STUDIO HERONDALE is a body of experimental porcelain jewellery created by London-based designer Elif Kaban Bowers. The Turkish-born maker marries worldly panache with a passion and respect for porcelain and cross-disciplinary experimental approach. Once associated with dainty figurines of pouting milkmaids and Victorian tea sets, porcelain in her hands is transformed into sublime wearable art with exciting combinations of silver, copper, 24 karat gold leaf, platinum, oxides, minerals, gemstones or found objects.
Valued for both its durability and delicacy, porcelain is transformed from earth into powder, from liquid into solid, from fire into cold and finally into a velvet-like softness next to skin that takes on the temperature of the body. The jewellery is light and tactile, with the smoothness of pebbles worn by the sea. Each piece is made slowly and intuitively and fired multiple times in the kiln. There is something delicious about wearing a tactile, sensuous piece of raw porcelain jewellery whose making took all the hours and days and nights it needed -- a sense, perhaps, of having been gifted stolen time.
Elif came into jewellery and ceramics through osmosis. Born in Turkey to Air Force pilot parents, she spent many years zipping across Russia, Central Asia, Africa and the Middle East as a foreign correspondent for the international news agency Reuters. Even in the middle of reporting assignments she was always drawn to jewellery, collecting ancient corals in the bazaars of Samarkand, silver amulets in Turkmenistan or strings of colourful beads in dusty village markets across Tanzania. Keepsakes collected during summers in the Mediterannean, civilizations that have passed through Anatolia from ancient Greeks to the Ottomans, textures and patterns in nature, the never-ending search for new techniques and a sense of discovery drive and inspire the designer.
STUDIO HERONDALE is a body of experimental porcelain jewellery by London-based creative Elif Kaban Bowers. The Turkish-born maker marries worldly panache with a passion for porcelain and a cross-disciplinary experimental approach. Once associated with dainty figurines of pouting milkmaids and Victorian tea sets, porcelain becomes a playful medium for contemporary jewellery with the perfect balance of softness and strength, statement and wearability
Porcelain is surprisingly light and durable after being fired to temperatures close to 1400 celsius. This most elemental of materials is transformed from earth into powder, from liquid into solid and finally from fire into a velvet-like softness next to skin that takes on the temperature of the body. Each piece is uniquely made by hand therefore not repeatable.
Elif came into jewellery and ceramics through osmosis. Born in Turkey to Air Force pilot parents, she spent many years zipping across Russia, Central Asia, Africa, Switzerland and the Middle East whilst managing an international career. Even in the middle of work trips she was always drawn to ceramics and jewellery, collecting hand-painted china in Russia, ancient corals in the bazaars of Samarkand, silver amulets in Turkmenistan or strings of colourful beads in dusty village markets across Africa. Keepsakes collected during summers in the Mediterranean, civilizations that have passed through Anatolia from ancient Greeks to the Ottomans, textures and patterns in nature, the never-ending search for new techniques and a sense of discovery drive and inspire the maker.
