"Ace of Spades"

By Joris Kuyl a contemporary Belgian silversmith.
Antwerp, Sterckshof Provincial Museum - Silver Centre, inv. 98/9a-b.

Silver, alloy mark 925, wood Arm: 39,1 x 9,9 cm; shrine: h 17,3 cm, 49,3 x 24,4 cm.

Joris Kuyl (maker's mark an ideogram in a square) and Dirk Van den Boogaert (designer of the tags and tattoos, designer's mark: two crossed bones), Kessel-Lo, 1998.-Belgium

"Man sees his environment as a helping or oppressive hand. The world he lives in is usually both those things at once. Just like the fourteen little people inside the niches, crouched stoically or relaxed under the life-size arm, which is a symbol of fate, so everyone reacts differently as a person or in time to the experiences which assail him in good times or bad. Six angels are proffering attributes, which enable man to be the master of his destiny. The letter phi and the symbol of infinity stand for fatalistic resignation or the confrontation of elusive emptiness with an open mind. The ace of spades can be an unlucky card or a winning card. All depends on the game that is being played. The bone and sword refer to those who conquer the world by force of arms, but also to defeat and mortality. Mirror and mask are attributes man uses to sing his own praises or to conceal devious pratices. But at his best man is like the angel with the hand hoop, in which every little hand tries out a different grip. If man does not grasp the All, than perhaps he will succeed with little bits."
Leo De Ren-Curator.

(text published by courtesy of the Sterckshof Provincial Museum - Silver Centre)
Consult the museum's website : www.provant.be/sterckshof

"Comtemporary music can also be a source of inspiration for modern silversmiths!" ( M. D'H.)