30 PIECES OF SILVER: Part Two

Some of Ivaan's pieces are so legendary, I feel deeply disappointed never to have seen them.  This cuff bracelet is one of those.  He'd been making jewellery for about ten years when he made this piece for the Art Gallery of Ontario. Though most of his AGO work was related to their 1979 King Tutankhamun exhibition, this bracelet was not.

When I look at this photograph, I see white gold.  Yet, the caption reads .999 silver, so it's much more pure than sterling silver, and maybe that's why it looks so exquisite.  I'm guessing Ivaan photographed it the minute he finished it.

©IVAAN KOTULSKY, 1980

In fact, it's so perfect that legend has it that this bracelet sold at the Art Gallery of Ontario for $6,000 in the early 1980s.  Each of those tiny beads was applied one at a time.  I cannot imagine how long it took Ivaan to make this bracelet. In those days, his close-up vision was so acute that he focused about two inches from the tip of his nose.  After all that work, casting it into metal must have been torture.  So many things can go wrong in the casting process.

Sadly, there is no mould of this bracelet.  This leads me to believe that it was a commission for someone special, who wanted to own a one-of-one by Ivaan. Sometimes I dream about someone walking into the store and showing it to me.