Pavone - Crystal clutch bag

The Pavone is a small evening clutch, recreated by hand from a single drawing my grandmother left behind.

Elspeth Marrowick owned one handbag in her entire life — a crystal peacock clutch she commissioned in 1962 for a single evening at the V&A Museum gala in London. After her death the bag was sold at auction. I have spent the last year in her orangery, recreating it from her sketchbook and a faded photograph from that night.

The Pavone is an oval hardcase minaudière, approximately 18 × 11 × 6 cm. The body is densely set with emerald and sapphire crystal rhinestones forming a peacock with its tail fully fanned. A thin gold metal top handle arcs above, and a small rhinestone-set clasp closes the top. The lining is cream silk-feel.

Only three hundred Pavones will ever exist. Each is hand-numbered No. 001 through No. 300 on a small cream cardstock tag tied to the gold handle with natural jute twine. Once these three hundred are gone, no more will be made.

Your Pavone arrives wrapped in cream tissue, sealed with a moss-green wax peacock-feather seal, with a sprig of dried lavender from the orangery tucked beside it. Inside the box, a short handwritten note from me. The whole package fits in your palm.

She is meant for one evening at a time — a wedding, a gallery opening, an anniversary, a quiet dinner that turns into something. Carry her until you find the next reason to.

— Wren