A miniature replica of a Viking longship made of 22k yellow gold and rock crystal has the potential to be one of the more talked about art and design objects at the upcoming TEFAF Maastricht fair.
The prestigious art, antiques and design fair will be the first opportunity for the public to view the golden longship, created by California jewelry company, Loren Nicole. It will be docked at the Simon Teakle booth during the fair.
Longships are Scandinavian ships that were used by the Vikings for trade and warfare. From a visual perspective, their most distinctive features are the bow (also known as the prow) with a carved animal head, oars that run along the entire hull of the vessel, and a square mast. For its time, these ships were state-of-art, as they were built for speed and with the ability to quickly change direction. Their shallow bottoms allowed for portage and beach landings.
This particular gold and crystal miniature replica serves as a transformative bejeweled art object. It was hand crafted from flat sheets of 22k gold and comes apart in subtle and clever ways into more than 30 pieces that can be worn as jewelry in various combinations.
Loren Nicole was founded in 2016 by Loren Teetelli in Hermosa Beach, Calif. A former archeologist, she is a self-taught metalsmith. Her jewels are crafted from ethically sourced gemstones and 22k gold. She focuses on both ancient metalsmithing techniques and ancient subjects, translating those elements into contemporary jewels.
Teakle, a well-known dealer with a boutique in Greenwich, Conn., specializes in vintage and antique jewels and art objects. He said he was immediately drawn to Teetelli’s longship. “No one else in the world today is creating works of such extraordinary intricacy. TEFAF is the perfect venue to launch this never-before-seen object.”
Teetelli said she wanted to recreate the Viking longship’s functionality and beauty.
“I was inspired to create this object because I kept thinking about the shape and idea of a Viking ship,” Teetelli said. “It occurred to me that I could make a ship that comes apart and is wearable as jewelry. I wanted it to have function.”
As a contemporary bejeweled object, it does have function. For example, the woven sail of the ship can be transformed into a bracelet when removed. Two shields turn into earrings and the other shields and rock crystal oars are parts of a chain nestled in a compartment under the floor of the ship that can be worn as a bracelet or necklace. The dragon masthead, which represents Jörmungandr, the Midgard serpent who encircles the earth representing life and eternity, transforms into a jabot stickpin.
The longship took more than 1,000 hours to create over a period of two years, she said. All the gold elements were formed by Teetelli by hand in her California workshop. She used ancient goldsmithing techniques in its creation, but there were technical challenges that required new skills, which she learned on her own. Among the goldsmith techniques she used were chasing, repousse, granulation, woven chain and filigree. For the rock crystal elements, Teetelli used workshops in Idar-Oberstein, a German city that is famed for its master lapidary artians.
The longship will be on view at the Simon Teakle booth throughout the TEFAF Maastricht art fair, being held March 9 – 14 in Maastricht, Netherlands, with two preview days on March 7 and 8.