Transforming a common object into a preciously appropriated piece of jewellery is an act that is very much part of the DNA of Maison Commun. With the realisation of jewels-sculptures-objects, the intention is also to invite people to connect with the work of artists: in the form of pendants, mini pocket-editions, and even freestanding sculptures. What Maison Commun offers is much more than simply the chance to wear a piece of jewellery. It offers the opportunity to appropriate a particularity, a story, a unique elegance captured in form, an accessory companion.

In 2018, with the involvement of Herman Daled – a Belgian collector of conceptual art whose collection now belongs to the acquisitions of the MoMA in New York – Patrick Carpentier created a silver edition that would become the genesis for Maison Commun. Daled was known for not having any artworks displayed in his house. He preferred to hang the work only long enough to look at it, which meant there was usually nothing to see on the walls of his home but a multitude of nails. It was Patrick Carpentier who proposed that Daled should create an edition from one of these nails. Daled was very much amused by the idea and the nail was subsequently produced and distributed.

In a tribute in the “Cahiers Henry van de Velde” in 2021, the fashion designer Martin Margiela recounts how the silver nail was transformed into a piece of jewellery by the simple act of pinning it into the stitches of the jumper of Marit Storset, Herman Daled’s last partner.

Maison Commun has launched its first collection of jewellery in December аt the Saint-Martin Bookshop, the building formerly known as the Maison Martin Margiela with Martin Belou, Guillaume Bleret, Kasper Bosmans, Patrick Carpentier, Simona Denicolai and Arnaud Eubelen as the first artists to present their jewellery.