22 Dec 2015

Wreaths of Mirth

Mirabelle was off the radar for almost a whole trimester, busy 'gallivanting' for business and leisure in history-steeped European places such as the Tuscan city of Lucca and the one and only city of Paris. Yet as the year is nearing to its end in festive extravaganza, it would be easy to let our blog slip into the ten days that separates it from 2016, and simply let this year call it a day! Or we could summon a little Mirabelliciousness of spirit by just getting a little text and photography together, in order to wish you, dear friends and readers, a Lovely Christmas and New Year!



Source: Metallic Leaves Garland, available to purchase from Terrain.

30 Sept 2015

Mineral Marvels

From the midst of time, minerals have been sought after, carved, polished, scuplted, faceted, architectured and worked some more in order to adorn bodies as items of jewellery, and homes and wares as not only mere incrustations of nature into the human habitat, but as both receptacles and distributors of magical, godly powers they had been conferred by our mortal selves lauding deity and seeking divinity. And more prosaically, their precious or semi-precious state would assign them monetary value that in turn would translate into or reaffirm material status to the beholder, a worth guided by materialistic acquisition and ownership.

Yet no matter how many mysteries from the natural world we have conquered and defeated, we remain fascinated by the raw, rough and somewhat brutish beauty of gemology that surrenders to our coveting gaze and yearning desire for possession. Objects like minerals transcend their material assignation to dominate our minds and hearts and delight our senses to the point of deadly sin.

Meanwhile each mineral seems to unveil a microcosm of its own, supranatural, extraterrestrial, with transposed and imagined rockfaces and crevices, deep canyons pitted against shard-like peaks, shallow lochs lapping lush forests of coalescence, dormant lagoons encrusted into opaque robes of solidified lava, imprints of reflected skies into pools of calcified ores, underground seas unfolded, nebulae suspended in basalt, landscapes of the mind set in stone... Sought-after, visually-pleasing, stratified decorative pieces of geology that fuel the imagination like no other!

Azurite with Malachite
Calcite
Volborthite
Brochantite with Barite
Enargite with Pyrite
Calcite with Fluorite
Malachite
Actinolite

Source: All photography via Andy Seibel, Fine Collector Mineral Specimens. The minerals pictured are available to purchase directly from Andy Seibel.

(1) Ref: S17234 - Azurite with Malachite, Touissit, Oujda-Angad Province, Oriental Region, Morocco. Overall Size: 6 x 5cm. For Sale: USD$950. 'This unusual and distinctive specimen is packed with outstanding coverage. The morphology of this azurite is obviously rare, flat and nearly exposing every face, and the malachite is rather attractive. Here we also have the addition of calcite.'

(2) Ref: S17057 - Calcite, Campomorto Quarry, Viterbo Province, Latium, Italy. Overall Size: 17 x 14.5 cm. For Sale: USD$1800. 'A naturally sculptured specimen of calcite hemispheres adorn vuggy basalt, and make this large plate very presentable for display, considering the matrix and crystals have appeal. This piece is in mint condition.'

(3) Ref: S17062 - Volborthite, Gold Chain Mine, Mammoth, Tintic District, Juab Co., Utah, USA. Overall Size: 11.5 x 8.5 cm. For Sale:  USD$750. 'This is an outstanding specimen of the species volborthite, a yellow-green mineral containing copper and vanadium. This one is significant not only for size, but more importantly as an almost completely crystallized display face without damage.'

(4) Ref: S17082 - Brochantite with Barite, Blanchard Claim, Bingham, Socorro Co., New Mexico, USA. Overall Size: 5.6 x 3 cm. For Sale: USD$300. 'This specimen of brochantite is sporting acicular needle-like crystals in pristine condition without scuffed up areas. On top of that, this thing has crystals all over it!'

(5) Ref: S16940 - Enargite with Pyrite, Leonard Mine, Butte District, Silver Bow Co., Montana, USA. Overall Size: 3 x 2.5 cm. For Sale: USD$300. 'This very fine cluster of enargite and pyrite is an American classic. It is likely Earl Shaw obtained this specimen from Ed McDole since he use to supply them with Butte material. Si & Ann Frazier and Bill McBride also owned the piece.'

