Category Archives: DecorativeArts

Dare To Wear Ogilvie’s Jumpsuit With Flair

Posted on April 18, 2018 by

FLAIR – From Salon to Boutique, Australian Fashion Labels Through the ’60s (The Ian Potter Centre, National Gallery of Victoria Australia, 2013) This exhibition rekindled some of the magic of the psychedelic ’60s era. Named after the fashion magazine Flair, the … Continue reading →

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Scusi, Venice the Next Vaporetto to Murano?

Posted on March 24, 2018 by

Murano Glass is a famous product of the Venetian island of Murano. Most Murano glass art is made using the lamp working technique, where the glass is made from silica, which becomes liquid at high temperatures. As the glass passes … Continue reading →

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No Idea On Kohei Nawa Red Deer

Posted on March 17, 2018 by

Kohei Nawa was born in 1975. He is one of Japan’s new generation of high-flying young artists. Over the last several years he has exhibited at the Saatchi Gallery, London, the Joan Miro Foundation, Barcelona, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, and in … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Artists A-Z, Gallery Art, Glass, Sculpture, StillLife | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Grainger’s Toweling Fashion Changer – Has a Dry Sense of Humour

Posted on February 21, 2018 by

Percy Grainger & Ella Grainger: Towelling Tunic shirt, leggings, belt, shoes worn by Percy Grainger c. 1934 (Cotton bath towels, plastic, leather and metal) Dr Kaare K, Nygaard  (1902-1989) Percy Grainger, 1955 (Bronze) Grainger Museum of Melbourne, University of Melbourne. Towelling … Continue reading →

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Enter the Dragon – How Clawsome

Posted on February 2, 2018 by

Melbourne’s Dai Loong (Big Dragon) has particular significance in the history of dragon making from China. Processional dragons are handmade out of silk, bamboo and wire. Historically it is a folk craft which originated in Foshan, in the Guangdong Province … Continue reading →

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A tureen to help store your emotional cabbage?

Posted on January 10, 2018 by

Above: Cabbage Tureen by Paul-Antoine Hannong, from Hannong Factory Strasbourg, Alsace, France (ca 1754-1762) – Faience earthenware (tin-glazed), 21.2 × 34.6 × 33.1 cm (Collection of National Gallery of Victoria, International). Faience (tin-glazed earthenware) and porcelain were the principal products of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Ceramics, Collectibles, DecorativeArts, Gallery Art, Porcelain | 1 Comment

It’s a Great Illustration – But No Cigar!

Posted on November 17, 2017 by

Above: Inside of cigar box illustrated by Eirene Mort containing wood working tools belonging to Nora Weston ca. 1920. This year marks the 40th anniversary of Eirene Mort’s death at the age of 98, a fitting time to consider her … Continue reading →

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The Fate of the Owl My Dear is Ever So Clear to Hear, Due to the Verse and Cheer My Love, From the One and Only Edward Lear

Posted on November 3, 2017 by

The Owl & The Pussycat (1990) wood engraving 4 x 5.5 cm The Owl and the Pussy-Cat [Verse I] by Edward Lear The Owl and the Pussy-cat went to sea In a beautiful pea-green boat, They took some honey, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Artists A-Z, Carvings, Gallery Art, Illustrations, OilPainting, Paintings, Woodworking | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

There is Nothing Harder at Task for Haida the Mask

Posted on October 21, 2017 by

Among the Haida people from the Pacific Northwest of North America existed secret religious societies that performed dances in which they wore wooden masks or carried wooden puppets that represented gagid, or the spirits of the forest. A  gagid mask … Continue reading →

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Truly “Chihuly”: The Beauty is in the Eye of the Glass Beholder

Posted on September 29, 2017 by

Both images featured are from an untitled group from the Macchia Series (1982). Dale Chihuly (Born September 20, 1941 in Tacoma, Washington) is an American glass sculptor. In 1960, Chihuly was studying interior design at the University of Washington, Seattle, … Continue reading →

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Viva Vivat Bohmen

Posted on September 15, 2017 by

Above: Vivat Bohmen cup and saucer, supposedly the oldest surviving Bohemian porcelain from  Klášterec nad Ohří (1794). The cup measures 5.6 cm high. Klášterec nad Ohří, was a Bohemian factory founded in 1793, by Mikuláš (Johann Nicolaus) Weber with support from … Continue reading →

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Tennyo “Magokoro” – The Goddess of Sincerity

Posted on August 10, 2017 by

Tennyo “Magokoro” (The Goddess of Sincerity) is a statue constructed by Gengen Sato, who spent more than 10 years at the task after it was commissioned by Mitsukoshi Ltd. Consisting principally of Japanese cypress “Hinoki” about 500 years old that … Continue reading →

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The Lady and the Unicorn

Posted on July 24, 2017 by

The Lady and the Unicorn is the modern title given to a series of six tapestries woven in Flanders from wool and silk, from designs drawn in Paris ca 1500. The tapestries were created in the style of mille-fleurs (meaning: … Continue reading →

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Callooh! Callay! for Calouste is Okay

Posted on June 2, 2017 by

Above: Dragonfly brooch once adorned by Sarah Bernhardt to whom it was lent by friend Calouste Gulbenkian. A corsage ornament which consists of dragonfly with griffon’s paws and green female torso whose face is supposed to be of Sarah herself. … Continue reading →

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Compare the Pair #15: Compare the Chair

Posted on April 7, 2017 by

Left: “Hollow“(2012) fibreglass & paint by Anish Kapoor,  National Gallery of Australia, Canberra. British-Indian sculptor Anish Kapoor was born on 12 March 1954, in Bombay. Kapoor lived and worked in London during the 1970s studying art at the Hornsey College of … Continue reading →

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