Brief Summary…

• Recycled silver Victorian shillings
• Hand carved and engraved details
• Hand cut from the shilling with traditional jewellers piercing saw.
• Choice of stars caught by owls
• Free engraving of special initials on reverse
• Hairy Growler sterling silver earring wires
• Size :  40mm * 22mm
• Symbolism: Mystery, Wisdom Intuition & Protection
• Handcrafted & Recycled in Cambridge
• made with Love

A little more detail…

Pouncing Owl silver earrings – Recycled silver shillings

Fabulous flying owl earrings completely handcrafted and totally made from recycled raw materials. They have been carefully cut from 100 year old solid silver shilling coins. The stars have been cut from an old ‘out of circulation’ thrupney bit, threepence coin.  You are welcome to choose silver stars cut from lucky sixpence coins or red copper stars cut from Victorian pennies.

Each owl is hand drawn on to the surface of the coins and then pierced out with a traditional jewellers piercing saw.

Handmade and completely recycled in Cambridge, UK. Complete with the finest sterling silver ear wires and silver shilling ‘off-cut’. Size : approx 40 mm * 22 mm

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.