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Meanderings

S&B X Pippa Small
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S&B X Pippa Small

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There are some stories that are more intricately woven than others, that take a little longer to tell. Our final collaboration this year, S&B x Pippa Small, requires the telling of one such tale.

You may have seen the bright fuchsia shop on Westbourne Grove, London, stumbled across her work in the ABC Store in NY or Brentwood Country Mart in LA. But there is much more to Pippa Small's tactile jewellery than meets the eye.

It is true she is a renowned jewellery designer, but it is her unique approach to luxury and the history of adornment that caught our eye. Pippa holds a Masters in Medical Anthropology and her ever present interests include human rights among minorities, as well as finding ways of protecting indigenous knowledge and techniques throughout various developing countries.

Her jewellery company, Pippa Small, has become a channel for these interests and contributes to addressing some of the issues that exist around these topics in development studies. One of the most remarkable aspects of Pippa's jewellery rests in how, and by whom these pieces have been crafted. Her work embodies one of the truest examples of what can be defined as 'ethical luxury'.

Welcome to our latest collaboration,

Jewellery for your table, hand made in Afghanistan...

S&B x Pippa Small


Love,

S&B


The Collection

For this collection of table jewellery, we are launching with beautiful napkin rings and the perfect candle snuffer. Both pieces are hand made in Afghanistan with local lapis lazuli. This deeply coloured stone was mined and highly prized by ancient civilizations from Mesopotamia to Egypt. Centuries later in the Renaissance it was finely ground to make pigment for the purest ultramarine blue paint. Evoking this sense of far reaching history, these napkin rings and candle snuffers are designed to capture the imagination and transform your table into an enchanting experience from ancient times.




S&B x Pippa Small Lapis Lazuli Napkin Rings £95 each





 A Journey Into Afghanistan

Pippa has worked in Afghanistan for nearly ten years. The opportunity presented itself when a charitable foundation, Turquoise Mountain, invited her to Kabul to create a commercial line of  jewellery with international appeal in their workshop; an exchange built on sharing expertise and an appreciation for the weight of history.
Located in one of the oldest parts of Kabul, the Turquoise Mountain Foundation now runs a school and studio dedicated to promoting cultural and economic sustainability within the community through craftsmanship and education. Pippa's collections with the foundation use locally sourced stones and materials in tandem with ancient aesthetic influences native to the Middle East.
Afghanistan is a country cloaked in media coverage that is rarely positive, if at all. And truly, the situation can easily be described as critical. Violence, unemployment and an unstable economy effect everyone, but especially the younger generations. Under these circumstances hope is as precious a commodity. Pippa's work in Kabul is instrumental in providing exactly that.
The practice of adornment is one that spans across all cultures, through millennia in one form or another. Some of the first artefacts early man ever created were to adorn. First examples include amulets for protection, necklaces to signify commitment, and headdresses to define identity, but particularly belonging. The fact that these pieces came to exist through craftsmanship and an instinctive human reverence for what creativity can accomplish, is equally important.

In many ways this is the element about Pippa's work that resonated with us at S&B. The concept of sharing as a community and creating a sense of togetherness, is not unlike what we aspire to create at the table.

In honour of that, this Christmas we invite you to adorn your table.


 Interview with Pippa Small

Q.
How would you describe your aesthetic?
A.
'Ancient, tribal and organic forms.'


Q.
What initially brought you to Afghanistan?
A.
'At school my close friend was an Afghan, someone who had spent her early childhood in a country so shrouded in mystery and beauty, but that had become embroiled in war after war from the late 1970's. I was fascinated by this country, by tales of the silk routes, horse riding tribes and nomads, as well as the deeply conservative element of the country...'

Q.
Who is you're design hero or the biggest source of inspiration?

A.
I think the craftsman and women of the world, who are not formally trained but have the most natural and inventive sense of design, colour and narrative. They make magic with their hands.


Q.
What is the experience like having built relationships with these artisans?
A.
'I have worked with the graduate men and women to create lines of jewellery that reflect their rich traditional visual history. Every year I design two collections for the international market to ensure that men and women have jobs in creative and safe environments. My friendships with the artisans, I find very emotional. Every time I go I find part of my job is to listen to the stories everyone has to tell of every day life and its struggles, but so often with humour and no self pity. What I enjoy is that the Afghans are very much a people with a strong oral tradition and with that comes a desire to have a proper conversation, to talk about things deeply and from the heart. This has kept me going back.'

Q.
What is the process like working with these artisans who are simultaneously important contributors to their culture, yet often disenfranchised and underprivileged?
A.
'What I love about Turquoise Mountain and the work they do is that they have found a way to give the young a sense of self confidence, to be creative, to see your work which draws on tradition being exported and appreiciated in other countries, to be able to show another face of a country too long dominated by war. I am very proud of the work we do there.'

Q.
You are always traveling to far away places for work, where is the place you go to for some down time?

A.
'The Indian countryside, a small village where there is an old fort to stay in. The nights are quiet and dark but for the sounds of the chapatis flipping and the families chatting around the fire at dinner. The days are warm and busy with herds of animals going out for grazing. I also go out riding and watching birds and loving the peace and quiet of a rural, traditional place.'

Q.
At S&B we aspend a lot of time discussing the importance of sitting at the table, being together with the people you care about. What was it about this ethos that drew you to working with us ?


A.
'The way the workshops operate in Kabul, as in every part of the world where I work, the artisans gather together and chat, gossip, laugh and tease each other as they work. At lunch time a huge plate of rice and meat is placed on the floor and everyone sitting on the floor around it, shares the meal together...this is an invaluable experience.'

Q.
If you could have a dinner party with 5-7 people of your choosing, who would you invite, and what would you make?


A.
'I'd invite David Attenborough, Jane Goodall, the Obamas, Satish Kumar and Georgia O'keefe all united by a love of the land... serving vegetarian of course.'



Q.
As it's the season for wishlists, what's on yours from S&B?

A.
'I have my eye on the hand made ceramic bowls and plates with that
beautiful deep blue glaze and gold rim.'



The S&B X Pippa Small Collection is available in store or by emailing theshop@summerillandbishop.com only.*

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