Brooch
Giovanni Corvaja
Italy
Gold and platinum
Width 7.1 cm x height 7.1 cm x depth 3.7 cm
2000
Museum no. M.5-2004

While many contemporary jewellery have turned away from conventional jewellery materials such as gold and platinum, Giovanni Corvaja in this brooch demonstrates how the intrinsic beauty of these metals may be re-interpreted and expressed by a new generation of jewellers. The precise geometric framework of brooch's outline contrasts with the web of incredibly fine platinum threads specked with granules of gold which swirls within. Of the themes underlying his work Corvaja has written 'My inspiration lies in both the natural and man-made structures viewed through a microscope... I am also further inspired by technique itself and the creative possibilities which emerge when knowing how to apply it, researching it further and, eventually pushing it to extremes'. Trained in Padue, an Italian city renowned for its innovative work in gold, and then at the Royal College of ARt in London, Corvaja's technical mastery and artistic vision are widely admired.