‘When I was a young boy, butterflies were flying colours – I knew not their name. a tragedy, a love story, a symbol of eternal love.
one of the most visionary and influential forces in the world of high jewellery.
The Telegraph
Winged Beauty
As I grew older, I found them to embody
ver the last 45 years he has become
The Butterfly Jewellery Art of Wallace Chan
Then butterflies became the Butterfly Lovers:
O
the words of a great philosopher: life is but a dream; only we need to decide whether we want it to be the dream of a man, or the dream of a butterfly. I could not decide, and so I became The Butterfly Man.’ – Wallace Chan Always innovating, always testing boundaries with his materials and technique, Wallace Chan is a world-renowned jewellery artist. His creations are as stunning as they are intricate. In 2019, his jewellery creation, A New Generation, was added to the permanent collection of the British Museum. It is the first Chinese contemporary jewellery art piece to be included in the museum’s permanent collection. His works are also in the collections of the Beijing Capital Museum and the Ningbo Museum.
The Butterfly Jewellery Art of Wallace Chan
front cover: Forever Dancing ° Ragtime back cover: The Self To see the full catalogue of books published by ACC Art Books, please go to our website: www.accartbooks.com ACC ART BOOKS Sandy Lane, Old Martlesham Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 4SD, UK Tel: 01394 389950 Email: uksales@accartbooks.com ACC ART BOOKS 6 West 18th Street, Suite 4B New York NY 10011, USA Tel: 212.645.1111 Email: ussales@accartbooks.com
Winged Beauty
ISBN: 978-1-78884-140-5
ËxHSLHSIy841405zv&:%:&:+:+
£35.00/$45.00
www.accartbooks.com
E
nter a butterfly house of colourful
gems, with brooches and necklaces so delicate they might have flown down and alighted on the page. In this stunningly designed book, leading jewellery historians explore the cultural and personal significance of Wallace Chan’s most famous motif – the butterfly. Presenting 50 of Wallace Chan’s butterfly creations, Winged Beauty: The Butterfly Jewellery Art of Wallace Chan features new and unseen images of his work.
Contents
The Power of Freedom A dialogue between Melanie Grant and Wallace Chan
9
The Permanence of the Ephemeral Vanessa Cron
45
Parallel Dreams Emily Stoehrer
87
The Creative Spirit Juliet Weir-de La Rochefoucauld
135
Present and Future Ming Liu
Notes ° Biographies ° Index of Butterflies
185
231
Contents
The Power of Freedom A dialogue between Melanie Grant and Wallace Chan
9
The Permanence of the Ephemeral Vanessa Cron
45
Parallel Dreams Emily Stoehrer
87
The Creative Spirit Juliet Weir-de La Rochefoucauld
135
Present and Future Ming Liu
Notes ° Biographies ° Index of Butterflies
185
231
The Power of Freedom
A dialogue between Melanie Grant and Wallace Chan
The Power of Freedom
A dialogue between Melanie Grant and Wallace Chan
and rock crystal-covered blue and black butterfly wings to craft the transplendent creature with wings outstretched on either side of more than 50 carats of emeralds that make up the head, thorax and abdomen. As the title implies, the being is newly emerged from its chrysalis. Highly symbolic of the earthly desire for a new beginning and transformation, this brooch, like all Chan’s butterflies, is symbolic of the human desire to be better and to improve. In its jewelled form, the butterfly, fleeting in its natural state, achieves permanence in the human world. Combining Chan’s signature titanium, actual butterfly wings, and expertly chosen Fluttery ° Midst of Light
gemstones, this work epitomises the nature of Chan’s oeuvre.
