~~A Knight's Tale~~

As part of the Indie Free Spirits Team on Etsy I was completely inspired by a challenge presented to us, to design a piece representing our heritage and "Who do you think you are?".

It took about two seconds to figure out what I wanted to do and who I wanted to base my piece on.

My Great Great Uncle Gordon, the knight.

Although he passed away three years ago, during my childhood I had been able to speak with him at family gatherings, and even played his Steinway piano at his house in New York when I was 12.

Please ignore my 12 year old lack of fashion sense  Don't you love the ballet bun and scrunchie though??

My Uncle Gordon lived a full and interesting life. He's one of the few people I know who i can "google"  and find out nearly everything about his life. In fact the New York Times has his obituary online which you can find here

In short, he was a lawyer, graduated from Columbia Law School, was President of the Maritime Law Association of the United States from 1928-84, and during that time as an admiralty lawyer represented the Swedish America Line in the great case of the sinking of the Andrea Doria. 

The Andrea Doria was similar to the Titanic in its day, and when it sank in 1956 it marked the last great sea disaster before transatlantic flight became the usual travel rather than by sea. 

He edited the English translation of the Swedish book "Out Of The Fog, The Sinking of Andrea Doria" seen here:

Then, my uncle was knighted by the King of Norway, King Harald. This side of my family is very proud of their Viking heritage and my uncle was not any different.  He was also an accomplished organist and even got a job for my grandmother in one of the New York City choirs when he was playing for them.

And so, with his life in mind I knew exactly what I would design, an epaulette constructed out of antique blue fox fur my grandmother sent me.  The fur would harken back to our Viking heritage as well as back to a time when fur was not evil but fashion.

My Grandma had used pieces of this fur during the 60's to make a collar for a coat.  She had gotten the fur from my Great Grandmother Morton who worked in a textile factory long before.  We aren't sure how old the fur is but the lining is hand stitched. While many have qualms about using fur I have no problem recycling antique and vintage pieces.

Therefore my concept for the epaulette became this:

I wanted to make a piece with a connecting necklace of pearls and blue-green amazonite. The connecting piece was to be of three strands of pearls and chains, the number three drawing to my Uncle's ties to Christianity and his organ playing.  The pearls, while freshwater, link to the sea while the color of the amazonite look like a ocean water on a clear day.  The epaulette itself was created with a knight's armor in mind with its military edge and silvery blue colors. 

It transformed as I constructed it and I added blue grey feathers, and a blue shell from the beaches of Vietnam.

In honor of my Uncle's work with maritime law I also added a silver button from the Navy. It depicts an eagle clutching an anchor in its claws.  Silver colored flying swallows also flock along the chain with lines of freshwater pearls and amazonite. 

As for the photoshoot my friend and photographer, Sarah of Casablanca Color Studios and I went to Harkness State Park, home of Eolia mansion, the old estate of Edward Harkness in 1907.  It was a beautiful place for a photoshoot, the weather was still cold but the smell of spring was in the air. 

See my final product on etsy here!