(6) Ref: S16657 - Calcite with Fluorite, Denton Mine, Harris Creek District, Hardin Co., Illinois, USA. Overall Size: 5.1 x 4.6 cm. For Sale: USD$1450. 'An absolute prize of freely and fully developed calcite sitting nicely on fluorite. The overall beauty is great and every face is in pristine and spotless condition. This specimen was illustrated in The Mineralogical Record’s Illinois issue, page 30. Ex. William Severance collection.'

(7) Ref: S16365 - Malachite, Ekaterinburg, Sverdlovskaya Oblast, Urals Region, Russia. Overall Size: 6 x 4.2 cm. For Sale: USD$250. 'An old-time botryoidal malachite specimen from the historic Ural Mountains in Russia. [...] This piece came from George Burnham of Burminco fame, with his label accompanying it.'

(8) Ref: S16396 - Actinolite, Minaret Mining District, Madera Co., California, USA. Overall Size: 5.7 x 4.8 cm. For Sale: USD$400. 'An outstanding and balanced cluster of 'uralite' crystals collected by Chris Lehmann in 2001 from the Minaret Mining District in California. This is technically actinolite pseudomorphing some type of amphibole mineral' [...].

14 Sept 2015

Testimonies of a Vanished America

Who is able to depict landscapes and protagonists, subjects and objects, and capture their essence better than Fine Artists? Where the writer needs to pick and choose the words in order to describe his vision, he then needs to skillfully and painstakingly apply his magic (art and methodology) to give life and body to them by stringing them together in such a way that they relay a description of the seen, and an ambience, an emotion of the unseen, of the perceived, of the meant-to-be, of the quite-not-so. Done in such a way that they imbue us readers and guide us towards our own interpretation.


There is a vote of trust and confidence going on, as the writer trustfully relays his finished piece to us readers. Now we come into play to make the book happen, come to life beyond its words laid out flatly on the physical page. The writer has handed us the script and the tools (his art form) and our role is to use them to visualise the story, the unfolding plot, the theme, the dialogues, with our mind's eye. However there is a risk for the process of going into disarray, getting lost in translation, missing a point, overlooking some not-so-anodyne punctuation mark. The reader transcribes, interprets and represents the unfolding text into visual imagery. We mentally paint the canvasses and tapestries of the book thanks to the tools provided by the writer to guide our imagination.

Our relation with the painter is different. Acute observer like the wordsmith, he is for his part the writer of the visual, skillfully using a palette of colours, shapes, shades and textures that depict contents and form. The visual artist visually sets the scene literally in our faces, yet with all the underlying nuances, subtleties, assumptions and suggestions that are dear to the writer. Yet there is no beating about the bush: the painter gets us on track sooner! The 500-page novel is condensed into the one painting, laid before us to physically see. The painting seizes the moment,without abstracting it from the peace or drama of the past and the (un)foreboding future. The moment is captured in its fleetingness, and frozen for posterity.

In this particular instance, French-born American artist Henry François Farny captured more easily than words could, the waning of an era, that of the Native Americans, now forced to surrender their freedom to the precepts of the newly-created Land of the Free in all its flaws and contradictions. Farny's paintings translate this imminence with composure, restraint and dignity, and with all due respect from an artist who was fascinated by the First Nations and their incommensurable wisdom, knowledge and symbiosis with the natural world. Before our very eyes is a piece of anthology immortalised by paint and brushes, that of a self-sufficient, fiercely independent, proud, wise, free, spirited and autonomous civilisation on the brink of its forced demise and surrender to a model that is anything but redeemable.

