"Gilding the lily"... and why not? - a selection of carved and engraved shells

 

The work of Cornelis Bellekin, circa second half of the seventeenth century.

Same as previous image.

Portrait of The Great Eastern steamship, attributed to C. H. Wood, 1861.

Portrait of the Duke of Wellington, circa 1850s.

From Guatemala/Mexico, circa 250-900 A.D.

Powder horn, Gujarat, India, circa seventeenth-eighteenth century.

Circa second half of the sixteenth century.

Two pieces by Cornelis Bellekin, circa second half of the seventeenth century. 

Engravings commemorating The Great Britain and The Great Western steamships, 1843 and 1837, respectively.

Engraving commemorating The Great Britain steamship, 1843. Also seen above. 

Same as previous image.

From New Caledonia, circa nineteenth century or earlier.

Ritual water vessel for worshiping Vishnu, India, circa eleventh century.

Indonesian? Contemporary?

The work of Cornelis Bellekin, circa second half of the seventeenth century.

Same as previous image.

*

As the creator of almost a third of these items, I ought to mention one of the artists:

Cornelis Bellekin (circa 1625 - before 1711), Dutch engraver of mother-of-pearl shells and, apparently, also active as painter. Born into a family of engravers - the founder of the family, Jeremie, having settled in Amsterdam in 1608 - he specialized in the engraving of mother-of-pearl, becoming the most distinguished artist in that field.

Black girl, white girl - six portraits modeling equality

 

Miniature, French School, circa 1805.

At actual size.

Ladies Gathering Fruit/Two Society Women, by Stephen Slaughter, circa 1750-65.

The subjects of this portrait and their relationship remain unknown. Highly unusual is the casual intimacy displayed in the graceful gesture of the standing woman's hand resting on the shoulder of her companion. Certainly for people of different races. Especially if we were to assume that the standing figure is a servant. And if we do assume that, how to explain that she is far more richly dressed than the seated woman? The latter's linen is plainest lawn, her jewels only simple pearl earrings and the tiniest brooch. While the former wears a gown trimmed with lace, and her jewels include an elaborate necklace, girandole earrings, and a large brooch worn in her hair. A fascinating painting, with several unanswered/unanswerable questions. 

A Portrait of Two Girls, American School, circa 1820.

English School, circa 1650. Inscribed at top: "I black with white bespott y white with blacke this evil proceeds from thy proud hart then take her: Devill."

Circa 1900.

Dido Elizabeth Belle Lindsay and her cousin Lady Elizabeth Murray, by David Martin, circa 1778.

Unlike the subjects of the preceding images, the lives of the two teenagers in this double portrait are well-documented. Wikipedia has detailed and fascinating biographies of both the motherless heiress, Lady Elizabeth Mary Finch-Hatton, née Murray, and of her second cousin, the biracial, illegitimate Dido Elizabeth Belle, "a free black British gentlewoman."

Barbette, enfin ! - photographs by Gaston Paris, Théâtre de l'Empire, Paris, 1937

How have I not yet posted about Barbette? Actually, I was certain that I had. I had to scour over more than a decade of posts to prove to myself that I hadn't. Alright, let this be the first, then. There are certain to be further posts about the aerial artist that the "astonished" and adoring Cocteau called "Un chef-d'œuvre théâtral. Un ange, une fleur, un oiseau." But here, with these images, I begin at the end; the very next year, Barbette ceased to exist. Texas-born Vander Clyde Broadway lived his remaining thirty-five years off-stage, never again willing - or, sadly, able - to venture into the spotlight.

The facts of Vander Clyde Broadway/Barbette's life are blurry at best. But here, such as it is, is his not entirely creditable Wikipedia page.

But then there's the man, himself, in this fascinating essay by Cocteau's biographer, Frances Steegmuller, which appeared in The New Yorker in 1969.

Inspirational brioche - from Chardin to Manet

 

La Brioche, by Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin, 1763.

It's said that Manet referred to the still-life as the "touchstone of the painter", and throughout his career he worked at examples of that genre. One of his most elaborately composed still-lifes, his La Brioche of 1870, was inspired by a painting of that same title by the great Chardin which had only entered the collection of the Louvre the year before, part of the famous bequest of Dr. Louis La Caze. 

La Brioche, by Édouard Manet, 1870.

In the following years, Manet would again find inspiration in the iconic version, known as the brioche à tête or brioche parisienne.

Nature morte, brioche, fleurs, poires, by Édouard Manet, 1876.

Nature morte, brioche, by Édouard Manet, 1880.