ARTIST HANDCRAFTED — Window to the Past Necklace with Excavated 1830s Blue Plate Shard and African Jade Beads — By Past Object Art

"To those who give attention to the past and believe in the layers of history underground.

To those who are curious, inquisitive and adventurous.

To those who love to restructure the past so there is a future."

With New York City being such a feast for the eyes, it can be hard for something to stand out and catch your attention.

But while strolling a Lower East Side neighborhood on an exquisite Fall afternoon, we turned a corner and came upon an artist's market. And my eyes immediately went to the collection of jewelry handcrafted by Thailand-born artist, Dolhathai Srijamcharoen, or "Pooh". 

As I picked up each piece, Pooh would share its story, some with beginnings more than 200 years ago.

You see, Pooh designs and crafts unique, wearable art made from pottery shards, antique glass and bottles and various treasures she uncovers from historical excavations in and around New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore and New Jersey. These pieces of the past reach back as far as the 1760s. 

This truly unique necklace features a pendant with an encased blue-and-white plate fragment dating from the 1830s to the 1840s that was found at an excavation project in southern New Jersey.

The plate shard is protected by a glass-like resin cover. The pendant and brass-color, nickel-free iron chain are accented wth African jade beads. 

A rare beauty, indeed. 

THE DETAILS

• Unique, artist handcrafted necklace
• Pendant with encased antique blue-and-white plate shard dating from the 1830s-1840s discovered at historical excavation site in southern New Jersey
• Length: The necklace, including pendant, is 21.5" inches long. The chain alone is 19.5" inches long, and the pendant alone is 2" inches long.
• Glass-like resin cover protects antique shard
• Pendant and necklace accented with African jade beads
• Antique brass-colored, nickel-free iron chain

ABOUT THE ARTIST

An adventurous and creative person, Dolhathai Srijamcharoen, or "Pooh", loves to explore and create art and jewelry by unearthing and transforming excavated objects. 

Born in Thailand, Pooh relocated to New York City in 2001 to work as an artist and jewelry designer.

In 2008, she had the opportunity to join a team of bottle collectors and historians to go digging for old glass at various sites in New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, DC.

After their first round of digs, Pooh used the assortment of items they  gathered to create a collection of past object art pieces, and she has doing so ever since.

She has mastered the technique of cleaning and combining found objects, artifacts, glass, pottery shards, doll parts and vintage jewelry findings to create distinctive pieces, each with their own unique history.

The materials she uses either were dug up by Pooh or a fellow excavation team member.

Pooh explains: "I am very grateful to my digger friends, who put forth a tremendous amount of effort to save artifacts and lost objects. I am very proud that we are able to bring these objects back to life and give people the opportunity to appreciate them again in different forms, all while contributing to environmental sustainability efforts,"