{"id":10244,"date":"2022-04-28T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-04-27T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/homesantiques\/?post_type=purple_issue&p=10244"},"modified":"2022-05-12T10:08:40","modified_gmt":"2022-05-12T08:08:40","slug":"heirlooms-of-the-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/homesantiques\/2022\/04\/28\/heirlooms-of-the-future\/","title":{"rendered":"Heirlooms of the future"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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Pearly Queen of Jubilee Parade was a special commission for The Queen. <\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
HEIRLOOMS OF THE FUTURE<\/span><\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

ANN CARRINGTON<\/span><\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Meet the award-winning artist repurposing antique buttons, pearls, coins and cutlery into showstopping works of art, fit for a queen<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

FEATURE RHIANNON BATTEN<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This banner was designed to adorn the royal barge during The Queen\u2019s Diamond Jubilee celebrations in 2012 and contains half a million gold buttons<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Years ago, when sculptor Ann Carrington\u2019s young son had chickenpox and couldn\u2019t go to nursery, Carrington took him roaming in London. At one point they stopped near Trafalgar Square, captivated by the window of a stamp shop. They couldn\u2019t go inside, but Carrington\u2019s eye was caught by a tiny stamp with a pro le of The Queen, designed by Arnold Machin in 1970; she went back the next day and bought it. \u2018I knew it was the beginning of something,\u2019 she says. \u2018When I blew the stamp up to a large scale, all the printing dots looked like buttons and I thought, \u201cThat\u2019s perfect \u2013 pearly kings and queens and buttons and alternative royal families\u201d. The stories dovetailed.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carrington o en plays with scale in this way, turning familiar objects into pieces the viewer is forced to observe in a fresh light. Besides the Pearly Queen bu on tapestries, which grew out of her almost Pointillist reworking of Machin\u2019s stamp (and will no doubt be even more sought after this year in light of The Queen\u2019s Platinum Jubilee), this can be seen in works such as her 12 giant \u2018shell lady\u2019 sculptures. Made from real scallop shells collected from local shermen, they appeared around Margate over summer 2008 (you can still see one today at the town\u2019s Shell Gro o). A huge 12-foot bronze version also sits outside Margate\u2019s Turner Contemporary gallery, in homage to Mrs Booth, Turner\u2019s landlady and partner.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A work-in-progress inspired by Victorian anatomical engravings, translated in bone buttons; Carrington\u2019s galleons are woven with pearl necklaces, bangles, brooches and tiaras. Sheradon Dublin<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Other significant pieces include The Royal Jubilee Banner <\/em>(also embroidered pearly-style with thousands of gold buttons and hung from the royal barge during 2012\u2019s Diamond Jubilee pageant); White Cloud City <\/em>and Wing Wo Wave \u2013 <\/em>twin sailing junks dripping with strings of car-boot-sale-foraged pearls and named after the locations of two of China\u2019s largest pearl accessories factories; and Devil\u2019s Trumpet, <\/em>a floral sculpture made from antique cutlery. The latter was acquired by the V&A and is now on permanent display in its silver galleries, while Carrington\u2019s long list of private collectors includes Paul Smith, Elton John and Gwyneth Paltrow.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Repurposing materials comes naturally to her. \u2018I\u2019ve always had scrapbooks and made collages from stamps, fruit wrappers, and interesting things I would nd on the street or in my pocket,\u2019 she says. Carrington studied at Bournville College of Art before doing a BA in Fine Art at Trent Polytechnic. <\/span>\u2018I was a good painter, but a boring painter,\u2019 she says of her transition from fine art to sculpture. \u2018I got a place on the sculpture course at the Royal College of Art, and that\u2019s when I went for it.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Few Homes & Antiques <\/em>readers would count antique cutlery, stamps or pearls as \u2018rubbish\u2019, but the old adage that \u2018one man\u2019s trash is another\u2019s treasure\u2019 has never been more magnificently realised than in Carrington\u2019s works. \u2018I don\u2019t use any old material to make any old sculpture,\u2019 she adds. \u2018The materials have to resonate.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Le Pom Pom, a bouquet of aliums, dahlias and blow balls made from spoons. <\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The cutlery bouquets came about after a trip to the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. \u2018I love the Dutch still lifes of the 16th and 17th centuries, and I was thinking that the only thing surviving from them today would be the silver. I wondered how I could make a contemporary version and I realised that, if I took the cutlery and goblets out of the picture, I could rebuild them as a bouquet. I already had vintage cutlery in the studio and the piles of spoons looked like petals; the materials were almost asking to be made into something.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carrington prefers to work with pieces that are slightly damaged. \u2018When they\u2019re all silver and polished, they look dull. When they\u2019re worn, with the gold coming through the silver and scratches and bumps on them, they\u2019re beautiful.