About
About
ARCHIVAL is a jewelry line based in Wichita, KS. Every piece is designed and constructed by Channing Taylor, a lifelong collector of tiny things and antique jewels.
CHANNING TAYLOR grew up in Kansas. She began selling her one of a kind jewelry while in high school and continued to design while she pursued an Anthropology degree at the University of Kansas. After studying the early foundations of self-adornment, she was motivated to follow her original passion and transferred to KU's Fine Arts program to pursue a BFA in Metalsmithing/Jewelry Design. There she studied enameling, forming, stone setting, CAD/CAM design and lost-wax casting, the latter being her main focus in her final year; she graduated in 2012. Since then, she has returned to Wichita and sells her work at local shops, markets and online.
THE FOCUS is to create modern jewelry for the old soul. In fact, it's also modern jewelry with an old soul, because each piece features a carefully curated selection of antique jewels, talismans, unusual objects, tokens, souvenirs, stones and tiny charms. These artifacts, from all different eras, countries and convictions, mingle with original ARCHIVAL designs and start an entirely new conversation.
Worlds collide! Their stars would have never crossed otherwise!
If you'd like to request a custom piece, or you are interested in carrying ARCHIVAL, contact:
archivaljewelry@gmail.com
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Beetles
Odontolabis femoralis
Pliny the Elder observed both Greeks and Romans wearing the heads of stag beetles around the neck to ward of evil and illness. Bavarian folklore suggests it was worn as a good luck charm. Then again, old European superstitions claimed stag beetles caused fires by attracting lightning and carry embers in their mandibles. The Dutch Masters of the Golden Age often used the stag beetle in lush, haunting still life paintings.
The stag beetle, of the family Lucanidae, is found throughout history, but when I found him, he was the smallest in a group of boxed insects, neatly preserved many years ago as evidenced by the yellowing, typewritten labels and the offensive odor of past preservation methods by entomologists. I loved him most, this Odontolabis femoralis, for despite his stature, his mandibles were so majestic, symmetrical, powerful that he immediately struck me as a symbol. It will mean something different to everyone, and that’s exactly what I want for this collection-each piece a personal talisman to the wearer, a totally unique combination of ideas and decades that culminate around my own tiny contribution to history, a little soul that needed to be cast and saved.
Beetles
Odontolabis femoralis
Pliny the Elder observed both Greeks and Romans wearing the heads of stag beetles around the neck to ward of evil and illness. Bavarian folklore suggests it was worn as a good luck charm. Then again, old European superstitions claimed stag beetles caused fires by attracting lightning and carry embers in their mandibles. The Dutch Masters of the Golden Age often used the stag beetle in lush, haunting still life paintings.
The stag beetle, of the family Lucanidae, is found throughout history, but when I found him, he was the smallest in a group of boxed insects, neatly preserved many years ago as evidenced by the yellowing, typewritten labels and the offensive odor of past preservation methods by entomologists. I loved him most, this Odontolabis femoralis, for despite his stature, his mandibles were so majestic, symmetrical, powerful that he immediately struck me as a symbol. It will mean something different to everyone, and that’s exactly what I want for this collection-each piece a personal talisman to the wearer, a totally unique combination of ideas and decades that culminate around my own tiny contribution to history, a little soul that needed to be cast and saved.