The Anti Hero: Silver Wire Wrapped Pendant

Part of the Illuminated Bestiary Series, this handmade pendant is inspired by medieval representations of foxes. It is handmade with argentium silver wire. The stones set in this pendant are a red coral, London blue topaz, lapis lazuli, and jade to match the color pallet of the manuscript that inspired it. 

About the Fox:

Was the medieval fox a villan or a hero? It depends on what you were reading. Illuminated bestiaries were allegorical, so each animal was representative of sins or virtues in medieval Europe. And in these, the fox is a crafty and deceitful animal that never runs in a straight line, but only in circles. When it wants to catch birds to eat, the fox rolls in red mud so that it appears to be covered in blood. It then lies apparently lifeless; birds, deceived by the appearance of blood and thinking the fox to be dead, land on it and are immediately devoured. In these stories, the fox is a trickster that exemplifies green and deceit. He’s representative of the devil using worldly temptations to trick people into sin and damnation. Like a lot of the animal descriptions and allegories in these manuscripts, the fox is heavily influenced by Aesops fables (with a catholic twist). But not all stories about anthropomorphized foxes were religious in nature. Other, secular tales involving the fox invoke him as a folk hero.

Enter Reynard the fox. Reynard is an anthropomorphic fox (much like the cartoon Robin Hood - actually exactly like that). He is a trickster figure, amoral, and a folk hero that exposes oppression and corruption in the ruling class (nobles and the church). These stories start to crop up across Europe (France, Germany, and England) during the 12th century. Around the same time this manuscript was published… In Reynard’s adventures, he finds himself and more and more dangerous situations and always evades disaster through some scheme or trick.  In the end, he always comes out on top.

Reynard the fox exposes the hypocrisy in ruling institutions. He’s not “the good guy,” he’s just a guy who is smarter than the people in charge and sees their flaws because he shares them. Even though Reynard is hardly admirable in character, we root for him because he isn’t nobility. Like the nobility and church, Reynard is greedy and gluttonous. He is entirely self motivated. Unlike the ruling class, he doesn’t hide behind titles, ceremony, or doctrine to hold himself above other people. He exposes their flaws by holding a mirror up to them without the trappings of wealth and power. In doing so, he becomes a folk hero, not because he is moral or just, but because he brings the humanity and hypocrisy of the ruling class out into the open.

Materials: red coral, London blue topaz, jade, lapis lazuli & argentium silver wire

Care: Buff gently with a soft cloth. Do not soak or polish with chemicals.

Ships in a gift box on a waxed cotton cord, ready to wear or give.