\u2019 The less value the materials have, she adds, the more freeing they are to work with.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other materials Carrington works with are coins. \u2018My father\u2019s a coin collector and every birthday I\u2019d be given a coin in a plastic case and think \u201cOh no, not again\u201d.\u2019 A few years ago, with a bit of distance, she realised she loved coins and made a series of works inspired by them. Amplifying the scale again, she starts with an original coin then draws it, projects the drawing onto tin or pewter, hammers it out using repouss\u00e9, and adds banknote-style guilloch\u00e9 patterns around the coins.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This variety of techniques in Carrington\u2019s work is testament to her willingness to learn new skills. \u2018When I had the idea for the bouquets, I started gluing bits together and it didn\u2019t work, so I ended up taking myself o to evening classes for six months and learning to weld,\u2019 she says. And the repouss\u00e9? This idea was inspired by a man hammering out a tray in Marrakech. Carrington asked how much he wanted for it. \u2018He quoted some stupid price, so I asked how he\u2019d come up with it and he said \u201cOh I charge per bang\u2026 more bang for the buck\u201d. I thought that was brilliant, and decided that was how I was going to make my coins.\u2019 anncarrington.co.uk<\/a> <\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Meet the award-winning artist repurposing antique buttons, pearls, coins and cutlery.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":10240,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ub_ctt_via":"","purple_page_number":"38","purple_custom_meta_purple_page_number":"38","purple_seq_number":"1","purple_custom_meta_purple_seq_number":"1","purple_source_article":"article_38-1.xml","purple_custom_meta_purple_source_article":"article_38-1.xml","purple_source_issue":"June-2022","purple_custom_meta_purple_source_issue":"June-2022","purple_external_id":"June-2022-38-1","purple_custom_meta_purple_external_id":"June-2022-38-1","purple_issue_code":"|0000090928||","purple_custom_meta_purple_issue_code":"|0000090928||","purple_android_product":"com.im.handa.359","purple_custom_meta_purple_android_product":"com.im.handa.359","purple_ios_product":"com.im.handa.359","purple_custom_meta_purple_ios_product":"com.im.handa.359","purple_web_product":"","purple_custom_meta_purple_web_product":"","purple_publication_id":"5cc04d50-a13b-4710-8743-648e4aace342","purple_migrated":"","kt_blocks_editor_width":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2022-05-12T08:08:47Z","apple_news_article-theme":"","apple_news_api_id":"51b47a5d-8713-4f95-9bf1-98316d21c0f2","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2022-05-12T08:08:47Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AUbR6XYcTT5Wb8ZgxbSHA8g","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":true,"apple_news_is_preview":true,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_article_theme":"","apple_news_sections":"[]"},"categories":[21],"tags":[36],"apple_news_notices":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/49\/2022\/04\/647e3ebb-cdfe-41c5-9b54-1cbe26119f7a.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/homesantiques\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"5","apple_news_title":""},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/49\/2022\/04\/647e3ebb-cdfe-41c5-9b54-1cbe26119f7a.jpg",1735,2048,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/49\/2022\/04\/647e3ebb-cdfe-41c5-9b54-1cbe26119f7a-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/49\/2022\/04\/647e3ebb-cdfe-41c5-9b54-1cbe26119f7a-254x300.jpg",254,300,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/49\/2022\/04\/647e3ebb-cdfe-41c5-9b54-1cbe26119f7a-768x907.jpg",768,907,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/49\/2022\/04\/647e3ebb-cdfe-41c5-9b54-1cbe26119f7a-868x1024.jpg",800,944,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/49\/2022\/04\/647e3ebb-cdfe-41c5-9b54-1cbe26119f7a-1301x1536.jpg",1301,1536,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/49\/2022\/04\/647e3ebb-cdfe-41c5-9b54-1cbe26119f7a.jpg",1735,2048,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/homesantiques\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Meet the award-winning artist repurposing antique buttons, pearls, coins and cutlery.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/homesantiques\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10244"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/homesantiques\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/homesantiques\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/homesantiques\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/homesantiques\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10244"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/homesantiques\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10244\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11315,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/homesantiques\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10244\/revisions\/11315"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/homesantiques\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10240"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/homesantiques\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10244"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/homesantiques\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10244"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/homesantiques\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10244"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}