These are my 2 cast ceramic glazed orbs printed with black typeface letters on a white background. One ball has an “A” on it and the other a “G.” They are decorative items with no real purpose.
I bought these brand new with the money I made from working at either Yogen Fruz or Tim Hortons in the Mall as a young adult. My mom purchased some for her that were the letters J&G for Jan and Ger. I think I may have been 14 or 15 years old at the time.
These ceramic balls remind me of my mom. We used to go to Pier 1 Imports outlet store all the time to look for little treasures we could add to our life. I remember spending many hours there with her as a young adult. I really liked that store because it was colourful and had a lot of really neat textures. The glasses were vibrant, the seating was comfy and unique, the curtains were embellished with colourful beading. They always had something I thought was special. I bought 20 GIANT white paper lantern globes, thinking I’d use them for an art project. I had one in my bedroom but eventually sold them to a woman for her wedding. Pier 1 Imports will always remind me of my mom. It was how we spent our time after she was done with work.
They reminded me of metallic Chinese meditation balls with chimes inside them that were popular in the early 90s. They would come in a decorated box, and you would use them for hand circulation. I always tried not to clank them as I spun them around in my hands.
When I saw all of the balls together in a collection at the store, they had a grand impact visually. I am often drawn to store displays and purchase an item from the display, thinking it will have the same impact in my space. What I have come to realize is that this is not the case, and the impact and moments are lost once I get them home.
I chose A & G because my name is Amanda Gall. I couldn’t afford to buy all of the collection, and at the time, I felt I needed a piece, so this was my first idea. I like them because they are quite small, so they don’t take up a lot of space. That said, I am never quite sure where to put them or how to display them.
They currently live underneath my TV on my stereo console. They sit in a metal dish nested in a bigger vintage metal tray. They are away from most of my other nicknacks, and I’m not sure why I chose that placement. I will add them to my “shelf of things” after finishing this blog. I don’t typically interact with these. They are on display in my apartment as an embellishment. They have lived in the same spot for the past few years but previously had a home on my coffee table. Sometimes they get dusty, so I’ll clean them when I clean the stereo.
I think I originally bought them for $3-$5 each. I can’t remember. I found someone selling the balls online for $2 each. I purchased them as decorative trinkets because I thought they were cool. They don’t hold much monetary value. I think I’ll donate them when I’m gone.
I bought these from the Pier 1 Import outlet in London, Ontario. Pier 1 Imports was famous for importing goods from all over the world. Pier 1 Imports, Inc. is an online retailer and former Fort Worth, Texas-based retail chain specializing in imported home furnishings and decor, particularly furniture, table-top items, decorative accessories, and seasonal decor. I am not sure how they were manufactured. Items from that store are imported, created with foreign designers, or produced by Pier 1’s Trend and Product Development team. Many products were produced in China. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pier_1_Imports.
I like the balls because they are a bit of a mystery about how they were manufactured. I like round objects in general. I like that they have letters typed all over them. It makes them feel a little modern, but because the typeface is more of a typewriter, it adds a bit of an aged feel to them too. There is something I like about having a monogrammed item in my space. It makes it more personal and unique.
I am not sure about the history of small decorative orbs, but I found an article online about how versatile they are for home decor here. I consider them a nicknack or ornament, so I did a little more reading on those.
Nicknack: a small trivial article usually intended for ornament. One article I read defines a nicknack as; The function of a knickknack is to bring us joy or remind us of a happy memory – a legitimate purpose for an item. It is often difficult to determine if an item genuinely serves this function.
This article was interesting because it was a “Dear Abby” style where a woman was trying to understand if her collections of nicknacks were positively adding to her life or negatively impacting it. Something similar to this entire blog exercise I’m going through.
Ornament: a useful accessory or something that lends grace, beauty, or festivity. Basically an embellishment.
A fantastic article in the New York Times was written in 1981 about ornaments and embellishments throughout time. It talks about early embellishment as a source tied to the supernatural and divine.
More than just a dread of empty spaces has led to the urge to decorate; it is the fear of empty selves.
Ada Louise Huxtable,THE PRIMAL URGE TO EMBELLISH
I sometimes struggle with keeping objects like these that don’t have a useful purpose outside of being visually interesting. Objects like these can remind me of consumerism in a negative sense, where more is more, which makes me feel guilty for contributing to the cycle of buying meaningless things, which could, in turn, harm our planet and society.
That said, I think these orbs hold a story about a time and a place in my personal journey. I purchased them with my mom. I lived with my mom after my parents divorced. Growing up amongst all of that turmoil was confusing, and I was a teenage girl, so not the most accommodating towards others’ feelings. These little orbs are a part of the story of my mom and I bonding through the way she knew how. I never realized the subconscious impact on me of the story these little orbs held. It’s probably why they are still here with me today after many, many years and many moves. They remind me of when I was a teenager and feeling open to the world. I was very interested in interior design and creating spaces, and my mom encouraged me. These orbs make me feel happy because that was a time that was all about me, what I wanted, what I thought, what I dreamt.
On a scale of 1-10 for how upset I’d be if I lost these orbs (10 being very upset and 1 representing no thoughts given at all), I’d be a 5. Since writing this, I have noticed they hold sentimental value, and I have had them in my life for a long time. However, I don’t notice them daily, and if I wasn’t writing this blog, I probably would have never thought twice about them. That’s such an odd thing to admit after noticing the story they hold and how they impact me. Maybe that grade will grow over time.
Material Appreciation 