The Birth Of Modern Painting

(via The Outline of Art) William Orpen writes:

The Art of the Florentine Masters, From Giotto and Angelico to Lippi and Botticelli

Giotto, a Shepherd boy, was drawing pictures of his father’s sheep on a slate, when Cimabue, the great artist of the time, happened to be passing by. Struck by the boy’s talent, Cimabue obtained permission from his father and took the lad with him to Florence as his apprentice. When the artist was commissioned to decorate the church at Assisi, he entrusted his apprentice with painting the scenes from the life of St Francis which were to adorn the walls of the upper church. In these frescoes the young Giotto proved himself, in the words of Ruskin, ‘a daring naturalist in defiance of tradition, idealism, and formalism’. Besides his work at Assisi, Giotto also worked at Rome, and important frescoes by him, notably ‘The Bewailing of St Francis’ and ‘Herod’s Birthday Feast’, are in S. Croce at Florence, but the greatest and most famous of all his undertakings is the series of frescoes which he painted in the Chapel of the Arena at Padua. The date of this enterprise can be fixed with some certainty because it is known that in 1306 Dante was Giotto’s guest at Padua, and the poet is said to have assisted the painter in his choice of subjects. Petrarch was also the friend of Giotto.

It is interesting to compare Cimabue’s ‘Madonna and Child’ and his pupil’s ‘The Bewailing of St Francis.’ To be fair to the elder artist, we must remember what came before. We have only to look at Margaritone’s altarpiece in the National Gallery to see the oppressive type of Byzantine art, destitute of any feeling for beauty or truth to nature. From whom Cimabue received his training we know not—there was no famous painter before him—but we do know he was held in high esteem by his contemporaries. The ‘Madonna’ he painted for S.Maria Novella aroused such enthusiasm that it was carried to the church preceded by trumpeters and followed by a procession of Florentines. But whatever the advance made by Cimabue, Giotto advanced still further.

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If we study Cimabue’s ‘Madonna’ at the National Gallery we find that his figures, though not entirely lifeless as the heavily gilded Byzantine figures, are wooden,formal, and conventional, while Giotto’s figures have individuality and human feeling, and his groups have a new realism and dramatic vigor. Giotto had a more extended range of color than Cimabue; he showed a preference for gayer and lighter schemes, and he gave a more careful imitation of nature than existed in the works of his predecessors. When we hail Giotto as a daring naturalist, we must think of him in relation to the artists who preceded him, and not to those later painters who gradually learnt to give accurate and complete expression to the truths of nature. Yet his Paduan frescoes show, as it has been well said, ‘the highest powers of the Italian mind and hand at the beginning of the fourteenth century.’ Although a shepherd in his youth, it is strange that his drawings of sheep do not appear correct to modern eyes.

As will be seen from his ‘The Bewailing of St.Francis’, his backgrounds, though in a sense true to nature, are not realistic. His buildings and his trees are far too small, being drawn neither in true perspective nor in correct proportion to the human figures. His hills are bare and jagged cliffs, his trees have only a dozen leaves for foliage; but it was an innovation for fields, trees, and animals to appear at all, and no imperfections in their rendering can rob the painter of the glory of having extended the subject matter of his art. Giotto was the first Gothic painter to depict action, to substitute the dramatic human life for eternal repose of the divine. To his contemporaries his realism must have seemed amazing, and we can understand Boccaccio, after looking at earlier Byzantine paintings, writings enthusiastically in the Decamerone:

Giotto was such a genius that there was nothing a Nature which he could not have represented in such a manner that it not only resembled, but seemed to be, the thing itself.

Giotto was not only a painter: he was also an architect. When he returned to Florence in 1334 the city honored him and itself by appointing him Master of the Works of the Cathedral. Two great architectural works were planned and begun by him at Florence, the West Front of the Cathedral and its detached Campanile or bell tower. The latter exists to this day as a monument of his genius, although its author did not live to see its completion. But its lower courses were completed from Giotto’s design, and he was able with his own hand to carve the first course of its sculpted ornaments, illustrating arts and industries, before he died on January 8, 1337.

