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Pat Savu - Horus Lord of the Horizon
Category: Body Adornment.
This pectoral is done primarily in square stitch. The strap was assembled using single, 2-drop and 3-drop brick stitch and square stitch.
I became infected with the beading bug in 1993 after seeing some large rice pearls at the Mall of America Bead It store and decided: How hard could this be to make a pearl necklace out of this? Necklaces are like potato chips: you can't make just one. By 1995 I had progressed to making split loom necklaces. In December of 1995 I made my first amulet pouch and had moved into off loom techniques like square stitch and brick stitch. My square stitch bib necklace "Isis" was accepted to be exhibited at Embellishment 98.
I have a continuing interest in Egyptian themed jewelry. My amulet pouch "Ba Released" was featured in the Gallery of Beadwork's Spring 1999 issue. In a modern vein,"Titanic Lovers", a brick stitch bib necklace, was exhibited at Embellishment 99's Gleaming Treasures. "Dragon" and "Viewing the Northern Lights" were exhibited at the Bead and Button 2000 show. "Darth Maul" and "The Edge" (both Star Wars themed pieces in 3-D square stitch) were exhibited at Embellishment 2000.
Technique Description:
This pectoral is done mostly in square stitch. I charted it in Beadscape using a piece from Tutankamen's tomb (piece no. 267m(1), The Complete Tutankamen by Nicholas Reeves, p151) and from looking at actual photos of peregrine falcons which the image of Horus as the Egyptians typically portrayed him resembles. Instead of using the Egyptian colors in the piece from King Tut's tomb, I used the natural pallette of the peregrine falcon.
The main body of the piece is in square stitch and used 19 different 11/0 delicas. To give the 3-dimensional effect, as many as three layers of beads were square stitched on top of each other. The wings and tail were edged in black matte (db 310) with two or three bead fretting. The rays of the sun which are in part a structural element of the piece, are clear delicas used with red Nymo to give the morning rays of the sun a delicate rosy glow.
The strap contains three colors of 8/0 delicas with glass and vermeil accent beads. I thought that the 8/0 delicas resembled the faience cylinder beads that the Egyptians employed in their broad collars and pectoral straps. The strap was assembled using single , 2-drop, and 3-drop brick stitch, and square stitch. The closure is a lamp glass eye button ( made just for this competition by Rae Friedman of good Medicine beads). Egyptians wore the "Eye of Horus" which was a stylized eye talisman to protect them from the evil eye and demons. This eye resembles the true eye of Horus in that it resembles the pale gold eye of a raptor.
Horus- The Myth
Horus was depicted in Egyptian art as a falcon or falcon-headed man. Horus was the son of Isis and Osiris. On reaching adulthood, he fought his evil uncle Seth who murdered his father and triumphed over him(1). Horus is the champion of truth, order, or rightness, while Seth is the champion of chaos and destruction. As the conquerer of chaos, Horus was the special patron of the pharaoh. The Pharaoh was a living god to his people and reconcilliation of the conflicting powers order and chaos was the pharaoh's chief role. Pharaoh was the earthly manifestation of Horus, the falcon, lord of the sky.(2)
This aspect of Horus is as Re-Horkhte, lord of the horizon as the sun rises(3). Horus is crowned with the disk of the sun and clenches the shen the symbol for eternity. His feet as supported by the Ankh the symbol for life, so in essence he is holding the message for eternal life.(4,5) I bet the goldsmith who made this piece during the 90 days he had to finish this piece before Tutankamen's funeral had to think of some way to support the thin feet of the bird so that they didn't snap off. The ankh is a decorative strut which provides support. Lucky for me since the beadwork feet need support more than the metal ones did.
Pat has a website and can be reached by email at megriffin.no.spam@earthlink.net.
1. The World of the Pharaohs, Christine Hobson, Thanes and Hudson, 1990, p134.
2. Egypt Uncovered, Vivian Davies and Renee Friedman, Stewart, Tabori, and Chang, New York, 1998, p14.
3. Riddles of the Sphinx, Paul Jordan, New York University Press, 1998, p180.
4. The Complete Tutankamen, Nicholas Reeves, Thames and Hudson, 1990, p151. 5. Ancient Egyptian Jewelry, Carol Andrews, Harry N. Abrams, 1990, p134.