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Over the last forty years, butterflies have offered Wallace Chan endless fascination. As a child, Chan recalls thinking of butterflies as “flying colors,” and in his series titled Forever Dancing he works to capture the insect’s movement. For the Chinese, in addition to the nearly universal themes of beauty and metamorphosis, the butterfly symbolizes eternal love. The story of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai (Butterfly Lovers) offers a Romeo and Juliet-like tale where the spirits of the ill-fated lovers ultimately live forever in the form of butterflies. Nearly all of Chan’s butterflies are brooches. He prefers this form as it allows for wearers to be freer and more playful with the creature’s placement on their body. If you have walked through an indoor butterfly conservatory at a local zoo or park, you have observed the way the insects move through the air, flying between plants, flowers, and sometimes settling on an unsuspecting visitor. This is how you are meant to encounter Chan’s butterflies—pinned to a bodice, nestled in the hair, placed as if landed on a shoulder, or perhaps as a flash of light from across a crowded room. Brooches offer endless possibilities for a wearer’s creativity.
Forever Dancing - Bright Star
Wallace Chan (Chinese, born in 1956)
Chinese
2013
Medium/Technique
Titanium, yellow diamond, fancy-colored diamonds, rock crystal, mother‑of‑pearl, butterfly specimen, pearl
Dimensions
Overall: 10.6 × 7 × 2.5 cm (4 3/16 × 2 3/4 × 1 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Christin Xing and Rex Wong
Accession Number2023.3
ClassificationsJewelry / Adornment – Brooches
Over the last forty years, butterflies have offered Wallace Chan endless fascination. As a child, Chan recalls thinking of butterflies as “flying colors,” and in his series titled Forever Dancing he works to capture the insect’s movement. For the Chinese, in addition to the nearly universal themes of beauty and metamorphosis, the butterfly symbolizes eternal love. The story of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai (Butterfly Lovers) offers a Romeo and Juliet-like tale where the spirits of the ill-fated lovers ultimately live forever in the form of butterflies. Nearly all of Chan’s butterflies are brooches. He prefers this form as it allows for wearers to be freer and more playful with the creature’s placement on their body. If you have walked through an indoor butterfly conservatory at a local zoo or park, you have observed the way the insects move through the air, flying between plants, flowers, and sometimes settling on an unsuspecting visitor. This is how you are meant to encounter Chan’s butterflies—pinned to a bodice, nestled in the hair, placed as if landed on a shoulder, or perhaps as a flash of light from across a crowded room. Brooches offer endless possibilities for a wearer’s creativity.
DescriptionThis large butterfly was created to look as if it floating through the air with wings outstretched. Set with brown, orange, yellow diamonds on a blue-green background the materials, design, and colors demonstrate Chan's innovation as an artist and gem carver. In the wings, carved rock crystal, mother of pearl, real butterfly wings, and titanium are layered in a style of fabrication that is unique to Chan and which offers something unique from every angle. The body of the butterfly features large fancy yellow diamonds set into titanium. On the reverse, each of the double pinstems is fitted into a pearl set with a small pink gemstone. Chan was among the earliest haute joaillerie artists to use titanium. The metal is lighter than others and by expertly applying high heat it can be anodized to create vibrant colors like the blue-green seen here. The lightness of the materials allows for this surprisingly large yet light and wearable design.
Marks
"Wallace Chan / 2013.11.18"
Provenance2023, sold by the artist to Christin Xing and Rex Wong, Shanghai, China; 2023, gift of Xing and Wong to the MFA. (Accession Date: February 15, 2023)
CopyrightReproduced with permission.