Tsavorite garnet, aquamarine,
Wallace Chan’s jewellery, particularly its large scale and vivid colour palette, stands out as
diamond, pearl, red spinel,
distinctly different from what has come before. However, Chan has described his interest in
sapphire, the Wallace Chan
history explaining, ‘Bringing back the old from time to time I find an old object which grabs my
opposite, above and following pages: Brooch | 2019 |
Porcelain and titanium 30.02g / 10.3 × 8.15 × 3.43cm
attention, and sadness fills me to see it tossed aside neglected and gathering dust. I wonder at its past and memories that it holds, of its history and why it first existed. I try to encapsulate its story, to learn from its experiences and give it a new life.’4 This concept shares much with 20th-century theorists like Walter Benjamin who wrote of the magic he experienced in the Paris arcades as a shared experience for anyone who has traversed them, and – more personally – of his library where each book carried memories of where it was acquired, when it was read, or how it made him feel.5 But, Chan’s description also brings to mind Marcel Proust’s Remembrance of Things Past where the taste of a madeleine cake transported the protagonist back in time.6 These sensory experiences – walking a well-worn path, flipping through a beloved book, or being stopped in your tracks by an aroma – can transport us back in time in the same way a visit to a museum exhibition or the practice of handling a piece of jewellery in an antique shop does. Each object offers an experience that is simultaneously laced with its own history as an object and that of its designer, fabricator and former owners. Parallel Dreams
105
and rock crystal-covered blue and black butterfly wings to craft the transplendent creature with wings outstretched on either side of more than 50 carats of emeralds that make up the head, thorax and abdomen. As the title implies, the being is newly emerged from its chrysalis. Highly symbolic of the earthly desire for a new beginning and transformation, this brooch, like all Chan’s butterflies, is symbolic of the human desire to be better and to improve. In its jewelled form, the butterfly, fleeting in its natural state, achieves permanence in the human world. Combining Chan’s signature titanium, actual butterfly wings, and expertly chosen Fluttery ° Midst of Light
gemstones, this work epitomises the nature of Chan’s oeuvre.
Tsavorite garnet, aquamarine,
Wallace Chan’s jewellery, particularly its large scale and vivid colour palette, stands out as
diamond, pearl, red spinel,
distinctly different from what has come before. However, Chan has described his interest in
sapphire, the Wallace Chan
history explaining, ‘Bringing back the old from time to time I find an old object which grabs my
opposite, above and following pages: Brooch | 2019 |
Porcelain and titanium 30.02g / 10.3 × 8.15 × 3.43cm
attention, and sadness fills me to see it tossed aside neglected and gathering dust. I wonder at its past and memories that it holds, of its history and why it first existed. I try to encapsulate its story, to learn from its experiences and give it a new life.’4 This concept shares much with 20th-century theorists like Walter Benjamin who wrote of the magic he experienced in the Paris arcades as a shared experience for anyone who has traversed them, and – more personally – of his library where each book carried memories of where it was acquired, when it was read, or how it made him feel.5 But, Chan’s description also brings to mind Marcel Proust’s Remembrance of Things Past where the taste of a madeleine cake transported the protagonist back in time.6 These sensory experiences – walking a well-worn path, flipping through a beloved book, or being stopped in your tracks by an aroma – can transport us back in time in the same way a visit to a museum exhibition or the practice of handling a piece of jewellery in an antique shop does. Each object offers an experience that is simultaneously laced with its own history as an object and that of its designer, fabricator and former owners. Parallel Dreams
105
Rock Crystal Along his path of discovery and experimentation, Chan tried to discover a way to immortalise the beauty of a butterfly’s wings; he knew that to touch the wings would destroy the tiny powdery scales that gave the wings their special colours. Butterflies gain their colour from these tiny pigments but also from the detailed structure of their wings. Each wing is made up of a transparent multi-layered surface and these layers are in turn made up of thousands of tiny scales and cuticles separated by layers of air. Light is broken up and reflected a multitude of times as it passes through the different layers, resulting in the perception that the colours change as the butterfly moves its wings. The changing of these colours is called iridescence. In the same way as an artist may mix his colours, combining a butterfly’s colour pigments with its structural colours, they create a kaleidoscope of colour nuances forming the patterns that we have come to know and thus, for example, a yellow-pigmented butterfly with a blue structural colour may appear to be green.