Sources: (1) 'Rookwood and the American Indian, Masterpieces of Art Pottery from the James J. Gardner Collection' exhibition catalogue, featuring essays by Anita J. Ellis and Susan Labry Meyn, published by Ohio University Press, 2007, and available to purchase directly from the publisher. I sourced the cover photography for this article from Google Books. The exhibition catalogue details Native American-focused art within the Ohio artist community and references local artists such as Henry Farny, as well as featuring pottery pieces by Cincinnati-based The Rookwood Pottery Company.


(2) Gouache on paper (1895) by French-born American painter Henry François Farny (1847-1916). The painting was auctioned off by Aspire Auctions in their September 2015 Online Auction. Estimate $100,000/ $200,000. Sold $138,000.00 on 3rd September 2015. The full details below originate from the Aspire Auctions website:

14 ⅞" x 8 ⅞" paper size. Gouache over pencil on paper, signed and dated 1895 lower right, framed under plexiglass, overall 19" x 13⅛". This has never been offered for sale before. Depicting a Native American Crow Indian warrior, as indicated by the two eagle feathers, scouting with shotgun to his side, his beaded-hide pipe sack tucked in his belt. In the background is a second warrior on horseback with additional horse and distant camp below the hills.

"The West to which Farny traveled in 1881 was already becoming a nostalgic subject for Americans. The frontier officially ceased to exist in 1890; a transcontinental railroad had been completed in 1869 and most of the Indians had been confined to their reservations during the 1870s. While a few indians, such as Sitting Bull and Geronimo, continued to fight white settlers with small bands of warriors, the majority of the Indians lived peacefully and dispiritedly on their reservations. The buffalo had already passed into legend by the time of Farny's visit... "Although he repeatedly used his studio artifacts in several paintings, Farny's depiction of the Indian was historically quite accurate. Many of the Indian objects in his painting can be identified by tribe. Farny sometimes dressed his models in a style of the 1860s or 1870s, and the artist often portrayed his Indians in a mixture of Indian-made clothing, trade goods, and white man's gear, as would have been accurate for his period. Generally, his Indians carry rifles, and the new repeating rifles at that, rather than the more romantic bow and arrow of legend, and they usually ride in the white man's bridle and saddle and are rarely seen bareback using a thong." - Denny Carter, author of 'Henry Farny'.

Condition: Foxing in sky, painted white border flaked at the edges not intruding into painting. Small undulation in paper as shown in detailed image. Tipped at the upper corners to backing mat. Small soils visible in upper corners from previous framing material.


(3) Gouache on paper (1911) by French-born American painter Henry François Farny (1847-1916). The painting was auctioned off by Aspire Auctions in their September 2015 Online Auction. Estimate $100,000/ $200,000. Still for sale to date (reserve has not been met). The full details below originate from the Aspire Auctions website:

6¼" x 4¾" paper size Gouache over pencil on paper, signed and dated 1911 lower right, framed under glass, overall 11¾" x 10⅛". Prov: By descent through the family, Cincinnati OH, until now.

"By the time Henry Farny made his first trip west in 1881, the Indian peoples of the entire Great Plains region, from Texas into Canada, were already greatly impoverished, culturally as well as economically. These Native Americans had endured nearly a century of pernicious federal policy and more than forty years of punishing war with the U.S. military. The government's objective was to either civilize or exterminate these proud and brave warriors.... the Indian story that Farny usually chose to tell reflected the lifeways of these Indians during the glorious earlier days of traditional Plains life, when they had charged across the grasslands hunting buffalo prior to their confinement on remote reservations.... Throughout his life Farny knew about and was sympathetic to the Indian's cause, yet his art rarely reflected their tragic situation. Because of the discrepancy between what he knew and what he chose to portray, Farny's paintings and drawings of Indians are fascinating from an ethnological viewpoint." - Susan Labry Meyn, author of 'Henry Farny Paints the Far West'.

Condition: Painted white border flaked at the edges not intruding into painting. Verso paper toned with old tape residue from non-archival framing.

