The Story behind our Brass Collection

November 17, 2021 Sophie Garnier

Where oh where does all that shiny stuff come from?

Here's the scoop...

Burma has long been known as The Golden Land, and for good reason. There are thousands of golden pagodas dotted all over the country, like gilded iced gems. Sheets of gold leaf are sold at the entrance to every pagoda, ready for daily worshipers to add to the shrine. So they only get shinier. Our brass is brass, not gold, but it reminds us of the gold. Think of it as gold from the Golden Land, but without the price tag.

Every afternoon at about 5pm, something magical happens to the light in Burma. It turns everything golden. Its rays are longer, warmer, golder than anywhere else. It's the Golden Hour, and it is spellbinding. We bottled some of that light, and polished it into this collection. How about that for magic?

The brass workshop is in Burma's Sagaing region. It is on the banks of the Irrawaddy, about half way up. These guys make brass buddhas: big ones, small ones, medium ones. So our collection is something a bit different for them.

Kyaw Naing runs the workshop which is called Pyae Sone, meaning “perfection” in Burmese. This makes sense for a man who has been practising his craft for over 30 years and seeks perfection in everything he does. Since 2021's coup, his workshop has had to contend with soaring prices for raw materials and dwindling electricity, leaving him reliant on an expensive generator. However, he’s not one to give up lightly, and consistently and methodically produces his beautiful pieces for us. He has a son and a daughter who hope to take on the business if he can keep it going. We’ll do our best to make sure this happens.

The collection is based around the shape of Buddhist alms bowls. It's rare to walk down a road, or through a village in Burma without seeing a monk with his alms bowl. We've used the shape to make the bowl and the candle bowl. We've made it rounder for the lampbase and jug, and shrunk it and popped it at the top of our candle sticks.

So there you go. A collection made from a colour, feel and shape which can only be from Burma. Indisputably Burmese. Just how we like it.

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