To create his iconic washes of colour, Chan works with a painstakingly slow, steady rhythm using his own invented anodising tools with an electrolytic fluid, to create his bleeding colour effects. It is notoriously difficult to find that narrow point between light blue and yellow to fleetingly encounter the very pale, almost white, green colour. Equally, the wonderful oranges of Chan’s butterflies can be discovered between titanium’s yellow/gold and pink colours. See his Fluttery – La Bella, Fluttery – Felicity and Fluttery – Redolent butterflies. Chan’s Fluttery – Redolent butterfly is a wonderful example of his titanium washes, the butterfly’s wings change from yellow to bronze, then reddish pink to pink and finally from purple to deep electric blue. Chan’s iconic carving is highlighted by furrows on the wings which bring a dramatic movement to the whole composition. He emphasises the titanium colours by setting the tips of the wings with a carpet of green circular-cut tsavorite garnets married with
Fluttery ° Redolent
preceding pages, above and opposite: Brooch | 2013 Fancy sapphire, yellow diamond, yellow sapphire,
yellow sapphires and diamonds in pink and electric-blue settings, which contrast with the
tsavorite garnet and titanium
edges outlined in deep electric-blue and purple settings. The head and body of the butterfly
14.7g / 8.06 × 4.93 × 2.7cm
are set using bronze-coloured prongs in a pavé setting of yellow diamonds which catch the reflection of the yellow titanium; a fancy-cut olive-green sapphire at the centre acts as the thorax and it is outlined in a trimming of yellow diamonds within a yellow pavé setting below the sapphire, which sends light into the darker sapphire. The shorter edges are on the same level as the diamond-set head and abdomen, creating a smooth transition from the sapphire to the diamonds, the whole creates a terrace effect of differing levels which plays with the light and the contrasting colours of the titanium and the gemstones. Note the harmonious use of pale-yellow titanium with the olive green of the large sapphire.
144
Winged Beauty
Rock Crystal Along his path of discovery and experimentation, Chan tried to discover a way to immortalise the beauty of a butterfly’s wings; he knew that to touch the wings would destroy the tiny powdery scales that gave the wings their special colours. Butterflies gain their colour from these tiny pigments but also from the detailed structure of their wings. Each wing is made up of a transparent multi-layered surface and these layers are in turn made up of thousands of tiny scales and cuticles separated by layers of air. Light is broken up and reflected a multitude of times as it passes through the different layers, resulting in the perception that the colours change as the butterfly moves its wings. The changing of these colours is called iridescence. In the same way as an artist may mix his colours, combining a butterfly’s colour pigments with its structural colours, they create a kaleidoscope of colour nuances forming the patterns that we have come to know and thus, for example, a yellow-pigmented butterfly with a blue structural colour may appear to be green.
To create his iconic washes of colour, Chan works with a painstakingly slow, steady rhythm using his own invented anodising tools with an electrolytic fluid, to create his bleeding colour effects. It is notoriously difficult to find that narrow point between light blue and yellow to fleetingly encounter the very pale, almost white, green colour. Equally, the wonderful oranges of Chan’s butterflies can be discovered between titanium’s yellow/gold and pink colours. See his Fluttery – La Bella, Fluttery – Felicity and Fluttery – Redolent butterflies. Chan’s Fluttery – Redolent butterfly is a wonderful example of his titanium washes, the butterfly’s wings change from yellow to bronze, then reddish pink to pink and finally from purple to deep electric blue. Chan’s iconic carving is highlighted by furrows on the wings which bring a dramatic movement to the whole composition. He emphasises the titanium colours by setting the tips of the wings with a carpet of green circular-cut tsavorite garnets married with
Fluttery ° Redolent
preceding pages, above and opposite: Brooch | 2013 Fancy sapphire, yellow diamond, yellow sapphire,
yellow sapphires and diamonds in pink and electric-blue settings, which contrast with the
tsavorite garnet and titanium
edges outlined in deep electric-blue and purple settings. The head and body of the butterfly
14.7g / 8.06 × 4.93 × 2.7cm
are set using bronze-coloured prongs in a pavé setting of yellow diamonds which catch the reflection of the yellow titanium; a fancy-cut olive-green sapphire at the centre acts as the thorax and it is outlined in a trimming of yellow diamonds within a yellow pavé setting below the sapphire, which sends light into the darker sapphire. The shorter edges are on the same level as the diamond-set head and abdomen, creating a smooth transition from the sapphire to the diamonds, the whole creates a terrace effect of differing levels which plays with the light and the contrasting colours of the titanium and the gemstones. Note the harmonious use of pale-yellow titanium with the olive green of the large sapphire.
