Elongated Intimacy: The intimate experience of owning / commissioning a craft object

‘How will you (craftspeople) make things that others will value, give a place in their intimate space and include in the rituals of their daily life?’ (Unger 2007)

Little has been written in either social science or material culture research about the way contemporary craft objects are encountered and consumed and the meanings and values that they subsequently inherit. In my research as a silversmith and jeweller the made object embodies a set of intentions with symbolic significance and narrative agendas. Until now only anecdotal data existed to support whether the reception was equal to the intentions. This paper reports on the findings of primary empirical data gathered through intimate in-depth interviews. The respondents (unlike many studies) were invited to participate because they had purchased, commissioned or acquired an object created by the author. The complex results elicited knowledge about the life of the objects and the values and meanings they hold for those who own them. The findings are presented in the context of current critical debate in contemporary craft and describe how they inform creative practice.