Posts tagged craftsmanship
Joseph Severn’s “Ariel Riding On a Bat” (1830) portrays Ariel from William Shakespeare’s play The Tempest. It was certainly the inspiration for these antique cameos.
Clockwise from top left (collage by Collectors Items): V&A / Rowan and Rowan / Jewels Collecting Dust / Antique Cameos / painting: Flickr: RasMarley
Twin sisters Ekaterina and Elena Popovy create BJDs who’s costumes and accessories are strongly connected with fashion and thus go beyond the usual fairy tale/gothic art niche. The sisters, who look like dolls themselves, graduated in Yekaterinburg and started making dolls in 2004.
Their earlier dolls were quite different from the actual ones. I have to say that their style is quite similar to Marina Bychkova’s fantastic porcelain dolls, if not clearly copied. The furniture looks like it came alive from a Ray Caesar picture, also the dolls and their gestures remind me of Caesar. The fashion aspect makes them different though. There is a whole range of lingerie accessories and fetish shoes!!
The sisters’ blog, the website Popovy-dolls.com.
Everything that creeps: Fine Jewellery brooches from Bentley & Skinner, antique and new. (Collage by Collector’s Items)
Starting at 12 o’clock, continuing clockwise: Victorian gold fly (£1,650.00, sold) / Late nineteenth century bee (£4,250.00, sold) / Enamel and diamond wasp (new & in stock for £5,950.00) / Victorian garnet and diamond beetle (in stock, £3,600.00) / Late victorian fire opal and diamond beetle (£4,250.00, sold) / Late victorian pearl and diamond spider (£4,950.00, sold) / Late victorian garnet and diamond bee (£12,750.00, sold) / Nineteenth century tigers eye and diamond bee (£4,650.00, sold) / center: Edwardian Essex crystal bumble-bee (in stock, £4,250.00)
Joan Brink’s handcrafted baskets. These baskets look small on the picture, but they’re actually quite big sized - about 24 inches high and 6 inches in diameter.
The Sign Painter Movie & Book is “paying tribute to artists who hand-paint signs in a digital age. Faythe Levine and Sam Macon explore the life and times of modern-day sign painters” (picture and words from Co.Design.
Extremely Rare French Illusionist Automaton
Movements: There are eleven movements. At first the magician leans forward while waving his wand, fixing his gaze so as to hypnotize the lady. She slowly stops fanning herself and closes her eyes, falling into a sleeplike state, yet receptive to his suggestions. In her trance she rises, her body horizontally suspended in mid-air. The magician then passes the hoop fully across her body several times to and fro, as though to prove to his speculative audience that there are no “tricks”. His left arm is so articulated that it can do complete circles in both ways. Finally the lady’s body levitates downwards, back onto the bench, and she opens her eyes, now broken from the trance, and she fans herself once again. The Levitator raises his head to the audience and moves his lips and blinks his eyelids as accepting accolades for his remarkable feat.
Realized Price: 220.000
German Mechanical Singing Bird in Silver Box with Original Leather Case
A heavy silver plated box is richly decorated with embossed ornamental designs, garlands,and musical motifs on all six sides,has bird-shaped stop/start lever and an oval silver lid which, when wound and opened, causes a feathered bird to arise from its resting place, turn side to side, flutter its wings, open and close beak, and sing bird songs. The box is arranged in its original blue leather box with blue velvet lining containing an impression for storage of the original bird-shaped turning key which is included. Germany, Griesbaum, circa 1950. Excellent condition.
Realized Price: 4.000
More wonderful dolls and automata at Theriault’s Antique Doll Auctions.
British Nelson Period Micro Ivory Ship Garnet Ring
Circa 1790, extremely rare survival of micro ivory rings. Set under crystal on hand painted waves with garnets surround. Similar ring can be found in The British Museum in London. Most likely English in origin although ivory hand carvings were done in Germany, France, and Switzerland in the late 18th century. Approximate 7.75 ring size. Can be sized.
$12,000.00
More beautiful rings can be found on Bell and Bird.
Paul Spooner is also offering affordable handmade miniature automata on his website Cabaret Mechanical Theatre. Shown above: RIP (£100). Two other favorites: Xylophone Skeleton (£95) and Samson (£39,50). These are so fabulous, I had to immediately order the book on “How to understand movement and make automata”…
Automata maker Paul Spooner’s Spaghetti Eater. How it has been done: Paul Spooner / David Barlex: Making of the Spaghetti Eater, 1986. More of his work on Cabaret Mechanical Theatre. I found this somehow through The Automata Blog.
Also from this blog: Walter - a tinplate robot automaton by Marc Horovitz.
VAN CLEEF & ARPELS Gold, Enamel & Diamond Bulldog Pin
France, circa 1960
“The Toff” bulldog pin, designed as a whimsical, British bulldog, analogous to Winston Churchill, with white enameled wingtip collar and black enameled bow tie, circular-cut ruby eyes and gold chained, circular-cut diamond monocle, mounted in 18k yellow gold, with double pin stem in 18k yellow gold at back, numbered 77.551, signed Van Cleef & Arpels. 35mm length and 28mm width at widest point. Price $25,000.
Original source 1STDIBS.COM
Jennifer Trask. Very talented goldsmith turned artist. Fantastic craftsmanship.
Picture: “Marion’s Morifolium” Neckpiece
Antler, 23.5k gold leaf, Found 18th cen frame fragments, various teeth and bones, cast resin with bone powder.
The Horned Helmet of Henry VIII: “Made by Konrad Seusenhofer, Innsbruck, Austria c. 1511-14. Part of an armour presented by the Holy Roman Emperor, Maximilian I, to Henry VIII.(Retronaut)”
(via ohwhatatangledweb)
Nautilus Snail 1630: nautilus shell, silver gilt. Wadsworth Athaneum. Via Babylon Baroque, a recommended blog.
For Maria: Ebay is incredible. Antique fox-chopper c.1920. Right now on eBay. (sold for 83,-Euro)