144
Winged Beauty
Index of Butterflies
A Joyful Encounter pages 46, 49, 50-1
Brooch 2017 Ruby, diamond, pink sapphire and titanium 9.57g / 5.74 × 4.55 × 1.7cm
A Moon Voyage pages 86-7, 128-9
Brooch 2017 Sapphire, emerald, blue topaz, tsavorite garnet, yellow diamond, diamond and titanium 50.93g / 10.5 × 11.5 × 3.25cm
By Your Side pages 88, 90-1
Ring 2013 Purple sapphire, diamond and titanium 14.91g / 5.95 × 4.8 × 2.9cm
Cosmic Rhythm pages 176-7, 178, 179, 180, 182-3
Brooch 2019 Jadeite, pink sapphire, tsavorite garnet, pearl, diamond, red spinel, ruby, the Wallace Chan Porcelain and titanium
29.37g / 10.31 × 8.17 × 2.36cm
234
Winged Beauty
Autumn’s Rhythm pages 220, 222-3
Brooch 2006 Diamond, yellow diamond, black diamond, rock crystal, mother-of-pearl, butterfly specimen, 18k gold and titanium
Butterfly Nebula pages 136, 138-9, 141
Pair of Brooches 2018 Yellow diamond, diamond, tsavorite garnet, pink sapphire, amethyst, ruby and titanium
27.36g / 8 × 9 × 1.1cm
Left: 47.1g / 18 × 10.3 × 8.6cm Right: 47.3g / 19.4 × 9.6 × 7.7cm
Deeper and Deeper pages 69, 70-1, 72, 74-5
Flaming Sun pages 40, 41, 42-3
Bangle 2013 Ruby, diamond, yellow diamond, pink sapphire and titanium 52.55g / 8 × 6.3 × 8cm
Brooch 2020 Red spinel, pearl, amethyst, yellow diamond, diamond and titanium 55.61g / 13.08 × 10.23 × 2.87cm
By Your Side pages 208, 211
Earrings 2014 Ruby, yellow diamond and titanium 12.83g / Left: 5.8 × 3.5 × 1.3cm Right: 5.8 × 3.2 × 1.2cm
Fluttery pages 30-1, 32-3
Brooch 2016 Green tourmaline, diamond, tsavorite garnet and titanium 28.9g / 12.5 × 9 × 3.5cm
Fluttery ° Dancing in the Dark pages 166-7, 168, 169 Brooch 2013 Pink sapphire, yellow diamond and titanium
Fluttery ° Dayspring pages 20-1, 23, 24-5
Brooch 2013 Yellow sapphire, sapphire, diamond and titanium 16.68g / 10.71 × 5.25 × 2.46cm
34.07g / 10.72 × 7.75 × 2.89cm
Fluttery ° Ecstasy pages 200, 201, 202-3
Brooch 2013 Tsavorite garnet, diamond, fancy coloured diamond, pink sapphire and titanium 30.09g / 11.5 × 7 × 3.5cm
Fluttery ° Felicity pages 96, 98-9
Brooch 2013 Pink sapphire, diamond, yellow diamond, yellow sapphire, ruby, sapphire, fancy coloured diamond and titanium 20.62g / 9.91 × 5.29 × 2.6cm
Flutterby pages 224-5, 227, 228, 229 Ring 2013 Fancy sapphire, ruby, fancy coloured diamond, yellow diamond, sapphire and titanium
5.07g / 3.88 × 4.2 × 3.09cm
Fluttery ° Gossamer pages 212-3, 215
Brooch 2013 Sapphire, tsavorite garnet, diamond and titanium 19.75g / 9.37 × 6.11 × 3.19cm
Fluttery ° Halcyon pages 14-5, 19
Brooch 2013 Pink sapphire, tsavorite garnet, diamond and titanium 9.07g / 7 × 4.5 × 2cm
Fluttery ° In Love with Spring pages 162-3, 164, 165
Brooch 2014 Imperial topaz, emerald, ruby, yellow diamond, orange sapphire, tsavorite garnet, diamond and titanium
