Large Chantilly Necklace

Material: Copper – enamelled and gold-plated, swarovski crystals
Technique: Chantilly lace
Size: 48cm x 25cm x 2cm

This necklace was created for the International Lace Award Competition organized by the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney, Australia. It was selected among finalists and was exhibited in the Powerhouse Museum “Love Lace” exhibition in 2012 – 2013. The Chantilly Necklace as acquired for Powerhouse Museum Jewellery Collection and exhibited in a prestigious exhibition A fine possession: Jewellery and identity, from 24 September 2014 – 20 September 2015.

“The Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences is delighted to present its most ambitious jewellery exhibition ever staged. Spanning millennia of jewellery history across continents and cultures:

A fine possession celebrates the central place of jewellery in our lives, from antiquity to the present-day, through a sumptuous selection of jewellery made, worn and collected in Australia, displaying over 700 rarely seen treasures.

“This stunning exhibition brings together objects from the Museum’s own rich collection that have rarely or never been seen, alongside prized possessions from a range of private and public collections from Australia and overseas,” said Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences Director, Rose Hiscock.

A fine possession Curator Eva Czernis-Ryl says the exhibition will appeal to anyone with “an interest in creative jewellery from different periods and cultures, and in objects of intimate beauty that enchant, surprise and stimulate the imagination”.  …. read the full article

Artist’s statement:

“I fell in love with Chantilly lace at the first sight. The black lace took my breath away and became my ‘dentelle fatale’. I love the irregular free-flowing patterns and shading of fine black silk. I love the feminine beauty and sensuality of the designs.

I consider this lace to be one of the finest achievements of the French fine crafts. It symbolizes the maturity, independence and refinement reached by the French in the Age of Enlightenment. A spirit of that era lives on in Chantilly lace – in preserved antique pieces as well as their modern reincarnations of contemporary machine-made lace. Chantilly’s timeless beauty keeps inspiring artists and designers, generation after generation.

In my own work, Chantilly lace continues to be the most difficult technique. The traditional patterns were designed for extremely fine silk, and it is a true challenge to adapt them for metalwork. I use very fine black-enamelled wire to re-create the delicacy of lace in a three-dimensional form. Following simple outlines and filling the shapes with an open half-stitch weave often poses technical questions that have to be solved creatively. Inevitably, not two pieces are the same, as they grow rather organically. Completed lace is layered, shaped and finished as jewellery.

Chantilly lace technique is rare in jewellery making. Nevertheless, it is highly suitable for creating unique, one-of-a-kind wearable art pieces. As a lacemaker, I find it highly rewarding to participate in the continuous  progress of Chantilly lace.”

Large Chantilly Necklace

Large Chantilly Necklace – detail

Large Chantilly Necklace – detail

Photography: Marinco Kojdanovski, MAAS, and Peter Flynn Niznansky

Copyright © 2014 Lenka Suchanek. All rights reserved.