In the rapidly changing world of cultural handicrafts and artistic production, surviving techniques in the decorative arts are all too few and far between. Cloisonné, meaning ‘partitions’ or ‘compartments’ in French, has been adopted by a number of countries as part of their artistic heritage. This has led to a rich collecting history for both [...]
Eastern Orthodox tradition holds that the first icon was a depiction of the Virgin Mary painted by Saint Luke the Evangelist. However, true production of icons actually began in the 6th century. Unlike Roman Catholic religious paintings, Russian icons were not intended as sumptuous decoration for churches and the homes of the devout. Instead, each [...]
It’s been said that a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. Luckily for collectors, flowers have been a source of decorative inspiration for centuries, their beautifully subtle forms found in everything from textiles to paintings, ceramics to sculpture. Now barbotine, one of the more unusual techniques found in ceramics stemming from the [...]
Before they fled the country of their birth in 1922, brothers Roman (1900-1987) and Constantin (1904-1993) Chatov were witness to the artistic flourishing in Russia known as the ‘Silver Age’. When the Bolshevik Revolution rocked the country, it led many, including the Chatovs, to seek new lives abroad. Already coming of age in an artistic [...]
It is one of the most harrowing & recognizable images in the history of photography; a Viet Cong soldier, standing in the street with his hands bound behind his back, winces as the bullet fired from his executioner’s gun hits his left temple. The brutal, almost fuzzy simplicity of the black & white image would [...]
The classic appeal of marine art is far from lost when it comes to decorating one’s contemporary interior. With the earliest forms of art depicting different types of water-faring vessels – think of the Egyptian hieroglyphs showing fully staffed barges on the Nile or ancient Greek vases painted with fishing boats and their bounty – [...]
Arguably the most famous costume designer of all time, Edith Head (1897-1981) made Hollywood history with her record eight Academy Award wins – and thirty-five nominations – and timeless style immortalized on the silver screen. Without any formal training, the California-raised Head started her career at Paramount Pictures, where she eventually stayed for forty-three years, [...]
The unique quality of Chinese embroidery has long enjoyed a national and international appreciation that spans from scholars to connoisseurs, collectors to artisans. China’s rich history of creating embroidered textiles dates to as early as 1027 B.C., at the beginning of the Zhou Dynasty, leading up to its widespread practice during the Han Dynasty. The [...]
For centuries, the sea has had an inexplicable grip on the human imagination. Civilizations throughout history were reliant on it for sustenance and travel, and archeological discoveries from ancient seafaring empires have led to modern understanding of warfare, religious beliefs, and commerce. Ship models have been at the core of these findings; the Greeks and [...]
When the Geldermalsen ship crashed into a reef and sank in the South China Sea during its return journey to the Netherlands in January of 1752, it claimed the lives of eighty crew members who went down with the vessel’s precious cargo of tea, textiles, gold, silk, lacquer, and porcelain. As part of the fleet of the [...]
