Aesthetic seduction, superb workmanship, and historical interest are the three central themes in the collection of Fondation Gandur pour l'Art (Geneva), created in 2010 and still expanding. The aim of this first volume is to catalogue the works in the collection, whose decorative aspects are every bit as important as their narrative content. The works are for the most part sculptures - statuettes and ornamental reliefs - although two-dimensional decorations depicting figurative scenes associated with classical antiquity or Christianity are no less important. The periods represented by the sculptural works discussed in this book reflect the scope of the whole collection, which ranges from the 12th to the 18th century. And since the goal of the collection is to document centuries of cultural exchange between France and neighbouring countries, all the works included in the book come from these latter regions. The hybrid styles are closely linked, and this is an aspect of considerable importance, as is the originality certain pieces display and, last but not least, their aesthetic quality. The book is arranged by topic, which brings out the great originality and extraordinary richness of the collection, as well as the extremely varied nature of the subjects, narrative episodes, and figures portrayed. More specifically, the topics are divided into five sections: ancient gods and heroes; biblical and allegorical figures; scenes from the life of the Virgin; episodes from the life of Christ; and saints and intercessors. Each work has its own entry that describes the historical and geographical context in which it was made, analyses its iconographic content, and includes a bibliography and a list of the exhibitions where the work was exhibited.

These four-legged friends of man have been a favorite subject for carving since the earliest years. From hunting dogs to the family pet, dogs have a special place in the hearts of people and Tom Wolfe manages to capture their personality in his own creative, witty way. Easy to follow step-by-step instruction, with color illustrations.

With over 200 scroll saw patterns to bring to life, this must-have resource will keep you scrolling throughout the year. With insightful sections covering the scrolling basics to assist beginners as well as more challenging projects for advanced scrollers this book offers a wide range of projects in various scroll saw styles.

Wax carving is like sculpture for jewellery and allows enormous creativity, as so many different forms can be made. This practical guide introduces the techniques to this age-old method through a series of guided exercises and projects, and demonstrates how exciting it can be. Drawing on the experience of two master wax-carvers, it also gives invaluable advice on the finish of your cast pieces and how to reproduce them. With over 400 colour photos, it give advice on setting up for wax carving, tools, tool-making and materials. There are exercises that introduce the beginner to using wax and then build ideas and confidence to try more complex designs. Included are advanced techniques that show how to use stones in a carving and how to add texture and surface detail. Finally, finished examples demonstrate the potential, excitement and versality of the method.

Light and decorative yet strong and robust, wire art is the perfect way to add handmade charm to any room. Finally, you'll be able to learn the craft of wire art using inexpensive floral wire to create 21 eye-catching projects, all with easy-to-follow diagrams and clear instructions. Once you know the basic techniques, you'll be able to make personalized wire art sculptures to decorate your home or office, or gift to someone you love! From free-standing flamingos to delicate flowers for vases, start a new, inexpensive hobby that's tailored to you!

Blu Dot is an American pioneer of democratic design. Founded and run by its principal designer and with the mission of making the best design accessible to the most people the brand is celebrated for minimal, innovative, and modern furniture that is American-made and affordable. Published to coincide with the brand s twentieth anniversary, this carefully produced book collects two decades worth of ideas, inspiration, designs, and products that chronicle the evolution of one of the most iconic names in contemporary American furniture. Illustrated with stunning photography that sets Blu Dot s best-known pieces in the context of contemporary American interiors, the book includes everything the brand has ever produced, from the very earliest designs for workmanlike benches to the ubiquitous and iconic Very Good Chair.

An illustrated, full-color value guide covering a wide range of bookend types and styles, with a detailed look at the three main processes used to create cast-metal bookends, a tour through the history of manufacturers who pioneered this art form, a special chapter on cast metal bookracks, sample pages from actual company catalogs, and more than 40 photographs of company identification marks and trademarks. Plus, an extensive identification and buyers' guide examines original and copy pieces side by side and helps to separate the treasures from the trash. This will serve as an important reference resource for years to come, and a timely one now as bookends are quickly becoming one of the hottest new collectibles in today's market.

