Brief Summary… 

• Recycled vintage dessert spoon
• Hand cut from the spoon with traditional jewellers piercing saw.
• Presented with donor spoon.
• Optional inscription message on spoon handle
• Classic safety locking catch on back.
• Strong pin which can be used for winter coats or dress wear
• Size : 60mm * 40mm
• Handcrafted & Recycled in Cambridge
• made with Love

A little more detail…

A lovely little stylised Barn Owl brooch which would look fab on any attractive jacket. Inspired by the real thing which is fabulously opposite our stall at the All Saints Art & Craft market in Cambridge each Saturday.

Each spoon Owl brooch is the result of recycling an old dessert spoon. To recycle and reuse these spoons i firstly clean them up, then plan and sketch the design onto the ‘bowl’ of the spoon.

Tentatively, tiny holes are drilled through the spoon at marked positions. These allow me to feed the miniature hand saw into the middle of the spoon, thus enabling to cut away the inside sections. The outline of the owl design is then meticulously followed with the piercing saw. Once the wonderful Owl is ‘freed’ from the spoon it is filed and polished to a true finish.

The barn owl, with its silent flight, ghostly appearance, and haunting screeches, has woven itself into the fabric of folklore and artistic expression, appearing across cultures as a potent and often contradictory symbol.

Mystery and the Unknown: The barn owl’s nocturnal habits and silent flight make it a creature of the shadows, evoking a sense of mystery, the hidden, and the unseen. It can represent the hidden aspects of the psyche or the deeper truths that lie beyond conscious awareness.

Wisdom and Intuition: Despite its association with darkness, owls, particularly the barn owl, are often linked to wisdom, knowledge, and intuition, according to Wild Gratitude. Their ability to navigate the darkness and locate prey based on sound alone can symbolize the power of inner knowing, trusting intuition, and finding clarity in challenging situations.

Death and Transformation: In some traditions, the barn owl’s ghostly appearance and association with the night have connected it with death and the underworld. However, this connection isn’t always negative. In some contexts, it can also signify transformation, regeneration, and the cycle of life and rebirth.

Protection and Guardianship: The barn owl’s silent hunt and its role as a nocturnal predator can be interpreted as a symbol of protection and guardianship, especially against hidden dangers in the dark, notes

Gwen Harwood’s acclaimed poem “Barn Owl,” for instance, uses the act of a child shooting a barn owl as a powerful symbol of the loss of innocence and the harsh realities of facing death and consequences. The owl’s silent flight and its eventual suffering highlight the vulnerability of nature in the face of human actions, and the irreversible nature of lost innocence.

The barn owl is a creature that holds multiple, sometimes conflicting, layers of meaning in the realm of poetry and symbolism. They scream of the secrets of the night and the wisdom gleaned from silence. The transition between life and death and the transformative power of experience. The hidden dangers or unseen truths that require keen perception and intuition to navigate.

An integral and interesting part of the brooch is the spoon from which it was cut. This simple ‘donor’ spoon is also given a little ‘Hairy Growler’ treatment. It is transformed in to an wonderful Objects D’ Art which acts a lovely resting place for the brooch when not being worn. Both are presented in a lovely box.

Ethereal Wisom Barn Owl inspired brooch with wonderful credentials and a completely great conversation piece. Handmade and recycled in Cambridge.

Size : Approx 60 mm * 40 mm