'The Coming of the Fire Horse' (1910)
'New Territory' (1893)
'Camp in the Foothills' (1895)

Other artworks by Henry F. Farny include (4) 'The Coming of the Fire Horse', oil on canvas (1910), and (5) 'New Territory', gouache on paper (1893), both via The Athenaeum - which references no less than 81 paintings by Farny. (6) 'Camp in the Foothils', gouache on paper (1895), via Fine Western & American Art Auction House The Coeur d'Alene Art Auction.

15 Aug 2015

The Tile Files: Majolica

In interior design and the decorative arts, an Italian noun that rolls off the tongue in a little dance usually has a lot of premise to it, and Majolica is one of those words! Welcome to Mirabelle's monthly design series, The Tile Files. We've had quite a journey so far, from Tomettes to Mosaics, via Azulejos and Delftware, and right now we are about to embrace the wondrousness of Majolica in its bold design, rich decorative layers, deep strong colours and endearing crackled glaze. 

Tin-glazed Earthenware Dish, via The Metropolitan Museum of Art

As much as Majolica is mellifluous by name and by nature, it seems that its heyday is being reinvented by every major art movement. First off, Majolica is a generic term. Scratch its veneer and you find a confluence of timelines and spaces, yet rooted in the same influences. For the purpose of our tile-based research, we aim to concentrate mostly on Victorian Majolica decorative tile, although we need to be aware of other variants of the ware, most notably the decorative tin-glazed earthenware of Maiolica, popular in Italian Renaissance (14th-16th century). The name is believed to be a Medieval Italian reference to the Balearic island of Majorca, a pottery stopover on the Hispano-Moresque wares trade route to Italy. Maiolica ware was mostly used for presentation dishes, drinking vessels and apothecary jars. The designs on the wares depicted a scene or told a story as istoriato wares do.

Art Nouveau Floral Majolica Tile, via Tile Heaven

In general, Victorian Majolica is known to be brightly coloured, richly adorned, layered, moulded and embossed, with emphasis upon florals and curves. Contrasting from the multi-coloured designs are the monochrome ones, which play on the depth and intensity of one single colour, from deep and dark to watered down to a watercolour effect. Closely-guarded trade techniques produce the high-gloss lead-glazed finish, with other effects of translucency and opacity being also achieved. Alongside colour and finish, relief techniques were achieved, by means of cloisonné, tube-lining (a.k.a. slip-trailing), or barbotine (raised painted slip decoration). Stencilled slip tile designs befit the streamlined industrialised processes. Meanwhile the advent of the Arts & Crafts Movement and Art Nouveau will confer Majolica a modernist, angular and voluptuous decorative edge that bridges the gap between the 19th and 20th century.

Art Nouveau Majolica Tile, via Tile Heaven

Historically-speaking, Mintons Ltd. (part of The Minton Tile Companies) is the English pottery manufacturer that is the most associated with Victorian Majolica. The firm started off under Thomas Minton, producing blue transferware for dinnerware, including the popular Chinese-inspired Willow pattern. His son Herbert Minton took the family business to pastures new (with a resolutely modern, design-led approach), branching out into decorative encaustic tiles, and forming partnerships with designers and architects in the process, attending worldwide trade fairs and gaining recognition as high-profile contracts were signed. Minton took on French engineer Léon Arnoux as Art Director and the latter produced Majolica coloured glazes that gained a lot of attention at the Great Exhibition of 1851.

As much as the second half of the 19th century had heralded Majolica's heyday, the 20th century took the fortunes of the English pottery industry as a whole into disarray, through a series of mergers and restructurations that progressively squeezed innovation out of the production model and with it the richness that had been experienced in earlier times. Staffordshire, the pottery county of Britain par excellence, took a hard blow in the process. This bittersweet statement shouldn't prevent us from admiring and appreciating those designs of the past that actually appear so contemporary and fresh through their choice of bold colours and inventive motifs.

