I know I talked about Rococo yesterday about being the naughty little sister of Baroque, and, really, it was. But it’s easy to dismiss it as frivolous and pink and ruffles and giggles and all poufs and fluff and shit. It was anything but. It was the forerunner to our modern views on sexuality and how it is portrayed in the media and film. Take, for instance, this series of paintings/etchings/prints about the woman on a swing: it is an erotically charged story about a woman and her lover(s), and matters of the heart, told through the allegorical reference of, well, knowing that she’s got no underwear on under her frilly underskirts. So, there’s that. I guess I’ll leave you with that image burning into the back of your brain.
Friday
Textile art is a special kind of art: it’s rare that it survives intact for very long because fiber pigments degrade much more quickly than, say, paint pigments or fritware glazes do. For textiles to survive in this condition and age is nothing short of a miracle. Not to mention, holy shit. It’s Rococo on goddamn steroids. It took the elegance of the Baroque, turned it upside down, molested it, put a pink bow and a petticoat on it, gave it a flirtatious spank and a naughty wink, and then turned it loose on an unsuspecting public. It looks like it’s supposed to be prim and proper, but it’s not really. Look closer: there are allegorical allusions to sex and naughtiness throughout the symbols. *fans self* Okay, enough about the naughty. It really is a gorgeous piece of cloth.
Thursday
This shit is pure wizardry.
Bow before the wooden spiral.
Wednesday
Weaponry is beautiful, mmmkay? Look how pretty it is; it’s sturdy and functional, but still displays a stunning amount of detail for something that could be something much more basic.
Tuesday
Now this, my friends, is what we call “stick ’em with the pointy end”.
Monday
Mmm, fiber arts. In this case, it’s just wool and silk, no cloth of silver or cloth of gold, but it’s still a lovely piece and you can see the care that went into the weaving and dyeing of the yarn/thread by the vibrancy of the colors that remain to this day (especially the blue-green hues, and the reddish-browns).
Sunday
This is not a stabbity-stab. This is a hackity-slash. A beautiful, heavy, very well-cared for hackity-slash.
Saturday
This pitcher is one of a few objects that hangs out in a case at the bottom of the grand staircase at SLAM. I always have to fight the urge to rage and scream and throw a tantrum because TIFFANY PITCHER TUCKED AWAY IN THE MOST INAUSPICIOUS PLACE EVER OMFG WHAT ARE YOU PEOPLE EVEN THINKING. And then I stop and remind myself that I’m way more stressed out about it than everyone else in the building is and that I should stop and get a life. But look at this gorgeous silver work and tell me that it doesn’t deserve better placement than just tucked away at the bottom of the stairs.
Friday
Y’all, it’s a dagger. A curve-bladed dagger, typical Mughal style, very simple, very pretty, nice and stabby. We do love our stabbity objects over here.
Thursday
This is another University City pottery piece, again, deceptively simple in its design but devilishly complicated in its execution. It literally gleams in the light from the gilt and it’s the kind of vase you’d imagine them sourcing to use on the set of Downton Abbey or something of that ilk.