This spider, made with a carved segment from a broken bracelet, brings to mind women's vintage dressing tables with bottles of perfume on mirrors, intricate brushes, and other pretties. It also reminds me of the story
The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry in which a husband and wife make sacrifices to give each other gifts. For Christmas, Della decides to buy Jim a chain for his prized pocket watch given to him by his father's father. To raise the funds, she has her long, beautiful hair cut off and sold to make a wig. Meanwhile, Jim decides to sell his watch to buy Della a beautiful set of hair combs made out of tortoiseshell and jewels for her lovely, knee-length brown hair. Although each is disappointed to find the gift they chose rendered useless, each is pleased with the gift that they received, because it represents their love for one another.
This story is has been memorialized often in film and literature to reinforce the importance of giving from the heart. Remember the
Little House on the Prairie episode when Laura sells her horse to buy Ma a new woodstove, and Pa makes Laura a saddle for Bunny the same Christmas? Ouch.
Materials: carved bone/shell/ivory(??), white stone bead, translucent white bugle beads, carved shell beads, translucent seed beads, silver wire