Art Nouveau Tile by Sherwin & Cotton, via Art Nouveau Tiles

Sources: (1) Tin-glazed Earthenware Dish, late 14th century, Tuscany, Italy, via The Metropolitan Museum of Art. (2-3) via - and available to purchase from - Tile Heaven. Let us note in passing their interesting history of art section on Majolica. (2) Art Nouveau Floral Majolica Tile, manufactured in the U.K. by Corn Bros, circa 1900, features the popular Victorian and Art Nouveau theme of foliage and florals. The central motif resembles a blue poppy, with a foliage border surround. Interestingly the motifs sit at the intersection between Victoriana and Art Nouveau, with signs of Victorian exuberance, as opposed to the more rigid and restrained (stylised) geometric representations of Art Nouveau, as found for instance in the (3) Art Nouveau Majolica Tile, manufactured by id., circa 1905. Further fine examples of Majolica tiles may be viewed from Tile Heaven. (4) Art Nouveau Tile, circa 1910, by Sherwin & Cotton (1877-1911), via Art Nouveau Tiles. The website boasts a fine Art Nouveau collection, with some stunning examples by the likes of Marsden Tile Works, Alfred Meakin and Pilkington.

11 Aug 2015

Tiny Housing, Grand Living: Orii di Corsica

Welcome to our brand new series, Tiny Housing, Grand Living. Herein Mirabelle explores compact living habitat under all its guises, spanning climates, cultures and timelines. I am starting off with a bang and a WOW! of wonder, with the integration of tafoni (honeycombed rock surfaces) into the built environment, with whimsical faerical results! Just follow me down the southern part of the Mediterranean island of Corsica.

Those under-rock troglodyte shelters are called Orii in Corsican (Oriu, singular). They look like they might have - either directly or coincidentally - influenced  fantasy authors (and graphic artists!), and one would be forgiven for thinking Tolkien and The Smurfs Village as they tread the smooth rockfaces and climb the sea-salt-polished boulders surrounding those enchanted mushroom-shaped dwellings. The shelters are perfect examples of a harmonious integration of nature into human habitat.

Originally used as shelters in prehistoric times (as far back as 7,000-10,000 BC), those peculiar ground-level caves were later rendered more habitable by nomadic shepherds who erected dry-stone walls to close off openings. The shelters were also used as granaries. Oriu di Grossetto (pict 1-2) depicts this fascinating contrast between the smooth mushroom-like cap and its weathered, hollowed basis. Meanwhile Oriu di Canni (pict 4-6), with its pointed spire-like structure, resembles a chapel. This article being only a synopsis, many more Orii of note are to be contemplated at Ma Corse!


Sources: (1) Double Oriu di Grossettu and (2) Arche du Chaos de Grussettu (Grossetto Tafoni Arch), photography by Corse Sauvage, via Flickr (18-Jan-2012). Further details (in French) from their informative website, Blog Corse Sauvage. (3) Oriu de Caldarello, photography by Ma Corse (Jean-Marie Vergès). Further details (in French) from their comprehensive Orii section. (4) Oriu di Canni, photography by Christian Comiti, via Flickr. (5) Oriu di Canni, photography via Perierga (article in Greek). (6) Oriu di Canni, photography by Loïc Colonna. (7) A tafoni close-up (for reference only): Tafoni Sandstone Rock, from El Corte de Madera Park, San Mateo County, California, photography by randomtruth, via Flickr. "Tafoni are small cave-like features found in granular rock such as sandstone, granite, and sandy-limestone with rounded entrances and smooth concave walls, often connected, adjacent, and/or networked. They often occur in groups that can riddle a hillside, cliff, or other rock formation. They can be found in all climate types, but are most abundant in intertidal areas and semi-arid and arid deserts. Currently favored explanations controlling their formation include salt weathering, differential cementation, structural variation in permeability, wetting-drying, and freezing-thawing cycles, variability in lithology, case hardening and core softening, and/or micro-climate changes and variation (i.e. moisture availability). Tafoni have also been called fretting, stonelace, stone lattice, honeycomb weathering, and alveolar weathering." (source: Wikipedia).