The Danner Rotunde, the jewellery room in the Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich, was opened in 2004. Ambitious activities by the Danner-Stiftung and Die Neue Sammlung - The Design Museum, with the support of renowned jewellery artists such as Hermann Junger, Otto Kunzli and Peter Skubic, bore the fruit of two globally renowned jewellery collections. Today these comprise far in excess of 1,700 jewellery items, presented in pictures for the first time in this synopsis. Interviews with the creative minds behind these two unique collections in the field of studio jewellery enable insights into a previously unknown history, and an illustrated chronology arrives at astonishing results. Biographies on more than 300 jewellery artists also present those who have been virtually forgotten today. An indispensable compendium on the subject of contemporary jewellery art. Text in English and German.

A masterpiece of medieval Arab metalwork revealed, shedding light on courtly life in northern Iraq under the Mongol governorship. Accompanying a major scholarly exhibition at The Courtauld Gallery, this book explores one of the most beautiful and enigmatic objects in The Courtauld's collection: the so-called 'Courtauld wallet', a brass container richly inlaid with gold and silver, imitating a lady's textile or leather bag, and probably made in Mosul in northern Iraq around 1300. No other object of this kind is known. Decorated all round with courtly figures and on the top with an elaborate banqueting scene featuring an enthroned couple, it has long been recognised as a masterpiece of Arab metalwork. Yet, despite the superb quality of its design and craftsmanship and its status as a unique object, this exceptional metalwork bag has never been properly published. Thus it remains little known outside a small circle of specialists, and little understood even within that circle. Encompassing a variety of multidisciplinary essays by distinguished historians and art historians- on subjects ranging from music at the Mongol court, Mosul under Mongol governorship and Mongol marriage customs to the role of women under the Ilkhanids-this publication aims to explore the origins, function and iconography of this splendid luxury object as well as the cultural context in which it was made and used. It will bring together other images of enthroned Mongols with female consorts, as well as scenes of hunters, revellers and musicians in a variety of media, including illustrated manuscripts, ceramics, textile, and metalwork. By presenting the bag alongside carefully selected contemporary material, it will provide an insight into courtly life under the Mongols in the newly conquered areas of their empire, and will also provide an unrivalled opportunity to investigate the inlaid brass tradition in Mosul after the Mongol Conquest. Objects made before and after this seismic event will be reproduced side by side to demonstrate how the Mosul metalworkers adapted their work for their new patrons.

A revolution in lighting took place in the last part of the nineteenth and the early part of the twentieth century. Nadja Maril explores the dramatic changes in lighting technology and form in this amply illustrated, informative volume. Using color photographs and rare catalog material, American Lighting concentrates on domestic lighting, making it an important work for home restorers and decorators seeking to capture an authentic look in their homes. The informative text and history of the American lighting industry makes it a welcome, valuable addition to the literature for historians, collectors, and others, interested in the development of American design and technology.

Create Stunning Artwork Inspired by Stylish Typefaces of the Past In this one-of-a-kind lettering workbook, Lisa Quine-- internationally renowned illustrator and hand letterer extraordinaire--teaches you how to draw a range of old-school fonts, like elegant victorian, chic art deco, and flowery art nouveau, with helpful step-by-step instructions and detailed illustrations. These 20 stunning projects are printed on high-quality art paper, so you can draw and practice right in the book and quickly hone your skills as you go. Put your hard work to the test and make one of Lisa's beautiful, hand lettered quotes-- complete with gorgeous design flourishes that capture the unique character of these glamorous eras. Create amazing, treasured art pieces inspired by the fun styles of old-fashioned promotions, vintage circus posters, and classic casino advertisements. Learn to add personalized flair to your hand lettering and make stellar artwork full of timeless style!

