ARTIST HANDCRAFTED — Window to the Past Necklace with Excavated Antique Room Key Tag and Antique Brass 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 a room key tag — #65 — that dates back to the period between the 1890s to the 1920s. It was unearthed from an excavation in the Green Point area of Brooklyn, New York. 

The room key tag is encased in and protected by a durable, glass-like resin cover. The pendant is accented with antique brass beads, and the antique brass-color chain is made from nickel-free iron. 

THE DETAILS

• Unique, artist handcrafted necklace
• Pendant with encased antique room key tag dating from the 1890s to the 1920s discovered at historical excavation site in the Green Point area of Brooklyn, New York.
• Length: The necklace, including pendant, is 32.5" inches long. The chain alone is 28.5", and the pendant alone is 2.25" inches long. 
• Glass-like resin cover protects room key tag
• Pendant accented with antique brass 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,"