7 Aug 2015

Belle of the Ball and Lady of the Rings

Dainty to the fingertips of the soon-to-be-engaged-to-be-married Lady Mirabelle. The rings by British jewellery designer Alex Monroe are little dewy gems of faerical inspiration that are catchy, not out of brash and ostentation, but out of the exact opposite. The fact that they are slimline, discrete, whimsical, delicately feminine and original in design makes them stand out. So then, no sign of Liz Taylor-style XXL rocks here, and no exuberant price tags either!

Alex Monroe's designs feature precious and semi-precious stones set in 18 and 22ct yellow, rose or white gold, or platinum or sterling silver textured bands that are fashioned in such a way that they resemble twigs and other organic arts of nature. The rings are hand-crafted to spec in the artist's London atelier. They are statement pieces in their own right for all of life's occasions. This selection herein of eight affordable quality pieces of understated luxury, set in timeless aesthetic style, polished with character and individuality, resonate with Mirabelle's personality, as a match made in Heaven between form and function!



Source: Alex Monroe. Photographic compositions by Mirabelle. Clockwise from top left: (1) Enchanted Ring, (2) Half Eternity Papina Ring, (3) Wild Posy Twist Diamond Ring, and (4) Heritage Ring Seven.



Clockwise from top left: (5) Green Amethyst Forest Jewel Ring, (6) Teeny Tiny Pink Sapphire Ring, (7) Pale Green Sapphire Eyebright Ring, and (8) Morganite Hoya Ring.

The famed jeweller not only applies his talent to rings, but also to necklaces, bracelets, earrings, lockets, brooches and cufflinks. More from Alex Monroe.

23 Jul 2015

Club Tropicana

Heat is on, design is hot, girls are hip, colours are cool, drinks are cold, sounds are neat, night is chic. Welcome to Club Tropicana!



Sources: (1) If you can't take the biscuit, you might as well have your cake and eat it! Saint-Honoré Vanille, a classic French choux and whipped cream gâteau revisited by Cédric Grolet, chef pâtissier (pastry chef) at 5-star hôtel Le Meurice, Paris. (2) Be spiky! Piña Ring, in solid gold-plated glass, by Australian jewellery designer Vera Xane, via Nasty Gal. (3) Bring you bongos or fake it with a pineapple! 'Pebble' print fabric in 'Pollen', by Skinny laMinx, designed and printed in South Africa. Photography by Heather Moore. (4) A sweet and spiked taste of the Tropics: Grapefruit, Guava and Rum Sorbet by The Artful Desperado. (5) Wallflowers will sit prettier on a Magical Thinking Industrial Chair, a feminine take on the Helix Chair, exclusive to Urban Outfitters. (6) See and be seen! Oversized Opaline Talc Cat-eyed Acetate Frame Sunglasses with metal lettering logo and gradient ivory camouflage lenses, by Prada. (7) Ladies, tower over the crowds in 3 ¾ inch heels! 'Whichway' Sandals by Stuart Weitzman, shown here in 'Camel Suede'. (8) Tough luck! Our Tickle just got partied out! (9) Light up the way to the party! Copper Lantern String Lights, via Urban Outfitters. (10) Prickly Pear Cactus, in bloom, northern Corsica. Photography by Mirabelle.

14 Jul 2015

The Tile Files: Mosaics

Welcome to Mirabelle's monthly design series, The Tile Files. So far, our celebration of enduring tile design has taken us to the south of France (Tomettes), Portugal and Spain (Azulejos), and finally north of the old continent, to The Netherlands (Delftware). This has been quite a journey of stylish discoveries!

The Cul-de-Four Mosaic, Notre-Dame de la Garde Basilica (Marseille, France)

For this month's article, we need to delve deep into the arcana of Antiquities - to the second half of the 3rd Millenium BC - in order to track back our very first Mosaics. The decorative impact of those versatile and hard-wearing tile pieces belies no diminutive potentiality! In other words, the face of Antiquity would be disfigured if stripped off them! And it appears that from Empire to technique, Byzantine rules the finesse of the art!