(back cover)
Illumination--the creation of elaborate, decorated letters and initials--reached its apogee in the monasteries of medieval Europe. Embellished with gold leaf, the illuminated letters of those early scribes seemed to reflect light, as though they were indeed "illuminated." This traditional art is now attracting new enthusiasts.

• Illuminated Letters presents step-by-step instructions for recreating illuminated alphabets from six historical periods, including Celtic, Gothic, and Romanesque. Diagrams for upper- and lower-case letters are accompanied by ideas for borders and decorations, and full instructions for gilding.
• Each section also explores ways in which the illuminated letters can be adapted to create a truly personal style, while a gallery of modern examples will inspire further creativity.
  ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  Margaret Morgan is a professional calligrapher and an Associate of the Calligraphy & Lettering Arts Society. She regularly accepts both public and private commissions and conducts workshops for calligraphic societies. Although traditional formal calligraphy involving gilding, painting, and heraldry form an important part of her work, she increasingly enjoys the challenge of more experimental lettering. She is the author of two previously published books on calligraphy.
  FOREWORD BY ROSEMARY BUCZEK
  Rosemary Buczek is a Master Penman and served two terms as President of the International Association of Master Penmen, Engrossers, and Teachers of Handwriting (IAMPETH).

World renowned for its collection of Islamic art, the al-Sabah Collection in Kuwait also houses an important collection of ancient art. Splendors of the Ancient East presents a selection of ancient artefacts from the al-Sabah Collection, most of them reproduced for the first time. This selection is united by the personal vision of Sheikh Nasser Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah and his wife, Sheikha Hussah Sabah al-Salem al-Sabah. This vision is informed by a love of the beauty of these objects and an interest in the material culture of this region, from which grew some of the distinctive forms and design vocabulary of Islamic art. Covering a time span of some 4,000 years, from the Bronze Age up to the dawn of the Islamic era, this book celebrates some of the beautiful objects created in the Near East and beyond including Central and South Asia.

This volume constitutes the first in-depth study of modernism in design and performance in interwar Romania, covering the period 1924 to 1934. It focuses on Jewish avant-garde artists and cultural producers, as well as design educators, arts patrons, and women entrepreneurs. Based on extensive research in Romania, Latvia, Germany, and the United States, it highlights the transnational impact of Jewish cultural production and its contribution to avant-garde movements across Europe and further afield. It shows how Bucharest was connected to places such as Berlin, Paris, Riga and Chicago through modern design and experimental Yiddish theatre, and argues that the Schule Reimann was more influential in Romania than the Bauhaus. Drawing on scholarship from the fields of performance studies, design history, and art history, this volume makes a valuable new contribution to histories of modernism and avant-garde.

The 18th-century gold snuffbox was the ultimate fashion accessory - beautifully made, exquisitely decorated and very expensive, its form and ornament subject to the changing taste of the time. Playing an important role in self-promotion, diplomacy and collecting, a box denoted status and could be used as currency for its monetary value. Its practical purpose was usually secondary. The collection of gold boxes at the Wallace Collection is small in number, but contains some of the finest in any museum and can boast of some of the most famous boxes in the world. The 99 pieces catalogued here represent a brilliant cross-section of the products of the European goldsmith between c. 1730 and 1830. The French boxes will be well known to collectors and students of these remarkable examples of the ability of goldsmiths, enamelers, lapidaries and miniaturists to create something novel for each of their discerning clients. The most famous makers in Paris - Jean Ducrollay, Pierre-Francois Drais, Jean-Marie Tiron, Jean Fremin and Louis Roucel- are well represented. However, research by Charles Truman, one of the world's leading experts on gold boxes, has changed the geography of the collection. We now know that most of the boxes previously considered Swiss were actually made in Germany. Outstanding examples - from Hanau, Berlin and Dresden in particular - have now joined the masterworks of the French goldsmiths. Among them is one of rare beauty by Johann Christian Neuber, as well as signed enameled examples by Ignatius Peter Krafft and Jean-Guillaume-George Kru]ger. In the introductory essay, Charles Truman discusses the history of snuff-taking and the development, manufacture and collecting of gold boxes. Throughout the catalogue he places a particular emphasis on the design sources from which the craftsmen responsible for these wonderful works of art took their inspiration. Like the entire Collection, the Wallace gold boxes are a monument to the taste of one family of great collectors. Rebecca Wallis discusses the history of collecting and display of the Wallace boxes, which were acquired over a period of fifty years only and reflect the taste for these exquisite objects during the middle decades of the nineteenth century. Scientific analysis of the boxes by Seoyoung Kim has brought new insights into the standards of gold used in Europe, and in particular the wide variations in those standards even in the best-regulated cities. This beautiful publication considerably advances our knowledge and appreciation of the Wallace Collection's gold boxes and establishes their place in the scholarship of 18th-century decorative arts.

