Sequined Lace Stud Bridge

Handmade Fair Trade in Indonesia and the United States

White Brass & Leather

Width - 3 inches

Height - 1,25 inches

Length of stud shaft - .25 inches

Number of stud shafts - 2

Weight (including leather backing disks) - .8 ounces 

This bridge brooch was originally made from pieces of lace that I stiffened with starch and then painted with a copper paint.  The copper-painted lace was then attached to a copper wire and then dipped in a copper-suspension bath that was electrified so that the copper suspension would attach to the copper paint and create a layer of metal with that original lace still inside. I sent those metal pieces - the copper-coated lace - to Agus, my collaborator, in Bali and now, years and years later, he has made them into stud buttons.  But they don't really come across to me as buttons.  They really have more the feel of brooches.  Their ornamental presence is so strong and assertive they feel more like jewelry than just functional components.  They are doing a lot of work!  

The wide curved piece of Sequined Lace has two stud button shafts so it works beautifully to bridge the gap between two sides of a neckwarmer, shawl, or cardigan.