Fluttery ° Je ne sais quoi pages 216, 217, 218-9 Brooch 2013 Tsavorite garnet, yellow diamond, diamond and titanium
Fluttery ° La Bella pages 92, 93, 94-5
Brooch 2013 Pink sapphire, diamond, sapphire and titanium 19.8g / 9.36 × 5.37 × 2.56cm
15.07g / 7.74 × 4.57 × 1.79cm
36.44g / 10.48 × 7.12 × 2.03cm
Index
235
Index of Butterflies
A Joyful Encounter pages 46, 49, 50-1
Brooch 2017 Ruby, diamond, pink sapphire and titanium 9.57g / 5.74 × 4.55 × 1.7cm
A Moon Voyage pages 86-7, 128-9
Brooch 2017 Sapphire, emerald, blue topaz, tsavorite garnet, yellow diamond, diamond and titanium 50.93g / 10.5 × 11.5 × 3.25cm
By Your Side pages 88, 90-1
Ring 2013 Purple sapphire, diamond and titanium 14.91g / 5.95 × 4.8 × 2.9cm
Cosmic Rhythm pages 176-7, 178, 179, 180, 182-3
Brooch 2019 Jadeite, pink sapphire, tsavorite garnet, pearl, diamond, red spinel, ruby, the Wallace Chan Porcelain and titanium
29.37g / 10.31 × 8.17 × 2.36cm
234
Winged Beauty
Autumn’s Rhythm pages 220, 222-3
Brooch 2006 Diamond, yellow diamond, black diamond, rock crystal, mother-of-pearl, butterfly specimen, 18k gold and titanium
Butterfly Nebula pages 136, 138-9, 141
Pair of Brooches 2018 Yellow diamond, diamond, tsavorite garnet, pink sapphire, amethyst, ruby and titanium
27.36g / 8 × 9 × 1.1cm
Left: 47.1g / 18 × 10.3 × 8.6cm Right: 47.3g / 19.4 × 9.6 × 7.7cm
Deeper and Deeper pages 69, 70-1, 72, 74-5
Flaming Sun pages 40, 41, 42-3
Bangle 2013 Ruby, diamond, yellow diamond, pink sapphire and titanium 52.55g / 8 × 6.3 × 8cm
Brooch 2020 Red spinel, pearl, amethyst, yellow diamond, diamond and titanium 55.61g / 13.08 × 10.23 × 2.87cm
By Your Side pages 208, 211
Earrings 2014 Ruby, yellow diamond and titanium 12.83g / Left: 5.8 × 3.5 × 1.3cm Right: 5.8 × 3.2 × 1.2cm
Fluttery pages 30-1, 32-3
Brooch 2016 Green tourmaline, diamond, tsavorite garnet and titanium 28.9g / 12.5 × 9 × 3.5cm
Fluttery ° Dancing in the Dark pages 166-7, 168, 169 Brooch 2013 Pink sapphire, yellow diamond and titanium
Fluttery ° Dayspring pages 20-1, 23, 24-5
Brooch 2013 Yellow sapphire, sapphire, diamond and titanium 16.68g / 10.71 × 5.25 × 2.46cm
34.07g / 10.72 × 7.75 × 2.89cm
Fluttery ° Ecstasy pages 200, 201, 202-3
Brooch 2013 Tsavorite garnet, diamond, fancy coloured diamond, pink sapphire and titanium 30.09g / 11.5 × 7 × 3.5cm
Fluttery ° Felicity pages 96, 98-9
Brooch 2013 Pink sapphire, diamond, yellow diamond, yellow sapphire, ruby, sapphire, fancy coloured diamond and titanium 20.62g / 9.91 × 5.29 × 2.6cm
Flutterby pages 224-5, 227, 228, 229 Ring 2013 Fancy sapphire, ruby, fancy coloured diamond, yellow diamond, sapphire and titanium
5.07g / 3.88 × 4.2 × 3.09cm
Fluttery ° Gossamer pages 212-3, 215
Brooch 2013 Sapphire, tsavorite garnet, diamond and titanium 19.75g / 9.37 × 6.11 × 3.19cm
