Frozen

Titled Frozen, this neckpiece was made by the Vietnamese-born German jeweller, Sam Tho Duong. Inspired by the snow-laden branches of bare trees in the middle of a German Winter, it features hundreds of seed pearls secured in clusters onto oxidised silver spheres.

Seed pearls have a long history in jewellery design in the Western tradition, especially their use in mourning jewellery to represent tears. They were often set as borders for the brooches, rings and lockets that enclosed the locks of hair of a deceased loved one. Tho Duong’s neckpiece pays homage to this European tradition through the use of seed pearls to capture the fleeting beauty of a European Winter. This work, which demonstrates his manual deftness and his skill in metalwork, also highlights his ability to produce a highly original piece of contemporary jewellery.

Rebecca Evans, Curator of Decorative Arts & Design