Giotto was the first of the great Florentine painters. Among his immediate successors was Andrea Orcagna, whose famous ‘The Coronation of the Virgin’ is in the National Gallery. Orcagna was painter, sculptor, architect, and poet. More of a dreamer than his shrewd practical predecessor, Orcagna did not so much develop the realistic side of Giotto as refine and intensify his psychology. He carried on the Giottosque tradition of truth and simplicity, but drama and action appealed to him less powerfully than the expression of emotion and deep religious feeling. In his masterpieces we are arrested not by any movement, but by the variety and intensity of the feelings expressed in the figures. This religious intensity led to a greater formality than is found in Giotto and to a curious suggestion of a return to Byzantine lack of humanity.

Jean-Baptiste Tavernier’s Travels In India

Journey of the author to other mines, and concerning the method of searching for diamonds.
(via Jean-Baptiste Tavernier’s Travels In India / V Ball / Edited by William Crooke)

While the Messers. Fremlin and Francis Breton were Presidents at Surat on behalf of the English Company, a Jew named Edwards Ferdinand, a free merchant, that is to say not subject to any Company, combined with these two gentlemen, a short time after the mine was discovered, to purchase a stone. This stone was clean and of good form, and weighed 42 carats. Edward went to Europe, and Messers. Fremlin and Breton placed the stone in his hands to sell to the best advantage, and render an account to them. On his arrival at Leghorn he showed it to some Jew friends, who offered him 25000 piastres for it. But as he asked 30000 he was unable to let them have it, and took it to Venice to get it cut. It was well cut, without any injury, but upon being put upon the wheel it immediately broke into nine pieces. I myself was on one occasion deceived by one of these stones, which weighed 2 carats; it broke into small pieces on the wheel when it was only half finished.

A continuation of the Author’s Journeys to the Diamond Mines

I now come to the third mine, which is the most ancient of all, and is situated in the Kingdom of Bengal. You may call it by the name Soumelpour, which is a large town near to which the diamonds are found, or rather by the name Koel, which is that of the river in the sand of which they are found. The country through which this river has its course belongs to a Raja who was formerly a tributary of the Great Mogul, but withdrew from his allegiance during the wars between Shahjahan and Jahangir his father. Immediately on his coming to the throne Shahjahan sent to demand tribute and arrears of it from this Raja, and the Raja, as his property was not sufficient to discharge the whole, quitted the country and took refuge with his subjects in the mountains. Upon the news of the Raja’s first refusal, Shahjahan, who did not know that purposed to abscond, but believed that he intended to defend himself, sent an army into his country, where he was persuaded that he would find an abundance of diamonds. It happened otherwise, however, for those who were sent into the country of the Raja found neither diamonds, inhabitants, nor food, as the Raja had ordered all the grain which his subjects could not carry with them to be burnt, and this was so effectually done that the greater portion of Shahjahan’s army perished of famine. The final result of the matter was, that the Raja returned to his country on agreeing to pay a light annual tribute to the Great Mogul.

The following is the route to be followed from Agra to this mine: from Agra to Halabas, 130 coss; Halabas to Banarous, 33 coss; Banarous to Saseron, 4 coss. From Agra to Sasaram you travel eastwards, but between Sasaram and the mine you turn to the south and come first to a large town—21 coss. This town is that of the Raja of whom I have just spoken, to whom the country belongs which is traversed by the river in which the diamonds are found.

After this town the traveler reaches a fortress called Rohtas—4 coss. It is one of the strongest places in Asia, situated upon a mountain having six great bastions and twenty-seven pieces of cannon, with three trenches full of water in which there are good fish. There is but a single path by which to ascend the mountain, where there is a plain of half a league or so in area, on which corn and rice are cultivated. There are more than twenty springs which irrigate the soil, and all about the mountain from the base to the top, there are precipices covered for the most part with jungle. The Rajas ordinarily held this fortress with from 700 to 800 men, but at present it belongs to the Great Mogul, who acquired it by skill of that great Captain Mir Jumla of whom I have so often had occasion to speak. The last Raja left three sons who betrayed each other; the eldest was poisoned, the second attached himself to the court of the Great Mogul, who gave him the command of 4000 horse, and the youngest maintains his position in the country by paying tribute like his father. All the Kings of India, successors of Tamerlane, have besieged this place without being able to take it, and indeed two of these Kings died in the city of Sasaram.

