Private Commissions

Tape Necklace and Cuff Set

2003

Commissioned by Bee Ladd, Brooklyn, New York
Medium: Glass beads, thread
Dimensions: Cuff: approx. 6 3/8 × 1 1/2 × 1/4 in.; Necklace: 36 × 1 × 1/2 in.
Photograph: Courtesy of the artists

Commission Overview
This cuff and tape necklace set was commissioned by our sister Bee in 2003, during a time when she regularly supported our practice by acquiring works to help sustain us as young artists in New York. Both pieces are playful and full of color, woven in bold stripes of yellow, orange, red, black, and white. They represent an early stage in William’s development of geometric language on the loom, when vertical warp and horizontal weft threads provided a natural framework for straight edges, blunt ends, and stacked motifs.

Artistic Approach
The cuff was loomed as a narrow strip, with a clasp made by peyote-stitching a thin tab at one end and anchoring a beaded ball at the other. The beaded ball itself was created by weaving tiny seed beads around a hidden bead core, then attaching a tubular peyote stem that allowed the ball to connect seamlessly to the cuff.

The necklace, designed as a “tape” strip, closed with a double beaded ball clasp—one red, one orange—marking one of the earliest appearances of this clasp system in a commission. The tape necklace format had originally emerged from William’s experiments with long peyote-stitched strips that Steven wore as both belts and necklaces. On the loom, the design became more durable, expressive, and structurally precise.

Engagement and Impact
For Bee, the set was both adornment and personal family support—a way of literally wearing her investment in our lives and work. For us, it was another crucial step in the evolution of our wearable forms, blending color play with technical innovation in clasp-making.

Context and Legacy
Tape Necklace and Cuff Set demonstrates how our early commissions doubled as both creative experiments and lifelines. The introduction of the double beaded ball clasp system would go on to become a defining feature of our jewelry. And Bee’s continued role as one of our earliest supporters reminds us how essential family was in helping to shape and sustain our artistic path.