#fivedaysof

[possiblypossums]

The final day of my five days of fish challenge! Her expression reminds me of Josie from Twin Peaks 😆.

[vmfaeducation]

#FiveDaysOf: Beds (in this case: bedrooms)

How would you like to wake up like Belle Worsham? Catharine “Belle” Duvall Yarrington was born in Richmond, Virginia, on June 1, 1850. After her father’s death in 1859, the family lived in a boarding house operated by her mother. When Richmond fell to Union troops in April 1865, the Yarringtons (along with many residents) left the city, moving to New York before 1870.

In addition to its importance as a period interior, the Worsham-Rockefeller Bedroom reveals the role of interior decoration in the cultivation of individual identity. The room documents Arabella Worsham’s transformation from modest circumstances to immense wealth in the fluid social and economic environment of post-Civil War America.

Object Number: 2008.213 Department: American Art Artist: George A. Schastey & Company, active 1873 - 1897 Title: Worsham-Rockefeller Bedroom (Primary Title) Date: 1881-82, revised ca. 1937 Medium: mahogany, ebonized and inlaid with satinwood; textiles; metal; glass; ceramics Credit Line: Gift of the Museum of the City of New York

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#FiveDaysOf: Beds 

Although painting at Bikaner (a city in Northern India) was in decline during the first half of the 19th century, interesting works such as this one were still regularly produced. An inscription on the bottom border identifies the white-clad figure as Lakhan Sen, a 13th-centruy ruler of the remote desert state of Jaisalmer. Shown as a degenerate, he sprawls drunk on a terrace, attempting to retrieve his turban. Flies swarm around his mouth, drawn by the smell of opium. A young lady reclining on a canopied bed views the old man with disdain.

According to most historical sources, Lakhan Sen was a buffoon with a reputation for outrageous and amusing behavior. Although his reign was predictably short, stories about him lives on long after he died and were particularly popular with 18th- and 19th-century Bikaner painters. While the specific tales illustrated are not known, Lakhan Sen is always shown as a fat old man, often wearing wedding clothes and behaving in an inebriated or eccentric manner.

Object Number: 99.31 Department: South Asian Art Artist: Unknown (Artist) Title: The Misadventure of Rawal Lakhan Sen (Primary Title) Date: ca. 1825-50 Medium: opaque watercolor and ink on paper Dimensions: Sheet: 12 3/4 × 14 3/4 in. (32.39 × 37.47 cm) Location: South Asian Galleries Credit Line: Friends of Indian Art and the Robert A. and Ruth W. Fisher Fund

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#FiveDaysOf: Beds (Day 2: Art Nouveau Dreams)

This bedroom suite represents a high point in French decorator and furniture designer Louis Majorelle’s career. Designed and executed with remarkable skill, it shows the craftsmanship for which Marjorelle and his artisans were so famous. In 1899 he began to use gilded-bronze mounts in the shape of waterlilies as decorative motifs on his furniture. Fine woods; soft, undulating curves; gilded bronze mounts and pulls; and marquetry panels in abstract patterns all contribute to design this suite as a masterpiece. The organic lines of the design are derived from flower forms associated with Art Nouveau.

This suite, among the most important Art Nouveau furniture in the United States, was illustrated in a 1909 French magazine and originally on view at the 1909 International Exhibition of Eastern France in Nancy. As in a contemporary furniture showroom, a patron at Majorelle’s gallery would select individual objects such as a bed, cabinet, or chair from the showroom floor or an illustrated catalogue.

Object Number: 85.90.1 Department: Decorative Arts After 1890 Artist: Louis Majorelle, French, 1859 - 1926 (Artist) Title: Bed (Primary Title) Date: ca. 1905-08 Medium: Cuban mahogany, rosewood, various inlaid woods, gilt bronze, upholstery (replacement fabric) Dimensions: Overall: 79 × 80 1/2 × 90 in. (200.66 × 204.47 × 228.6 cm) Credit Line: Gift of Sydney and Frances Lewis

[vmfaeducation]

#FiveDaysOf: Beds. 

We are starting to have our first chilly mornings in Richmond, and nothing beats a chilly morning like a nice, warm bed--particularly one that you are no hurry to get out of. Check back all week for five days (well, really four days) of beds that are sure to keep you in a happy slumber! 

First up: the Sun Bed. In 1930 Jane Renouardt, a celebrated French stage actress and the director of the Théâtre Danou, commissioned this bed from Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann. Known as the Sun Bed, it is made of white oak and veneered in a highly polished Macassar ebony. Ruhlmann’s craftsmanship is evident in the dramatic pattern of the headboard. Ruhlmann’s records note that one of his craftsmen worked 252 1/2 hours to make this bed, which cost the incredible amount of 11,375 francs, about half of his annual salary. 

