pearl Farm.
