The Material Culture Collection

People have been adorning their bodies and clothes with beads for at least 150,000 years, the oldest evidence yet recovered is a set of snail shells with human made perforations found in a cave in Morocco.

Beads were -and still are- a way to communicate and to express. A way to differentiate from and to identify with other people. 

This human trait of adorning ourselves with found and created objects has changed little over the millennia, although our techniques, materials and preferences certainly have. This collection is an ode to that shared human experience, a celebration of the connections we maintain with our prehistoric counterparts and the connections we will forge with future generations.

Each charm bead is inspired by an ancient item of adornment. Hand carved from wax then cast in brass, these pieces are tiny tributes to items and symbols that our ancestors valued and displayed.