There’s no allusion to anything celestial in this necklace and it isn’t deliberately allegorical either. There is however a distinctly primal feel to it, a character both ancient and timeless that ...

There’s no allusion to anything celestial in this necklace and it isn’t deliberately allegorical either. There is however a distinctly primal feel to it, a character both ancient and timeless that seems to be not of this world. Yet, no deity is represented, no devotional icon hinted at. What it is is just a play of shapes and forms drawn spontaneously from the heart and mind and not of any conscious or carefully considered theme. Sometimes, that’s all there is to design. It just happens. Like that. And what you see on paper is strangely attractive : a mysterious symbol, or a semiotic mystery held in finite space and definable only by its composition.

What is this then? A talismanic jewel that somehow recalls an unfinished deity where three distinct convex parts unite to make a figure indeterminable but powerful nevertheless.

First, a rectangle that doubles up as the loop through which the utterly simple heley chain passes ; then the curved obround mid-section with its ball-jhur edging ; and lastly the large trapezium from which is hung three polished half-jhumkas with ball-jhur below and between them. The chain is capped at the ends without any fanfare whatsoever.

The earring, pretty and attractive, replicates the centrepiece without the sausage portion and makes the top square. It’s also detachable so the pashas can be worn independently. A single half-jhumka flanked by ball clusters is all there’s space for along the lower edge of the trapezoid.

The entire infill is of delicate katai, ball and filigree in patterns that are again indeterminable. You’ll make out floriated parts and there are crescent moons as well, the latter as a series in the obround piece ; leaves and scrolling ekka-tar are used liberally, and paisleys seem an afterthought but integrate well into the arresting arabesque of the trapezium. The broad rectangle loop in contrast is composed of strictly geometrically placed half-topas. The plainness of the heley chain and its matt mesh texture allows the focus to remain on the central pendant and that’s what makes the necklace even more compelling.

Those looking towards answers from all quarters of life and who need to account for every living moment must turn away from this kind of jewellery. There's nothing of any great note here that may establish a narrative or symbolise something of significance. It's what was drawn from the heart and came to mind as a possibility that was made into an ornament. There's no way we can qualify this jewel for monumentality or even aesthetic virtue. However, like found formations of nature that have evoked feelings of divinity and been worshipped as such since ancient times, this aniconic necklace, designed and handcrafted with equal spontaneity in chaste guinea gold, arouses a sense of awe and reverence. Whether that's because of its Delphic nature or that its plenipotent character seems to be granted its power by those of the celestial kingdom we can't say, but it does seem to glow with an ethereal light. There's no reason to conclude you won't too when you wear it. But then again there's no guarantee that you will. Your effulgence — a combination of the light that shines from within you and that of the Omniscient in which you walk — is, after all, a matter of belief.