Object Number: 85.130 Department: Decorative Arts After 1890 Artist: Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann, French, 1879 - 1933 (Artist) Title: Sun Bed (for Jane Renouardt residence, Saint Cloud, France) (Primary Title) Date designed 1923, made 1930 Medium: Macassar ebony, oak, replacement fabric Dimensions: Overall: 77 × 38 1/2 × 85 3/4 in. (195.58 × 97.79 × 217.81 cm) Location: VMFA; G346C - Lewis Decorative Arts Galleries Credit Line: Gift of Sydney and Frances Lewis

[vmfaeducation]

#FiveDaysOf: Sculpture | African

This plaque was made for a Yoruba society of ruling elders, the Ógbóni, one of the most important Yoruba governing institutions. Ógbóni members are the oldest and wisest men and women in a community, decide the most serious judicial matters, and control the selection, installation, and funerals of community rulers. By virtue of their age, they are considered close to the spirit-realm of the ancestors.

The features of the face on this plaque illustrate several Ógbóni concepts. The strongly projecting forehead suggests the power of intellect; the projecting eyes suggests penetrating insight as well as àse, “spiritual energy or life force.” The mudfish issuing from the nostrils symbolize the Ógbóni capacity to function in two worlds. Metal, the material of choice, represents the transformation of natural ore into liquid form, which then solidifies into objects of strength and beauty. 

The small holes along the edge of this plaque provide loops for attached to ceremonial garb. When not being worn, this mask might have been place on an altar, where sacrificial offerings would be poured over it. 

Object Number: 2000.97 Department: African Art Artist: Unknown (Artist) Title: Ógbóni Society Plaque (Primary Title) Date: 19th century or earlier Medium: copper alloy Dimensions: Overall: 8 5/8 × 7 1/8 × 2 1/4 in. (21.91 × 18.1 × 5.72 cm) Location: VMFA; G205A - African Gallery East Credit Line: Adolph D. and Wilkins C. Williams Fund Classification: Sculpture Classification: Medals and Plaques Culture: Yoruba Geography: Nigeria, Republic of Benin 

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#FiveDaysOf: Sculpture | Early 20th century

Archipenko came to Paris from the Ukraine in 1908, during the formative stage of Cubism, and was one of the first artists to translate the fractured masses and shifting planes of Pablo Picasso’s and Georges Braque’s paintings into three-dimensional form. Flat Torso incorporates several of Archipenko’s innovations: the use of highly polished bronze to diminish the sense of material density and weight and give the appearance that reflected light is traveling at a rippling speed; the compression of the figure from front to back into a wafer-thin form, which produces severe two-sided frontality; and the intensified awareness of the figure’s extremities by selectively eliminating some of their elements. 

See some more sculptures!

Object Number: 2003.3 Department: Modern and Contemporary Art Artist: Alexander Archipenko, American, born Ukraine, 1887 - 1964 (Artist) Title: Flat Torso (Primary Title) Date: 1914 (cast 1921-1922) Medium: polished bronze Dimensions: Overall (with original base): 19 5/8 × 4 3/4 in. (49.85 × 12.07 cm) Location: VMFA; G124 - Deane and Goodwin Galleries Credit Line: National Endowment for the Arts Fund for American Art Classification: Sculpture

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#FiveDaysOf: Sculpture | East Asian

The mythical Chinese qilin (麒麟) is a symbol of good omens and happiness. It appears to a chosen few to signal a great emperor’s reign or the birth or death of a great sage. Because of its horns and general connotations, qilin is commonly translated into English as “unicorn.”

While its description has changed over time, at the time this lapis lazuli piece was carved when the accepted visual was a scaled body, deer hooves, a dragon’s head, deer antlers, and a lion’s tail. Similar depictions of qilin are kept in homes today to promote long life, celebration, joy, and wisdom.

See some more sculptures!

Qilin research from Encyclopaedia Britannica and Cultural China

Object Number: 47.20.432 Department: East Asian Art Artist: Unknown (Artist) Title: Mythical Beast (Qilin) (Primary Title) Date: 18th century Medium: lapis lazuli Dimensions: Overall: 7 in. (17.78 cm) Location: VMFA; G224 - East Asian Gallery Classification: Sculpture Culture: Chinese Dynasty: Qing Reign: 1644 - 1911