Mosaic tiles (Tesserae) owe their perennial popularity to ceramic (clay that is glazed or unglazed). However, earlier mosaics referred to roughly cubic, terracotta brick, cut-stone (marble, limestone, granite or onyx) or cut-glass tiles, of irregular finish. Mosaics were sometimes made out of other materials such as natural pebbles, seashells, gemstones, precious stones, or ivory fragments.

Mosaic, c.200-100BC, discovered in 1993 during the construction of the new Alexandria Library, Egypt

Mosaics are assembled together with many more in order to pave a floor, a ceiling or a wall. Their small size enables them to cover curved and/ or uneven surfaces like columns or basins. Yet mosaics do not only lend themselves to the practicality of surface covering, they also hold a high ornamental value. To do so, they are combined together according to a specific colour pattern in order to create a repeated decorative motif (tessellation) that will define a border, or create a figurine or landscape element that will be part of a 'bigger picture', a mural, medallion, or bas-relief. As mosaics tell a story, they may even incorporate a name, a date, a motto, a sacred text, or a few descriptive words and other symbology.

Manufactured processes include gold glass, that is produced according to the Byzantine mosaic technique. The latter is applied to stone, gemstone, ceramic, seashell or glass, and brings together irregularly-shaped and handcut mosaic pieces of different geometric shapes that follow the artwork lines. Stone Glass Byzantine Mosaic murals are either made out of Smalti (hand-poured and hand-cut opaque glass) or manufactured glass tiles (of uniform shape and size). Both types of glass may be cut into irregular shapes for Byzantine mosaic.

Parque Güell, Sala Hipstila (Barcelona, Spain)
Parque Güell, Sala Hipstila (Barcelona, Spain)

Mosaics have been precious visual story-tellers, not only to archaeologists, historians, anthropologists and ethnologists, but to anyone appreciative of their testimonial accounts, as they document passages of history, capture rites of passage or moments of daily life. Through their iconographic representations, those murals have contributed to relate the history of ancient civilisations, and the making of humanity.

The ancient decorative art of mosaics has transposed well into the present day, owing to their durability, which results from their individual compact size. This confers them that extra strength, and a certain fluidity of movement (under the duress of substrate shifts) when combined with other tesserae, making them less prone to breakage and cracks. To that effect, let's note the well-preserved three-millennia old cone mosaic courtyard (made out of polychrome terracotta cones), from the ancient Sumerian city of Uruk, and the glazed brick mosaics of the Ishtar Gate of Babylon (ca. 575 BC).

The Basilica of San Vitale (Ravenna, Italy)

More recent mosaic artwork is found in the ancient city of Ravenna (Italy), former last capital of the Western Roman Empire (5th Century AD) and headquarters of Theodoric's Ostrogothic Kingdom. The Basilica of San Vitale is part of an ensemble of Early Christian Monuments of Ravenna, described as being one of the most important examples of early Christian Byzantine art in western Europe, especially noted for its remarkable mosaics. The monument is inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Mosaics have remained popular to the present day. The specs and technique have overall remained the same, despite being updated to fit mass-production criteria. The use of the cheaper vitreous glass (i.e. cast glass), mirror, ceramic materials with or without photoluminescent effects, all cater for mass-market fads. Other substrates include aluminium or wood. New effects are achieved thanks to a wider range of geometrical shapes. Cast or hand-cut options are available, according to the finished look sought out (sleek and modern or artisan). The pre-assembled (mesh-backed) mosaic sheets have streamlined the tiling process considerably.

Inspiration Green

Mosaics not only transcend the timeline from Antiquity to the present day, but also faith, creed and cultures, as their popularity, harked back from the cradles of civilisation of the Middle East (Mesopotamia) and the Mediterranean basin (Ancient Greece and Roman Empire), has since encompassed the whole world, to decorate sacred buildings, public places, and private residences alike.

