Treasured Motifs

A series of sterling silver bookmarks designed exclusively by ANTIKA for the John Fawcett Foundation.

The John Fawcett Foundation is a humanitarian not-for-profit organisation established in Bali in 1989, that assists Indonesians with sight restoration and blindness prevention.

The designs for the bookmarks were inspired by the Foundation's founder, John Fawcett, and his passion for craft and his love of the Balinese cultural aesthetic and craftsmanship, especially the centuries old tradition of hand carved natural materials that appear throughout Bali, from architectural surfaces to decorative ornaments.

The bookmarks show a reverence for the Indonesian tradition of handwoven fabrics and batik printing and they embrace motifs common in these fabrics.

S A C R E D   T H E A R D S   B O O K M A R K

The Sacred Threads bookmark motif was inspired by a shoulder cloth believed to have dated from the late 19th century.  The shoulder cloth originated from Aceh in North Sumatra, Indonesia.

The cloth is made of silk and gold thread and is 750 x 3720mm.  In 2001, the cloth was exhibited at an exhibition organised by Textile Friends of Singapore.  The bookmark is named after the book that accompanied the exhibition, Sacred Threads (Sacred Threads; Ceremonial Textiles of Southeast Asia [Textile Friends of Singapore, Singapore, 2001].

F L O W E R   M O T I F   B O O K M A R K

The flower motif was adapted from a batik pattern called Motif Batik Ageng.  The pattern is believed to have originated in Java, and believed to have been used by ancient kings to attend the palace when there was a traditional ceremony.  The pattern is believed to convey a noble character, of someone who is fair and who protects those and the environment around them.

The flower is adapted from the depiction of the tree of life which represents prosperity, justice, power, as well as fertility.

Batik is a method of producing coloured designs on textiles by waxing parts not to be dyed (H. V. Fowler and F. G. Fowler eds., The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Current English, 4th edn, rev. E. McIntosh [Oxford University Press, London 1960].

S E L E N D A N G   M O T I F   B O O K M A R K

The Selendang bookmark was also inspired by the design motifs in a shoulder cloth believed to have dated from the late 19th century.  The shoulder cloth originated from Aceh in North Sumatra, Indonesia (Sacred Threads; Ceremonial Textiles of Southeast Asia [Textile Friends of Singapore, Singapore, 2001].

The cloth is made of silk and gold thread and is 750 x 3720mm.  In 2001, the cloth was exhibited at an exhibition organised by Textile Friends of Singapore.  The bookmark is named Selendang, meaning shawl.  The shoulder cloth is in private collection. 

Buy a bookmark and help others to read.

S H O P  B O O K M A R K S

J O H N   F A W C E T T

John Fawcett was a ceramicist and Deputy Director of the Perth Technical College in Western Australia.  In 1983, he moved to Bali to recover from a life-threatening medical accident, where he remained until his death in 2017.*

In 1991, John Fawcett Foundation was established after years assisting the needy in Indonesia with a Cleft Lip and Palate program, and then sight restoration and blindness prevention using mobile eye clinics for cataract surgery.

To purchase a bookmark, click here and help fund this important humanitarian work in sight restoration and blindness prevention to those less fortunate in Indonesia.

To read more about John Fawcett and the sight restoration work being carried out by the Foundation, click here.   

* John Fawcett Foundation