Jean-Baptiste Tavernier’s Travels In India (continued)

Innovations Networks

New business models: (via Knowledge @ Wharton) Here is an edited transcript of the conversation between Larry Huston + Knowledge @ Wharton on looking for ideas outside the company + other viewpoints @ http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=1837

Colors Of Dawn, Dusk Decoded

(via Times of India) Scattering happens when light collides against molecules in the atmosphere, causing it to scatter. The study, by researchers at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, shows how scattering determines the colours you see in the sky at sunset or sunrise.

According to Steven Ackerman, who led the study, the colour blue, being of shorter wavelength, is scattered more than other colours by the molecules. This, he says, is why blue light reaches our eyes from all directions on a clear day and the sky appears blue. At sunrise or sunset, explains Ackerman, as the Sun is low on the horizon, sunlight passes through more of the atmosphere - and hence encounters more molecules. “When the path is long enough, all of the blue and violet light scatters out of your line of sight. The other colours continue to your eyes. This is why sunsets are often yellow, orange, and red.” As red has the longest wavelength of any visible light, the sun seems red when it’s on the horizon, where its extremely long path through the atmosphere scatters all other colours away.

Useful link:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Colours_of_dawn_dusk_decoded/articleshow/2544426.cms

Insightful and educational.

Goldbricks Of Speculation

Here is an interesting book for everyone: Gold Bricks of Speculation; Chicago, 1904, A Study of Speculation and Its Counterfeits, and an exposé of the methods of bucketshop, and 'get-rich-quick' swindles.

Kandahar

Kandahar (2001)
Directed by: Mohsen Makhmalbaf
Screenplay: Mohsen Makhmalbaf
Cast: Nelofer Pazira, Hassan Tantai

(via YouTube): Kandahar a movie about Afghanistan (2001)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJKQ_ZsTJN0

It was natural + a masterpiece + a visual experience.

Rainbow Warrior

(via The Guardian) Angela Neustatter writes about Kate Dineen, the only woman on earth trained in the 900-year-old Indian art of fresco painting + other viewpoints @ http://arts.guardian.co.uk/art/visualart/story/0,,2210121,00.html

The Empire's New Clothes

Pernilla Holmes writes about Yinka Shonibare + the hybrid art + other viewpoints @ http://artnews.com/issues/article.asp?art_id=1202

Tracking The Trophy Brigade

Sylvia Hochfield writes about artworks that disappeared into the Soviet Union after World War II + Soviet writers Konstantin Akinsha / Grigorii Kozlov's story of the Soviet Union’s secret depositories of looted art + other viewpoints @ http://www.artnews.com/anniversary/top8.asp

Jean-Baptiste Tavernier’s Travels In India

Journey of the author to other mines, and concerning the method of searching for diamonds.
(via Jean-Baptiste Tavernier’s Travels In India / V Ball / Edited by William Crooke)

After the miners have selected the place where they desire to work, they smooth down another spot close by, of equal or rather greater extent, round which they erect an enclosing wall of two feet in height.

At the base of this little wall they make openings, at every two feet, for the escape of the water, which they close till it is time for the water to be drawn off. This place being thus prepared, all who are about to engage in the search assemble, men, women, and children, together with their employer and a party of his relatives and friends. He brings with him a figure in stone of the god whom they worship, which is placed standing on the ground, and each person prostrates himself three times before it, their priest, however, offering up the prayer. This prayer being finished, he makes a particular kind of mark upon the forehead of each one with a paste composed of saffron and gum, in order that it may sustain seven or eight grains of rice, which he places upon it. Then they wash their bodies with water which each of them carries in a vessel, and sit down in ranks to eat that which is presented at the feast given by their employer at the beginning of their work, in order to give them courage and induce them to acquit themselves faithfully. This feast merely consist of a portion of rice to each, which is distributed by the Brahman, because every idolater can eat what is served to him by the hands of the priests. Some among them are so superstitious that they will not eat what is prepared even by their own wives, and prefer to cook for themselves. The plate upon which the rice is placed is made of the leaves of a tree pinned together; to some extent they resemble our walnut leaves. To each there is also given about a quarter of a pound of melted butter in a little cup of copper, with some sugar.

