Discovery |
Falling for antique Mizpah jewelry
February 8, 2010 | It's easy to fall in love with Victorian jewelry. The combination of beauty and sentimentality in objects such as mourning brooches made of facetted jet and Etruscan beaded bangles is nearly unparalleled, while the symbolism in 19th-century jewels makes them especially alluring for collectors. Names, inscriptions, and the coded languages of flowers and stones all contribute to their significance. One such example is Mizpah jewelry, which from the mid- to late-1800s was given to a loved one during a period of long separation—military service, travel, or otherwise—as a "forget-me-not."
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Discovery |
Museum accessions, part I
February 4, 2010 | This short list of notable acquisitions began with a request to decorative arts curators in major American museums to choose and discuss a favorite recent gift or purchase.
This porcelain sculpture representing the ancient Roman goddess Juno is one of only eleven known examples in the 
world of large-scale figures produced by the Doccia manufactory in the middle of the eighteenth century. Carlo Ginori, founder of the factory, undertook an ambitious but short-lived plan to create a museum of porcelain sculpture, translating famous examples of ancient and modern sculpture into the challenging medium of porcelain. The rarity of Juno is matched by the beauty of the figure, the virtuoso modeling of the animated drapery, and the ambitious technical feat of firing and assembling the pieces. The model can be identified with an entry in the Doccia archives listing the molds for sculptures by Piamontini, and it would have been paired with a figure of Jupiter. Paris, a sculpture also based on a model by Piamontini and which seems to come from the same series, is in the Liechtenstein Museum, Vienna. — Marietta Cambareri, curator of Decorative Arts and Sculpture, Art of Europe, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
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Discovery |
Recommended this week
February 3, 2010 | Art aficionados will want to stay tuned to the Super Bowl this Sunday to see which team's regional art museum takes home the prize (a three-month artwork loan). On the line in this friendly wager—instigated by art blogger Tyler Green—are the New Orleans Museum of Art's Ideal View of Tivoli by Claude Lorrain and the Indianapolis Museum of Art's The Fifth Plague of Egypt by J.M.W. Turner. Get updates here.
New blog Unhappy Hipsters is generating a lot of buzz with its picture perfect modern interiors ripped from the pages of Dwell and snarky captions. A good reminder that "less is a bore." 
"Eames, Aalto—her most significant relationships were with dead designers." --Unhappy Hipsters
On Saturday the Museum of Modern Art hosts Art Book Swap New York in collaboration with Regency Arts Press and the New Art Dealers Alliance. The public is invited to swap their books for ones donated by publishers, distributors, and galleries. Details here.
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Discovery |
ANTIQUES bookshelf
February 2, 2010 | Published in conjunction with a traveling exhibition now at the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart (through February 7), and at the Kuns
tmuseum Bern in March, Edward Burne-Jones: The Earthly Paradise is an examination of the Arthurian legends and mythic tales that Burne-Jones transformed into idealized and allegorical visions for his Victorian audience. It takes its name from a collection of poems written by the arts and crafts progenitor William Morris, with whom Burne-Jones collaborated on the book as well as designs for tapestries, stained glass, and interiors. As his close friends Morris plays a central role in any study of Burne-Jones, however it is the Pre-Raphaelite artist's painting cycles—including Perseus, Briar Rose, and Cupid and Psyche—that are the focus of this major exhibition and catalogue.
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Discovery |
Recommended this week
January 27, 2010 | With the news this week that a woman accidentally stumbled into Picasso's The Actor at the Metropolitan Museum of Art leaving a six-inch tear, the New York Times recounts a score of other artwork mishaps. Read it here.
Auctioneer and antiques expert Wes Cowan offers a history of the Gothic style with some highlights from Cowan's upcoming February 20 auction. Take a peek.
22 dealers are participating in this year's Master Drawings Week in New York, which runs through Saturday. For a complete list and map click here.
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Gemellion, Artist unknown, Limoges, France, 13th century Champlevé Enamel on Copper, 8 7/8” diameter Collection of The Walters’ Art
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