The collector: Jivan Astfalck. Born in Berlin, lives in London, works in Birmingham… Professor of Jewellery Art and Design at the Birmingham Institute of Art and Design.

The collection: Vintage (mainly from the 30s and 40s) British porcelain flower brooches.

The story behind the collection...

Towards the end of my PhD, five years ago, writing the last chapter I was particularly preoccupied with artefacts that for one reason or another have been left behind, turned un-fashionable, flotsam, folk-art of popular urban culture and sentimental reliquia. I was and am interested in the invested narratives which some of these artefacts seem to carry. At that time my friend Susan gave me the first yellow porcelain flower brooch, which I believe belonged to her grandmother. She knew, having followed my creative studio practice for some time, that I would very much appreciate this brooch. Some weeks later, by sheer serendipity, I found another five brooches on Portobello Market in London. They were very cheap, nobody wanted them… but I had started a collection. Over the years I witnessed something that was unwanted, neglected and unfashionable raising in price and realised that I am not anymore the only one collecting these beautiful, sentimental and touching pieces of jewellery.

I love them in their own right and because I felt that somebody needed to look after them… but they also inspire new work which I make as part of my own creative enquiry.

© Jivan Astfalck, theniceandthenotnice, porcelain, silver, plastics

I've been collecting them for five years and have 231 pieces at present. I have large drawer cases in my studio, which contain the ‘archived’ and ‘curated’ material I collect and use in my work. One drawer is dedicated to the flower brooches.

The large Daffodil brooch is my favourite - I never managed to find another one like this.

I don't think in terms of searching for what is missing from my collection...... I am more a keeper of the forgotten.

What does my collection reveal about me? That I am a fully committed romantic, who loves jewellery and has a problem with modernity… well, maybe they represent an aspect of my unconscious!

I also collect other trivia, ephemera, flotsam and the forgotten.

Jivan's work 'theniceandthenotnice' is currently exhibited in THE RING – jewel for ever at the Hnoss Gallery in Gothenburg, Sweden. The exhibition is touring Scandinavia for the next two years.

http://bcu.academia.edu/jivanastfalck

http://www.mariahanson.co.uk/beneath-the-skin/index.php/researchers/jivan-astfalck

http://journalofmoderncraft.com/author/jivanastfalck