Conversation Piece / Post-Colonial Gold
Marked Evidence
A subtle line. An old fragment. An object that only begins to speak when someone comes closer.
This necklace balances refinement and discovery. The transparent neck line keeps the image light, the vertical gold-toned line gives it direction, and the small clay pipe fragment brings history, weight and meaning.
The fragment was found in Amsterdam and comes from an old clay pipe. In the eighteenth century, pipes were connected to tobacco, trade, use, demand and imitation. Makers often marked their pipes on the heel — the small protrusion beneath the bowl — with signs, initials or symbols referring to origin, quality or workshop identity.
In this fragment, the original mark is no longer visible or traceable with certainty. It may once have referred to a maker, workshop or trade mark, but what remains is primarily a trace of use, breakage and loss. That absence is precisely what makes the fragment interesting: it no longer carries a readable signature, but it does carry the question of origin and meaning.
Within Conversation Pieces, this work stands in dialogue with Gala Porras-Kim. Her work investigates how objects gain meaning when they are named, preserved, classified or moved into another system: a museum, archive or collection.
This necklace asks the same question on the body. What happens when a found fragment is not discarded, but worn? Does it become jewellery, evidence, memory, heritage — or something in between?
Within Post-Colonial Gold, gold does not stand for luxury or possession, but for a new form of value. The gold-toned line activates the damaged fragment and draws attention to what is small, used or almost forgotten.
Marked Evidence is about the value of traces: a break, a remnant, a vanished mark. This clay pipe fragment does not carry a complete story, but it carries enough to reveal something about use, origin, trade and meaning.
No ornament. A trace without a signature.
Each piece is handmade and unique. Through a unique ID and QR code, the object is connected to a digital layer: the artist, the value, the material reference and the story behind the work.
Specifications
Type: wearable sculpture / necklace
Material: old clay pipe fragment, gold-toned sculptural elements, transparent neck cord
Finish: handmade; each piece is unique
Collection: Conversation Pieces / Post-Colonial Gold
Artist in dialogue: Gala Porras-Kim
Value: Marked Evidence
Digital layer: unique ID + QR code
Use: sculptural wearable object, handle with care
Price: €550
Meta Description
Handmade wearable sculpture necklace by Annelies Nuy, part of Conversation Pieces / Post-Colonial Gold, in dialogue with Gala Porras-Kim and the value Marked Evidence.
HS code: 711790
EU commodity / CN code: 71179000
Product description: Handmade imitation jewellery / wearable sculpture necklace with old clay pipe fragment, gold-toned sculptural elements and transparent cord.