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| Click image to enlarge Athene Noctua Kevin Coates London, 1983 This and all related images from: The Victoria & Albert Museum |
I tend not to write about modern pieces, but, in my exploration of the world’s beautiful things, it’s inevitable that I’ll come across a recently-made item which requires further study.
This brooch is one of them. Made in 1983, this is the work of London goldsmith and musician Kevin Coates (b. 1950) who suggests “'the figurative element almost always exists within a larger abstract context.”
Coates showed a daringness to use the human form which, with the exception of cameos and portrait miniatures, is rarely seen in jewelry. He also incorporates a rhythm and poetry in his jewelry which is unusual and engaging.
In 2008, in a book written about his work, Coates elaborates on his philosophy, saying: “If jewellery has become jewel, then jewel must become poem. I realize that this is a personal philosophy, but it is at the very heart of what I seek in my work; I understand, too, that it requires the conspiracy of others to approach what I do in terms of connotation and not denotation, in other words to "read" it in terms of poetry not prose.”
We see how jewel can become poem with this brooch depicting the goddess Athena (known as the patroness of the arts). She is shown with a mask-like visage. She rests on a base which has been inscribed with her name in Greek.
Much of the brooch is, appropriately, Platinum—a metal from the Palladian group which borrows her name, Pallas Athena. Behind the goddess' head, like a halo, a circle of sapphire blue titanium is etched with gold stars to mimic the night sky, suggesting the time of night when Athena's sacred bird, “the Little Owl,” or “Athene Noctua,” spreads its “damask wings to do the bidding of its mistress."
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