Flora Bhattachary creates dramatic fine jewellery with a couture edge. Inspired by her family’s links with India since the 18th century, Bhattachary draws on Asian influences, geometry and a strong interest in pattern to create her bold designs. Mixing historic artifacts, family history and Islamic and Hindu art Flora is “devoted to telling a story not in words or paint on canvas, but in gold and precious stone” (Maria Doulton, Telegraph Luxury). The result is elegant sculptural jewellery with a uniquely opulent and seductive take on modern luxury.
The Lotus Collection was Bhattachary’s response to researching her family history. She found herself drawn to a group of Gupta period Bengali coins in the British Museum, which feature Lakshmi, the goddess of fortune and prosperity. Lakshmi is usually depicted seated on a Lotus and holding Lotus flowers and is often associated with women. Bhattachary says of this collection: ‘I had been looking for a way to represent some of the lost stories of the Indian women who had formed relationships with East India Company employees in the C17th. The designs that emerged from drawing these stylised depictions of the Lotus became the focus for tales of passionate love across distant cultures, often juxtaposed with separation and loss.’
