Shawl Pins and Celtic Brooches

One of the great prides of my country Colombia is the Gold Museum. The museum sits in downtown Bogotá inside the country's government bank. It is a huge bolt with pieces beyond believe. The pieces come from the Pre-Columbian culture from the Muisca and Quimbaya tribes two of the native south American tribes. The museum owns most of what is left after the Spanish colonization and what has been recovered over the years. There are traveling exhibitions all over the world that are well worth seeing if you ever get a chance. Among the most astounding pieces is the golden raft. It is a master piece of filigree work that literally takes your breath away when you see it. There are other multiple pieces most in 24 K gold.
There are also available to the public fine replicas most made in bronze, some in 18K gold. Over the years I have collected some of them. I thought I would share some pictures and compare with some other jewelry quite different but no less gorgeous. There are some fine jewelry makers in the USA and their work should be praised and admired. Plus we get to wear them as an excuse to embellish our knitting! Click on the pictures for big.



Shawl pin. Nose Piece replica from the Quimbaya culture.



Replicas from gold necklace beads from the Muisca collection.



Replica from Quimbaya figures, also made into a shawl pin.
I have plenty more. One of these days I will dig them out and share with you. In my collection there are pieces from other native cultures from my country some in gold some in silver that are well worth looking at. One of these days......
Bellow are some of the pins I have acquired since living in the USA. Amazing pieces of art, in my eyes.



The pin above was made by Leslie Wind. I had said they were made by Romi from Designs by Romi, I was mistaken.
Both of these designers make lovely pins and jewelry.
She makes lovely pins and closures of all kinds. Delicate pieces of jewelry and sturdy enough to serve as handy shawl pins. The pin in the middle attaches to the cloth you insert it through the opening in the ring, turn it around and there you have it! save and secure.



This one is silver. The attaching mechanism is a bit tricky you have to gather the cloth and make sure that the teeth underneath attach to both sides. It is a lovely piece! She has lots and lots more, all kinds of closing mechanisms, different metals and stones. Just visit her website. The prices are beyond reasonable. I believe she will also custom make whatever you want, but don't quote me on that.



Last but absolutely not least a Celtic Shawl brooch I got this week. This one is made by Molly from Celtic Swans Forge she also makes crochet hooks, knitting and sewing needles. She works with a variety of metals and stones. I had been eyeballing one of her Celtic brooches for quite some time but every time I went to her website the ones I wanted were sold out. One day I emailed her asking about them and she said she would custom make one for me. My specs were simple. A Celtic Brooch that would have the same closing mechanism as the one I had from Romi, no stones, no dangling things and smooth so it would not catch on lace. Sure enough about a month later it came in the mail and I could not be more pleased with it. The price was also just right and it is a pleasure to deal with someone as nice as her.

I love everything handmade and I encourage you to support our artists. Women like Romi and Molly are living artists who's work we should preserve.

CORRECTION:
Edited to add: looks like old age is kicking in. I was mistaken and the pins I said were made by Romi are NOT! They are made by Leslie Wind. The ones I have are in her gallery. Sorry for the confusion. I have included links to both Romi and Leslie.