My late mother, the same one who told me to stop hanging around the junk shops, gave me another piece of sage advice: You don't have to be rich or materialistic, but you should have 'one nice piece'.
#2597 Royal Vienna portrait vase.
The 'one nice piece' could be a little vase with a rose on a tea tray, a portrait of your family in a beautiful frame or an item of antique or vintage jewelry that you can wear at any time or on special occasions.
The clear assumption of 'one nice piece' is that it will enrich your life. Your eye falls on the 'one nice piece' and immediately, your spirits are raised. Perhaps unconsciously, you become aware that there is beauty and richness in the world, creativity that lifts the mundane to a higher plane. Watch as a woman looks down at a piece of jewellery on her finger or arm and the quiet contentment that accompanies that glance. How she might fondle a necklace or pendant and derive comfort and security from it's luxurious touch.
We, humans, living in a world that is sometimes depressing and bleak, have souls that can be uplifted when we look at a beautiful landscape, a work of art or a small jewel.
#7316 Sapphire ring.
From a simple bud vase with a single rose, to an antique French ormolu centerpiece, there is no limit to what might be that single item to bring joy and pleasure into our lives. Exactly where that 'one nice piece' is located may vary. Is it in your bedroom? Is it on your desk? Do you share it with the world in your living room? Or, do you wear it on your person?
Jewelry is the ultimate in art transcending the mundane world. Jewelry, in many cases has spiritual power. It may be connecting us to our mothers and grandmothers, it might be something that we worked hard to acquire, it might be something special given by a loved one. Antique and vintage jewelry has the ability to transport us to a world beyond the concrete and material.
One nice piece does not have to be very valuable in financial terms. It is valuable in personal, aesthetic terms.
#6306 Early Victorian earrings, brooch/pendant set in pink topaz and diamonds.
Does jewelry have to be antique to be 'the one nice piece'? Not by definition, but just consider the amount of care and work lavished on antique jewels, made at a time when the end-result was a point of pride and not merely a mass-produced means to greater wealth. Mere money can't buy that kind of artistic pride and effort. These are the pieces that make our hearts sing and soar to great heights.
We don't need to own huge collections. We don't need to compete with the Jones's. But, we do need 'one nice piece'.
#4302. Ming Dynasty figure of Buddha.
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