When dinner is finished, each starts to work, the men to excavate the earth, and the women and children to carry it to the place which has been prepared as I have said above. They excavate to 10, 12, or 14 feet in depth, but when they reach water there is nothing more to hope for. All the earth is carried to this place, men, women, and children draw water with pitchers from the hole which they have excavated, and throw it upon the earth which they have placed there, in order to soften it, leaving it in this state for one or two days, according to the tenacity of the clay, until it becomes like soup. This done, they open the holes which they made in the wall to let off the water, then they throw on more, so that all the slime may be removed, and nothing remain but sand. It is a kind of clay which requires to be washed two or three times. They then leave it to be dried by the sun, which quickly effected by the great heat. They have a particular kind of basket made something like a winnowing fan, in which they place the earth, which they agitate as we do when winnowing grain. The fine part is blown away, and the coarse stuff which remains is subsequently replaced on the ground.

All the earth having been thus winnowed, they spread it with a rake and make it as level as possible. Then they all stand together on the earth, each with a large baton of wood like a huge pestle, half a foot wide at the base, and pound the earth, going from one end to the other, always pounding each part two or three times; they then place it again in the baskets and winnow it, as they did on the first occasion, after which they spread it out again and range themselves on one side to handle the earth and search for the diamonds, in which process they adopt the same method as at Rammalakota. Formerly, instead of using wooden pestles for pounding the earth, they pounded it with stones, and it was that method which produced so many flaws in the diamonds.

As for the royalties which are paid to the King, the annual wages to the miners for their work, and the presents which are given to them when they find any large stone which they carry to the master whom they serve, all are the same as at the Rammalakota mine. No one hesitated formerly to purchase diamonds which had a green crust on the surface, because when cut they proved to be white and of very beautiful water.

About 30 or 40 years ago a mine situated between Kollur and Rammalakota was discovered, but the King ordered it to be closed on account of fraud, as I shall explain in a few words. Stones were found in it which had this green crust, beautiful and transparent, more beautiful even than the others, but when one attempted to grind them they broke in pieces. Whenever they were ground by another stone of the same quality which had been found in the same mine they submitted to the grinding without breaking, but were unable to bear the wheel, upon which they immediately flew into pieces. It is on this account that one is careful not to buy those which have been ground in this way, through fear of their breaking, and it is, as I said, on account of the deceptions which have been practised with these stones that the King ordered the mine to be closed.

Jean-Baptiste Tavernier’s Travels In India (continued)

Wine-making Waste Turned Into Electricity

(via Winebusiness) Canada Wine Region Adds Electricity to its Crops

I think it's a unique way of producing renewable energy via processing the food and beverage waste. The concept should be tested in other parts of the world, especially in the emerging wine markets like China and India.

A Flat-Bottomed Variety Of The Pointed Star Cut

(via Diamond Cuts in Historic Jewelry:1381-1910) Herbert Tillander writes:

In 1896 Bauer described a flat-bottomed, eightfold variant of the Pointed Star Cut, which he introduced as a ‘Cross Rose’. However, his drawings are not even of a diamond but of a cinnamon stone, a type of garnet. In fact, no such diamond has ever been documented, so Bauer’s ‘Cross Rose’ has no place in diamond history.

However, my attention was caught by a casual remark by Alfred Eppler and a line drawing of a cut similar to Bauer’s, although crowned, which he inconsistently called a Rose. Later I came across a reproduction of an engraving by Wenceslas Hollar, which showed some half a dozen examples of type drawn by Eppler. Hollar’s engraving suggests a jeweled badge of an Order of the Garter, for which the diamonds, including the flat-bottomed Star Cuts, must still have been available even though they were by the obsolete. In 1523 Henry VIII had given express permission for those on whom he had conferred the Order of the Garter to decorate their insignias ‘at their pleasure.’ The drawing by Hollar is clearly a design for one such order. Although both Bauer and Eppler were wrong in calling their stones ‘Roses’ of any sort, Hollar must have had a number of such stones—at least, those depicted by Eppler—at his disposal in order to include so many in his design.

In appears that in the sixteenth century flat-bottomed Pointed Star Cuts of the type found in the Order of the Garter were occasionally fashioned from discarded Indian Tablet Cuts (flat Table Cuts with table and culet facets of approximately the same size). Strangely enough, these may even be forerunners of the Standard Full Rose Cut (also known as the Dutch, or Holland, Rose), a design with six-fold symmetry which was first introduced around 1600 when, at the large cutting centers of the Netherlands, cleaving became a separate, specialized profession.