Fluttery ° Halcyon pages 14-5, 19
Brooch 2013 Pink sapphire, tsavorite garnet, diamond and titanium 9.07g / 7 × 4.5 × 2cm
Fluttery ° In Love with Spring pages 162-3, 164, 165
Brooch 2014 Imperial topaz, emerald, ruby, yellow diamond, orange sapphire, tsavorite garnet, diamond and titanium
Fluttery ° Je ne sais quoi pages 216, 217, 218-9 Brooch 2013 Tsavorite garnet, yellow diamond, diamond and titanium
Fluttery ° La Bella pages 92, 93, 94-5
Brooch 2013 Pink sapphire, diamond, sapphire and titanium 19.8g / 9.36 × 5.37 × 2.56cm
15.07g / 7.74 × 4.57 × 1.79cm
36.44g / 10.48 × 7.12 × 2.03cm
Index
235
‘When I was a young boy, butterflies were flying colours – I knew not their name. a tragedy, a love story, a symbol of eternal love.
one of the most visionary and influential forces in the world of high jewellery.
The Telegraph
Winged Beauty
As I grew older, I found them to embody
ver the last 45 years he has become
The Butterfly Jewellery Art of Wallace Chan
Then butterflies became the Butterfly Lovers:
O
the words of a great philosopher: life is but a dream; only we need to decide whether we want it to be the dream of a man, or the dream of a butterfly. I could not decide, and so I became The Butterfly Man.’ – Wallace Chan Always innovating, always testing boundaries with his materials and technique, Wallace Chan is a world-renowned jewellery artist. His creations are as stunning as they are intricate. In 2019, his jewellery creation, A New Generation, was added to the permanent collection of the British Museum. It is the first Chinese contemporary jewellery art piece to be included in the museum’s permanent collection. His works are also in the collections of the Beijing Capital Museum and the Ningbo Museum.
The Butterfly Jewellery Art of Wallace Chan
front cover: Forever Dancing ° Ragtime back cover: The Self To see the full catalogue of books published by ACC Art Books, please go to our website: www.accartbooks.com ACC ART BOOKS Sandy Lane, Old Martlesham Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 4SD, UK Tel: 01394 389950 Email: uksales@accartbooks.com ACC ART BOOKS 6 West 18th Street, Suite 4B New York NY 10011, USA Tel: 212.645.1111 Email: ussales@accartbooks.com
Winged Beauty
ISBN: 978-1-78884-140-5
ËxHSLHSIy841405zv&:%:&:+:+
£35.00/$45.00
www.accartbooks.com
E
nter a butterfly house of colourful
gems, with brooches and necklaces so delicate they might have flown down and alighted on the page. In this stunningly designed book, leading jewellery historians explore the cultural and personal significance of Wallace Chan’s most famous motif – the butterfly. Presenting 50 of Wallace Chan’s butterfly creations, Winged Beauty: The Butterfly Jewellery Art of Wallace Chan features new and unseen images of his work.