Treasured

The London-based designer on the precious piece from a friend that speaks to the fragility of life

Lara Bohinc’s prized piece

The artist Polly Morgan is a friend of mine, and I’d always wanted to have some of her work. In the end, it was this piece that really spoke to me. It’s a tiny little taxidermy bird – perhaps only 7 or 8cm – that’s resting on an old book. It’s not clear what book it is, and you also can’t tell whether the bird is sleeping or if it’s dead. It’s so fragile, this bird in its bubble, a closed Barbarella world. There’s also a little chandelier, which lights up with tiny LEDs, and it’s all covered by a glass dome. It’s a dreamlike scene.

Morgan works a lot with themes of death and transformation – she’s creating sculptures with snakes at the moment. But it’s a romantic and poetic version of death. There’s something beautiful about it, something delicate. I’ve had it in my home since 2009, which was the same year my daughter was born, so there are some special memories around it. I think it reminds me of life and death, and the fragility of our existence.

Funnily enough, I’ve got four cats, and once they jumped up and broke it. At first I thought it was an accident, but I had a moment of realisation one year when I added those little bird decorations to the Christmas tree and the cats kept pulling them down. They recognised what it was, even though it’s lying down and so tiny. I keep it out of reach now, and they’ve given up! It has its own special stool in the living room. It’s so precious. bohincstudio.com