Dead cool: Taxidermy in jewellery

A mouse lies on a cushion, as if asleep, inside a large silver locket; two bird wings are attached to a headband that looks like something a Greek god would wear; and a tiny mouse’s torso comes out of a brooch. The objects in this bizarre roll-call are all pieces of jewellery incorporating taxidermy.

The art world has been flirting with the possibilities of taxidermy for a few years, thanks to the prominence of Polly Morgan, whose works, such as an old-fashioned telephone with birds’ heads coming out of the receiver and a squirrel curled up in a glass as if asleep, garnered a lot of praise and attention. However, recently taxidermy has been finding its way into jewellery, with a small band of designers experimenting with using preserved or taxidermied animals and casting from them as well.

Morbid tastes
One jewellery designer who is doing interesting things with animal parts is Julia deVille.

DeVille’s fascination with taxidermy came through her interest in the memento mori period of the 15th to 18th century and the way the Victorians used jewellery and adornments as a way of sentimentalising death. The taxidermy serves as a celebration of life.

“I started learning taxidermy at the same time I started making jewellery, nearly 10 years ago, so it was natural for me to combine the two art forms,” she says. The results are startling.
At one end of the spectrum there are cast rat skull pendants and animal bones, while at the other there are taxidermied starlings that hang from ribbon necklaces and mice brooches. Despite the subject matter, there is a beauty in these pieces that makes them feasible as jewellery.

Another designer whose pieces walk the line between art and fine jewellery is Reid Peppard. Peppard is a taxidermist who started doing silver work a couple of years ago.

“I find animals very beautiful and inspirational in a way that is unique,” says Peppard. “There is a dark beauty in the raw brutality of living and dead creatures. What made me interested in the taxidermy of animals was its overwhelming power to provoke an emotive response in people.”

Peppard’s collections are certainly powerful. They range from cast fox-jaw necklaces and cast crows tongues on bracelets to pigeon-wing headpieces and mice sat on headbands and coming out of bow ties.

Her latest collections, entitled Park and Vermin, which she sells under her RP/Encore label, use elements from the grey squirrel, red fox and carrion crow, and pigeons and rats, respectively.

“I wanted to continue with my exploration of urban wildlife in London,” she explains. “In myth and popular folklore, these animals have very distinct characteristics. These stories, coupled with increasing human isolation from the natural world, created a rich foundation for me to work with. I chose to cast parts of creatures I would otherwise throw out in order to further preserve their beauty.”

Another designer who uses preserved, rather than taxidermied, animals and casts from them as well is Kate Gilliland, whose pieces such as a small bird bound in silver hanging from a necklace, or a mouse lying on a cushion in a locket, have a sweet melancholy about them. Like Peppard, she thinks that casting breaks down barriers for people.

“I wanted people to study and explore my jewellery and making a silver replica enables them to see the animals in a different light,” she says. “I think that by casting certain pieces in silver they are given a worth that might not have otherwise been seen.”

Another designer who has moved into casting from animals, in particular mice and magpies, is Claire English.

Her latest collection is inspired by Alice in Wonderland, specifically the moment at the Mad Hatter’s tea party when the dormouse says that they are drawing things that begin with ‘M’. English’s Ms are mice, magpies and matchsticks.

Like Gilliland, she chose to cast from animals because she wanted to make people look at them differently. “I love the alchemy of jewellery making processes and transforming found items into solid silver. I especially enjoy taking overlooked objects that are not usually considered to be beautiful and making them into something that is precious, sublime and covetable,” says English.

English’s mice are frozen pet food, while the magpie was a donation. The animals Gilliland uses in her pieces are ones she’s found or donations.

“Friends often send me dead animals through the post - a long-tailed tit and two tiny shrews are in my studio at the moment waiting for homes,” says Gilliland.

Peppard is also keen to point out that all the animals she uses are already dead. “It’s very important to me that no animals die for the sole purpose of making my work,” she says. “Most of my work is made from roadkill but the exceptions are caught by my own or my friends’ cats, killed by pest control, or killed for pet food - in which case I feed it to my cat Panasonic.”

Insect appeal
It is not just birds and rodents that are being used in jewellery: insects are also a source of inspiration, particularly for designer Rachel Boston.

Boston, who sells her jewellery through the incredibly cool website Notjustalabel.com, casts pieces from beetles, and has even created a bracelet and ring from beetle wing cases.

“I initially decided to base my collection on beetles because I was drawn to their incredible mandibles and the variety of different shapes and forms, which provide a wealth of visual inspiration,” she explains. “Though the wing cases have been used for centuries in adornment, I couldn’t find any examples of jewellers using them within a fine jewellery context.”
Boston sources her beetles mainly from Asia and chooses them based on the size of their mandibles.

“It was important to me to cast from real beetles, because my collection also focused on insect collectors and how their collections are essentially insect hunting trophies. By casting them into precious metal I was increasing their value further.”

Gaining favour
Although deVille believes that the expense and fragility of many of her pieces mean that this is a niche market, Peppard thinks it is growing.

“Animal-based design has been in vogue for a few years now. I am by no means the first person to make cast animal parts jewellery,” she says.

“I think after the stringent anti-fur campaigns of the 1980s and 1990s people were drawn to the taboo nature of taxidermy, animals and fur, as well as the mystery behind it.”

Gilliland thinks it is the current climate of uncertainty that is boosting this particular form of design.

“With times being a bit gloomy at the moment this type of jewellery has a fantastical element to it, perhaps offering escape,” she says.

Although it may not have reached the general public yet, people are buying into it. Gilliland had an enthusiastic response when she exhibited at Treasure at London Jewellery Week
in June and Peppard has stockists both in the UK and US.

“I have a huge male following. I often get emails from men thanking me for making jewellery that is bold enough for them to carry off,” says Peppard. “I even have a few guys who never wore jewellery before they bought my work, which I find the ultimate compliment.”

Mounted mouse brooches, preserved bird necklaces and pigeon-wing hair combs may not be to everyone’s taste, but these exquisite pieces provoke, question and make you think. Something no charm bead bracelet will ever do.

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