© 2020 Alighieri
One would not necessarily
connect The Waste Land to a jewellery collection. However T S Eliot was always buying jewellery for his second wife, Valerie. He showered her with
beautiful jewels of great taste and originality. Mostly sold after her death at
a Christies Auction,
one famous piece stood out was designed by T S Eliot - the canon of works charm
bracelet.
’ Valerie Eliot was wearing a
charm bracelet her husband had had made for her at Garrard. From it dangled a
practical cat, a hidden portrait, and tiny book covers, representing each of
his works.’ [Extract: SANDRA BARWICK -
INDEPENDENT - Saturday 22 January 1994]
© T S Eliot Society of the United Kingdom
The catalyst for my writing
about jewellery and The Waste Land is inspired by an item in the Evening
Standard about jewellery designer Rosh Mahtani of Alighieri
winning the Queen Elizabeth II Design Award presented at the Silver Vaults by
Princess Anne last week. Rosh took her
inspiration for her previous collections from Dante (hence the label) and for Autumn
Winter 2020 the ‘wasteland’ of T S Eliot is her focus. Her desire to create jewellery relating to a
modernist poem is fascinating and I feel she makes it work beautifully (for her
‘wasteland’ collection). Her imagination was captured by the reading of the Tarot
Cards with the clairvoyant Madame Sosostris (Part I). One piece is named after
the medium, and a necklace is called ‘Bella Donna’ referring to the “Lady of
the Rocks, the lady of situations” (line 49) or as in the Rider-Waite tarot
deck ‘Lady of the Cups’. Those even with basic Italian can translate this as ‘beaufiful
woman’ or possibly the seductive but deadly nightshade. The card indicates
renewal, but is fraught with peril.
The Hyacinth Girl is another
inspiration for Alighieri – also appearing in Part I
The Burial of the Dead :
‘You gave me hyacinths first a year ago;
‘They called me the hyacinth girl’. (line 36)
After the dismal beginning, It is a fleeting burst of joy, of spring, a girl, flowers, but is it? Of course you the reader can make of it what you will and Alighieri did just that. In fact it is the story of Hyacinthus greatly loved by Apollo and Zephyrus, who returned the former’s love. Apollo in his jealousy killed Hyacinthus! Apollo so regretted this that he changed the young man’s blood into a flower which bore his name and placed his body among the constellations. Of course the annotated text of The Waste Land can identify other potential meanings, but this will do in this case.
There are ‘fishmen’ aplenty, and a fisher king in the poem, but no fisher woman. Also Luna, I will assume, represents ‘The Moon’ Tarot card ‘which I am forbidden to see, I do not find …’ in the poem is definitely part of the Ryder Waite set. I have joined the Alighieri Lion Club and will one day own a piece.
My
interest was piqued about the connections between poetry and jewellery and of
course the internet led me to some wonderful pieces. Victoria Contreras uses texts from several literary greats, and this piece with the first
four lines of The Waste Land is so bold, almost like a breastplate! It is on my
list of ‘must haves’!
There is a lot of exciting jewellery out there inspired by authors, poets and famous quotes, but for me The Waste Land is truly honoured by these works. The final piece celebrates J Alfred Prufrock, and there is no need to explain it. See you on World Poetry Day to hear parts of The Waste Land around and about the jewel that is the City of London.
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