Founded in 1925 in Santa Fe, the Spanish Colonial Arts Society has become central to the collection and promotion of traditional Hispanic arts in New Mexico. Its extraordinary collection of some twenty-five hundred objects, both secular and religious, comprises the finest of its kind. Serving as the Society's 'museum on paper' this exceptional two-volume set includes vividly illustrated essays on New World santos, furniture, straw applique, tinwork, and textiles. Essays on historical arts, the revival period, Spanish Market, and contemporary masters of traditional Spanish arts record the development of this historic collection from the early Spanish New Mexicans to today's working craftsman. Books with slipcase.

In line with the works on decorators of the 1940s, '50s, '60s, and '70s, this book plunges us into the world of '80s and '90s. These have witnessed unprecedented experiments in the world of design and architecture. Composed of a rich introduction which gives a synoptic vision and 38 monographs that describe its many faces, this book makes and exceptionally creative period intelligible, and reveals through an abundant iconography, often unpublished, its formidable aesthetic richness. A new generation of designers stands out; among them Shiro Kuramata, Philippe Starck, Ron Arad, Bob Wilson, Elizabeth Garouste and Mattia Bonetti. All regenerate creation by refusing the elitism of their predecessors and by favouring the use of new materials. Some turn to recovery, such as the Creative Salvage group, and offer inventive and provocative furniture thanks to welding and assembly. Others, gathered in Italy around Ettore Sottsass and Memphis, combine unexpected colours and patterns to the playful use of plastic laminate. Sliding until the end of the '90s, the achievements presented in this book mark the desire for a dialogue between artistic references with a new relationship to the industrial aspect, at the dawn of the 21st century and its technological innovations. Text in English and French.

For anyone who has ever been interested in trying their hand at the art of wood burning, this book is a delight. Accomplished artist Sue Waters guides the beginner through six beautiful wood burning projects. All of the tools, techniques and patterns necessary to create these works of art are provided within. Trouble-shooting tips help the novice avoid common mistakes from the outset. Color photographs and basic, straight-forward descriptions detail every step along the way. By the time these projects are finished, you will have mastered lettering techniques, created floral displays, mountain and lake-side scenes, and even rendered your first elk on wood. When you close the last page you will be left with the satisfaction only tangible evidence of your new-found skills may provide. You will also have the confidence and skill necessary to explore new creative possibilities on your own. Even the artist familiar with basic wood burning techniques will find new and useful information within these colorful pages.

This title features over 100 inspiring ways to make stunning pieces from all kinds of materials, with practical step-by-step projects. It contains over 100 ideas and easy-to-make projects, plus scores of tips and inspiration for creating many different types of hand-crafted jewellery. It features every kind of jewellery - from bangles, brooches and pins, to necklaces, rings, pendants and earrings - plus designs for buttons, badges, cufflinks, hair ornaments and trinket boxes. All techniques are shown in fully illustrated step-by-step format - clear, simple and easy to achieve, with stunning pictures of every finished piece. It covers a wide range of different crafting techniques using easily acquired equipment and material: including metal, wire, beads, ribbon, felt, silk, shells, mosaic, ceramics and paper. Jewellery always makes a very personal statement, and creating your own pieces is a wonderful way of saying even more about yourself and your taste. Better still, many of these ideas are so inexpensive, you can give yourself a new look quickly and easily. This book is designed to teach you everything you need to know about making jewellery, and covers all the materials, techniques and equipment you will need. Projects include bracelets and earrings, necklaces and brooches and even cufflinks and rings, and cover all kinds of crafting techniques. Throughout the book there is an emphasis on having fun while inspiring you to create a fabulous and individual look, with the minimum amount of expenditure.