In the course of the 20th century, mosaic popularity has been illustrated all the way from major design projects (the mosaic-inspired pique-assiette technique by Antoni Gaudí in Barcelona's Parque Güell springs to mind), to the more 'mundane' panels that take pride of place in commercial or domestic kitchens or spas. Meanwhile a tile company by the name of New Ravenna will - if only by name association - ensure that the mosaic grandeur of Ravenna remains in the collective psyche, and not only so... Countless other tile companies have too capitalised upon the versatility and durability of mosaics, Porcelanosa, Agape Tile, or Original Style, to name but a few.

'Jacqueline Vine' by Sara Baldwin for New Ravenna Mosaics

This article has only scratched the surface of tesserae. You might wish to scratch it a little deeper and unveil new treasures. A quick browse through the 1000+ eclectic mosaic collections from The Metropolitan Museum of Art will reveal more about mosaic versatility. Meanwhile Agape Tile has an interesting potted history section on Ceramic Tiles, and so does Designboom.

In next month's episode of the Tile Files, we will be gazing at the wondrous world of Majolica, in all its Florentine grace and Victoriana, and unfold more visual treasures along the way! Be there or be square!

'Avila' by Paul Schatz for New Ravenna Mosaics

Sources: (1) 'Mosaïque du Cul-de-Four de l'Abside', detailed iridescent Byzantine mosaic in the apse of Notre-Dame de la Garde Basilica, Marseille France. Photography by Robert Valette, via Wikipedia. More from Basilique Notre Dame de la Garde. The Basilica stands out in its hilltop Neo-Byzantine grace, that so befits the muted exoticism that exudes from its hometown of Marseille, known as the doorway to the Orient (la porte de l'Orient). Despite the church edifice dating back to 1864, the religious history of the place originates back to 1214, where a chapel once stood. (2) An antique advertisement for His Master's Voice or Tickle's ancestor? Mosaic floor depicting a dog and a knocked-over gold vessel, via Urge to Create. The c.200-100BC mosaic was discovered in 1993 during the construction of the new Alexandria Library, Egypt. It now sits in the Greco-Roman Museum in Alexandria. The tiny size of the tesserae (only 1-2mm across), allows great detailing and a painting-like effect. The technique was known in Antiquity as opus vermiculatum (‘worm-like work’). The photo originates from a book by Susan Walker and Peter Higgs, Cleopatra of Egypt. From History to Myth, Princeton University Press (2001). (3) Sala Hipstila, Parque Güell, Barcelona Spain, via Europaen Fotos. (4) id., via Park Güell. (5) 'Interior of San Vitale' (Ravenna, Italy), photography by Lawrence OP, via Flickr (July 2013). The Basilica of San Vitale is a jewel of early Christian art, featuring rich mosaic frescoes. The Mausoleum of Galla Placidia is equally sumptuous. More from Ravenna, Turismo e Cultura (Ravenna's official tourism website). (6) Cob bathroom, via Inspiration Green. (7) 'Jacqueline Vine', a jewel glass waterjet mosaic shown in 'Amethyst', part of the Silk Road Collection by Sara Baldwin for New Ravenna Mosaics. (8) 'Avila', a natural stone waterjet and hand-cut mosaic shown in 'Gold glass honed', 'Afyon White polished', and 'Cloud Nine honed', part of the Miraflores Collection by Paul Schatz for New Ravenna Mosaics.

9 Jul 2015

Collage, Montage, Donkelaar

Anne Ten Donkelaar's Flower Constructions are a demonstration of her craft as a paper artist, and general prettifier of botanics - pinned to a 'T' and everlasting as dried or cut-out flowers - with collages and montages ready to flutter off the page to embrace the beauty that the day has to offer.

Anne's de-facto herbaria for the contemporary curiosity cabinet are not all that she does. She is also a mender of the impossible, attending to the fragility of broken butterflies and other critters encountered in her daily travels, and fixing them with dignity, metamorphosing in the process their mortality into immortality. Far from looking odd or eccentric, her creations are collectables that look incredibly fresh, delicate, tasteful and clean-lined.


Source: All photography Anne Ten Donkelaar. (1) and (2): Flower Construction #64. (3) Flower Construction #45.
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