appétit de dilettante

sacred object repository from a digital looter; favourite museum collection finds

[heavensdoorways]

Claude Lalanne,

Maquette for the Central Park Zoo Gates, New York, circa 1982,

Patinated bronze, galvanized copper,

9 7⁄8 x 10 5⁄8 x 1 ¾ in. (25 x 27 x 4.5 cm) (unframed), 14 ½ x 15 x 2 ¾ in. (37.4 x 38.1 x 7 cm) (framed).

Courtesy: Christie's

[sundustcloset]

Line Vautrin (1913-1997), Ne pas confondre le coeur et les grelots, gold bronze necklace, ca. 1980

title translates roughly to: do not mistake the bells for the heart. this is a poem and it speaks straight to me <3

[sundustcloset]

Line Vautrin (1913-1997), Les Vertèbres, silver bronze necklace, ca. 1955, Christie's

[sundustcloset]

excalibur 1981, book of days 1988, emotion 1966, beijing watermelon 1989, the very eye of the night 1955.

stills from recent movie rotation <3

[sundustcloset]

stills from ashik kerib (1988) dodo abashidze & sergei parajanov

the using & reusing of this white fabric flower crown as ornament

[sundustcloset]

Norman Bel Geddes, stage design for Divine Comedy, 1921-1930 (unrealized)

[sundustcloset]

Hiroshima Bridge Railings, Isamu Noguchi, Hiroshima, Japan, 1951 - 1952 Architectural design with concrete.

[sundustcloset]

Sleeping de Schiaparelli, Elsa Schiaparelli, 1940-1950, MET Museum

(Reposting because i accidentally deleted this one)

Sleeping was launched in 1938. Top notes are Bergamot and Galbanum; middle notes are Rose, Jasmine, Magnolia, Orange Blossom, Carnation and Ylang-Ylang; base notes are Patchouli, Vetiver, Sandalwood, Amber, Vanilla, Musk and Oakmoss.

Billed as a night perfume, it was meant to be spritzed the moment before falling into bed, and the scent was supposed to illuminate the subconscious and "light the way to ecstasy."

[sundustcloset]

Weaver's Guild Badge, Anonymous, 1585-1600, Rikjsmuseum. Silver badge of a weavers' guild. The round plate depicts a shuttle and two carders in the center. A double chain is attached to the plate, from which hang a carder and a shuttle. With inscriptions.

the loom shuttle ! the carding brushes ! i gasped when i realized what i was looking at. one of those moments when you find something and as recognition lights up your brain, you feel very lucky you were at the right place, right time to witness.

last night, i fell asleep reading Foxfire 2's chapter titled "From raising sheep to weaving cloth" and then dreamt i stumbled upon a strange outdoor weaving faire, where i proceeded to entangle myself into a standing weft, snagging away at the threads to deliver myself but destroying the hours of works necessary to start a weaving.

[sundustcloset]

Prayer nut, set in silver bands with foliate rosettes anonymous, 1500-1549, Rijksmuseum. Prayer nut, set in silver bands with foliate rosettes. A rotating spindle runs through the main shaft, around which a parchment leaf is wrapped, inscribed with the Ten Commandments.

*~ An incredibly precious encasement i stumbled across while (intensely, haha) perusing the silver collection in the Rijksmuseum.

I also find this small abstract from the wikipedia page on prayer nuts informative and poetic.

"The beads are quite uniform in size and shape, often with a diameter ranging from around 30 to 65 millimetres. Suda notes how their "spiritual impact...[was] curiously...in inverse proportion to their size". They were often made as two half-shells that could be opened to reveal intricate interior detail. According to the art historian Dora Thornton, when the prayer nut was opened out, it "revealed the representation of the divine hidden inside."

The interiors range considerably in complexity and detail, with the more simple consisting of a low relief cut into a disc that has been rounded off at the back. At their most detailed and complex, Suda describes how the beads "played out like a grand opera on a miniature stage, complete with exotic costumes, elaborate props and animals large and small" and observes how they have an "Alice in Wonderland" quality, wherein "one tumbles headlong into the tiny world created by the carver...into the world they reveal beyond one's immediate surroundings."

The shape of a prayer nut likely carried deep significance; with the outer sheath representing Christ's human flesh; the bead stand, his cross; and the interior reliefs, his divinity. According to Thornton, "unfolding the nut is in itself an act of prayer, like opening up a personal illuminated prayer book, or watching the leaves of a large scale altarpiece being hinged back in a church service".

[sundustcloset]

Tablespoon (France), 1966; Designed by Claude Lalanne (French, 1924 - 2019); cast and chased silver

Dinner Knife (France), 1966; Designed by Claude Lalanne (French, 1924 - 2019); cast and chased silver; Cooper Hewitt

forever in love with claude

[sundustcloset]

notti's dream in funky forest (2005)

[sundustcloset]

silver & gold lock, 19th century, louvre museum

roman key ring, bronze, 3rd century or later, V&A museum

"The Romans were skilled locksmiths and invented finger rings in the form of keys. They seem to have been used across the Roman Empire. They are usually made of bronze or iron and the different shapes of the wards suggest that they were intended for use as keys rather than being merely decorative. Key rings may have been used because Roman clothing does not generally have pockets or perhaps for the added security of always having the key on your person. The key rings opened small boxes or caskets of personal possessions such as jewellery boxes rather than doors or cupboards. It is possible that they were particularly worn by women, perhaps after marriage as a sign of their new status. Keys and locks might also have had an amuletic significance, relating to the power of the key to secure and protect or open and reveal.

Roman key rings have been found in some numbers in British archaeological sites including London and Colchester. An excavation of a Roman grave in Colchester found a wooden box with copper fittings which had been buried with the key ring in the lock. Similar keys were also found in the city of Pompeii, buried under volcanic ash."

this is a post about keys, but it is also a post about things made to unlock things and in truth, it is a mostly spell.

[sundustcloset]

gold mourning buckle, set with rock crystal over the inscription 'Ann Harford 1728' worked in gold thread on hair, england, V&A museum

[sundustcloset]

brooch, silver and steel wire, alex calder, c. 1945, calder foundation, NYC

[sundustcloset]

top : harps and heart, necklace, brass wire; alex calder, c. 1937, calder foundation, NYC ///// bottom: brooch, brass wire, glass and steel wire; alex calder, c.1938, calder foundation NYC

i love the jewelry made by calder. it relates to space and the body in a more intimate yet similar way his large sculptures do. his works are deceptively simple in execution because the complexity of their shapes is almost essential. the materials are accessible and inexpensive but imbued with a mystique special —shards of colourful glass, fragments of ancient potteries— which can be found in adornment worn by people of all classes across different spaces & times.

discreet & unique features such as the spiral fastening on the brooch above are the sign of a singular practice developed over a lifetime —calder started making jewelry when he was 6yo, shaping wires to decorate his sister’s dolls.

[sundustcloset]

pair of brown hoop hairwork earrings with gold hinged ear wire fasteners, 1850-1880, gift of miss emma coleman, historic new england online collections.

one of my all time favourite online collection finds <3