Journal Entry: 06/09/23

Our Snake Eyes Collection, perhaps more than any other, is near to our hearts. It celebrates the friendship from which Egg Collective was born, borrowing from our own personal biographies and superstitions to explore new forms, materials and meanings.

With that in mind, we have a request. Take a second look at the objects in your life. See them not as static things, but as lively matter. Consider them as fellow participants in a shared and enchanted world. From this view, a thing is never just a thing. It pulses with will, imbued with energy by nature, its maker, or those who hold it dear. Through this lens, we offer you a portal into a world of symbolism, protection, transformation, and intuition with the serpent as our watchful guide.

A letter from co-founder Crystal Ellis:

Objects have the capacity to carry unmeasurable meaning. As a child I had a blanket that I couldn’t sleep without. Long lost now, I hadn’t thought of this item until recently and yet I can conjure it with stunning detail. It was an icy color of pale blue and slightly scratchy to the touch. Acting like a cloak of protection, tucked in below its surface I could drift off to sleep knowing I was safe.

As an adult, I have imparted other objects with significance. The heart-shaped necklace I wore on my wedding day, the matching pair of Victorian era snake rings owned by my sister and I, the chubby clay imprint of my dad’s hand taken when he was a kid.

Each is a symbol of love, shared dreams, and family.
Each is also a link to the past, and to forms revered long before my time.

Objects often represent much more than what they are. Acting as emblems of power, vessels for memory, or markers of time, they serve as physical memoirs that bear witness to, and span, human history. “Thing Power”, a term coined by philosopher and political theorist Jane Bennett, captures this idea asking us to entertain the notion that we live in an enchanted world occupied by lively matter. Through her work, Bennet challenges the idea that the “stuff” surrounding us is inert. Instead, she argues that it has a will of its own. As a creator of objects, I couldn’t agree with her more. For the past 3 years, Hillary, Stephanie and I have held back on releasing new work. Instead we have focused on growing our business by other means. Together we expanded our production facility, grew our team, and let our creative energies percolate. What has resulted is a deep well of inspiration. A series of objects willing themselves into the world; each asking us to consider what power they could hold.

Launching in connection with the 11th anniversary of our company, we have coined this body of work “snake eyes”. The phrase itself is a play on words and a wink at both the origin story of the company and the themes present in our latest designs. Seen as a reawakening after a period of hibernation, like a snake sloughing off its skin, or eyes opening after a long sleep, our 2023 collection explores the idea of the enchanted object by weaving phrases, images, and symbols into our latest creations.

In dice, “snake eyes” is to roll a pair of ones. In our shared narrative, it is a nickname we gave to “Shandling 11” the dorm room we shared during the year our friendship was cemented in undergraduate school. As the lowest possible roll, double ones or “snake eyes” is considered bad luck. But, paradoxically the phrase contains within it two powerful protective totems - the figure of a snake and the watchful gaze of the eye. Both shapes being two of the oldest and most widespread mythological symbols. And both, resonating deeply with us.

In 2017 we conceived of and curated the first in a series of female focused design exhibitions entitled “Designing Women’’. The exhibition opened on the heels of the Women’s March, and featured works by 15 New York-based female-led design companies. As a symbol of our togetherness, and as a talisman of protection, we gifted each participant a delicate bracelet containing a single eye-shaped bead carved from mother of pearl. Mine broke many years ago, as did Hillary’s, but Stephanie’s still graces her wrist watching over her and warding off evil in the present day much as it has for people across the globe for over 5 millennia.

Like the eye, the serpent is another ancient and far reaching symbol. In Egyptian iconography and the Greek magical tradition, the ouroboros, a circular snake eating its tail, represented the cycle of life. Later, the serpent was adopted as a symbol of wisdom and eternal love, gracing the hand of Queen Victoria as her engagement ring.

I myself learned to catch snakes in the grass as a child, and later had one as a pet. In fact, as I sit here writing, I am reminded of a chance encounter I had a few days ago with a garter snake that I found sunning itself. The beguiling nature of its liquid-like movement caught my eye. In that magical way that memory and form can trigger emotion, I was instantly transported to the summers of my youth. Time folded in on itself, and like the ouroboros, I had come full circle. Enthralled, I snapped a video as it glided off the road and sent it to Hillary and Stephanie. I was certain it was a good omen. Such is the power of these forms we hold dear — to ground us while also working a little magic.

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