Ruby Tavern
“Swirlys”
People often ask me about the “swirly” designs that adorn the hats and other wearables that I make. For the past years I have been growing a vital love affair with the peoples, landscapes, mythologies, and histories, of Mongolia and Central Asia (a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north. It is also sometimes referred to as “Middle Asia” and, colloquially, as the “stans” as the 5 countries considered to be within the region all have names ending with that suffix.)
It was the incredibly ornate and finely crafted clothing, footwear, and jewelry that caught my eye...and heart! Many of the designs are very, very ancient and pre-date the religious influences of Zoroastrianism and Islam - or any organized religion, for that matter. They are full of movement and are often very reminiscent of forms indigenous peoples saw (and still see!) in the natural world - water, clouds, animals. These designs are called by anthropologists, “Zoomorphic” (of, or relating to, being a deity conceived of in animal form or with animal attributes) and are attributed to the native peoples of thee areas that practice Shamanism. Some of what we know about these peoples and their exquisite adornments have been unearthed from the kurgans (royal tombs) in the area just north of the Black Sea and further east in the Altai Mountains, but others of these designs have travelled to us through time - on the backs, heads, animals, and dwellings of the various descendants who followed (and still follow) in their footsteps. Many of these designs that you see in my hats are thought to be “tamed” versions of these earlier wilder forms.
“The magic of felt”
