About the name
Willowyee is named for the willow, and meant to be said softly.
How to say it: wil-oh-yee
The willow
The name begins with willow: soft, flexible, and often found by water. In Chinese tradition the willow is also a tree of parting and staying, from the old custom of giving a willow branch to someone setting out on a journey.
The sound
Willowyee is willow with a soft yee at the end: wil-oh-yee. To an English ear it also recalls willowy, slender and graceful, which is how we like a bangle to sit on the wrist. Beyond that, the ending is only a sound.
The Chinese name
柳亦 (liǔ yì) is our Chinese name: 柳 is the willow, 亦 echoes the yee. 亦 is the character of "both … and", as in 亦古亦今, both old and new, and 亦柔亦韧, both soft and strong: an ancient lacquer craft made into jewellery for today, the willow's softness held in a hard, lasting finish. We always show the two names together.
What we make
Lacquered jewellery and small objects, made to order in small batches. We describe a piece only as far as we have confirmed it.