Fantail

David Watkins is one of the most important and innovative jewellers working in Britain today. This particular neckpiece has many stylistic antecedents. Its style resembles a torc, enabling comparisons with the museum's archeological collections. In this work Watkins challenges our preconceptions about jewellery but in fact it relates to the most ancient type of body decoration far more closely than many pieces made in intervening centuries. It also bears similarities to African neckrings.