The goldsmith and mineralogist Johann Christian Neuber (1736-1808) was one of the greatest masters of the gold objet - gold boxes, watch cases, chatelaines, etc. - which he in particular decorated to splendid effect with semiprecious stones - agate, jasper, carnelian and a host of others. In 1769 he became director of the Grunes Gewoelbe, the magnificent State Treasury in Dresden, and in 1775 court jeweler to the court of Saxony. Neuber's work features enchanting landscapes, intricate floral designs and complex geometric patterns made out of tiny cut stones, incorporating also Meissen porcelain plaques, cameos and miniatures. These one-of-a-kind objects are treasured in public and private collections all over the world today, but have never been brought together. This book is the first comprehensive introduction to this master craftsman's oeuvre, presenting boxes and other decorative objects from the Grunes Gewoelbe, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Victoria and Albert Museum and public and private collections in Germany, France and New York. One of its highlights is the'Breteuil Table', still owned by the family for which is was made as a diplomatic gift nearly 250 years ago. It accompanies a once-in-a-lifetime exhibition, at the Grunes Gewoelbe, Dresden, March-May 2012; at the Frick Collection, New York, May-August; at the Galerie J. Kugel, Paris, Autumn 2012. Beautiful photographs of all Neuber's creations adorn this extraordinary book- well over 500 in number. The context and history of the growing interest in mineralogy and its celebration in these works of art are fully investigated. Its distinguished authors include Dr Jutta Kappel, of the Grunes Gewoelbe; the specialists Sophie Mouquin and Philippe Poindront; the Marquis de Breteuil, Henri-Francois Le Tonnelier; and the editor of the volume, Alexis Kugel, of the famous Parisian gallery.

The court of Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II produced nothing more amazing than the Mira colligrophioe monumenta, a flamboyant demonstration of two arts-calligraphy and miniature painting. The project began when Rudolf's predecessor commissioned the master calligrapher Georg Bocskay to create a model book of calligraphy. A preeminent scribe, Bocskay assembled a vast selection of contemporary and historic scripts. Many were intended not for practical use but for virtuosic display. Years later, at Rudolf's behest, court artist Joris Hoefnagel filled the spaces on each manuscript page with images of fruit, flowers, insects, and other natural minutiae. The combination of word and images is rare and, on its tiny scale, constitutes one of the marvels of the Central European Renaissance. The manuscript is now in the collections of the Getty Museum. Forty-eight of its pages are reproduced in this book, containing samples of classic italic hands; historical, invented, and exhibition hands; Rotunda, a classicizing humanist script based on Carolingian miniscule; classically based scripts; and Gothic blackletter and chancery.

Jewelry has long been an accessory attributed with talismanic power and significance, and its appeal crosses all boundaries of culture, age, and gender. In this beautiful new book, Olivier Dupon introduces over 100 of the finest modern jewelers practicing today. Both up-and-coming and established designers are featured, and the sheer variety of their work is amazing. The book showcases fine jewelry, fashion jewelry, luxury jewelry, conceptual jewelry, and more. Hundreds of color photographs display the work, and there are also portraits of designers at work as well as shots of studios, workshops, and boutiques. Every type of jewelry earrings and rings, brooches and bracelets, headpieces and necklaces is represented. Rough stones appear with exquisitely faceted gems; organic forms vie with geometric structures; feathers and leather take their place next to platinum and diamonds. The range of designers is global, and for most of them this is the first time their work is appearing in book form."