Teaching Yourself Programming In Ten Years

Here is an interesting essay ( http://www.norvig.com/21-days.html) on Peter Norvig's site: Teach Yourself Programming in Ten Years

Norvig was spot on. He was writing about computers. In my view, there are no books on how to learn gem and jewelry business, gem identification and treatments, grading of diamonds and colored stones, in a few days. It's a big joke. A little learning can be a dangerous thing. There are no real short cuts. Researchers (Hayes, Bloom) have shown it takes about ten years to develop expertise in any of a wide variety of areas.

Yojimbo

Yojimbo (1961)
Directed by: Akira Kurosawa
Screenplay: Ryuzo Kikushima, Akira Kurosawa
Cast: Toshiro Mifune, Tatsuya Nakadai

(via YouTube): 'Yojimbo' Akira Kurosawa. Trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YArp_JuwWAA

Yojimbo - End Showdown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eijUlCEAyAw

A real gem. It's fascinating + delightful to watch Kurosawa films. I enjoyed it.

Warhol 'Liz' Painting Sells For US$23M

(via AP) Andy Warhol's turquoise-background Elizabeth Taylor portrait sold for $23.7 million Tuesday (November 13, 2007) at Christie's auction house to an anonymous bidder.

Useful link:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071114/ap_en_ot/warhol_auction

Screen Savers

Carly Berwick writes about artist-museum conservation partnership concepts + how to save from obsolescence Net art and its new-media siblings + the rapid pace of technological innovation + other viewpoints @ http://artnews.com/issues/article.asp?art_id=1170

Making A Difference

Sylvia Hochfield writes about Andrew Decker’s 'A Legacy of Shame,' the first of dozens of articles by ARTnews writers on the subject of artworks looted by the Nazis during World War II + other viewpoints @ http://www.artnews.com/anniversary/top7.asp

Jean-Baptiste Tavernier’s Travels In India

Concerning Diamonds, And The Mines And Rivers Where They Are Found; And Especially Of The Author’s Journey To The Mine Of Rammalakota
(via Jean-Baptiste Tavernier’s Travels In India / V Ball / Edited by William Crooke)

When I arrived at Golkonda, three days had elapsed since the death of Boete, the apothecary, and the room where I had left him had been sealed with two seals—one that of the Kazi, who corresponds to the Chief Justice, and the other that of Shahbandar, who is the Provost of the merchants. An officer of justice watched the door of the chamber together with the servants whom I had left with the deceased. Immediately on my arrival the fact was announced to the Kazi and the Shanbandar, and forthwith they sent for me.

After I had saluted them, the Kazi asked me whether the money which was in the chamber of the deceased was mine, and how I could prove it. I said I had no better proof to show him than the letters of exchange which I had given to the Shroff, and that since my departure he had by my orders paid the sum to the deceased; that I had instructed the latter in case the Shroff paid in silver to change it into golden pagodas, and forward them to me. Upon his reply, they sent to call the two Shroffs who had paid my bills, to know if it was true, and as they agreed that it was, the Kazi forthwith ordered his lieutenant to open the door of the room, and see if the seals were intact on all the bags. He did not leave till he had my assurance that I had found the full sum, and that nothing was wanting. I returned with him to make the same declaration to the Kazi and the Shahbandar, and to thank them for their trouble, and it ended by my signing a document which they had written in Persian, in which I testified my satisfaction.

The lieutenant told me that I must pay the charges of the burial of Boete, those due to the persons who had placed the seals, and to the officer who had kept guard at the door of the chamber. These all amounted to but 9 rupees, or 4½ ecus of our money. One would not have got off so easily in most places in Europe.

Journey of the author to other mines, and concerning the method of searching for diamonds.

Seven days journey east of Golconda there is another diamond mine, called Gani in the language of the country, and Coulour in the Persian tongue.

It is close to a large town on the same river which I crossed when coming from the other mine, and at a league and a half from the town there are high mountains in the form of a cross. The space between the town and the mountains is a plain where the mine is situated and the diamonds are found. The nearer one searches toward the mountains the larger the stones which are found, but when one ascends too high nothing is found.

It is only about 100 years since this mine was discovered when a poor man, digging a piece of ground where he purposed to sow millet, found a pointe naive weighing nearly 25 carats. This kind of stone being unknown to him, and appearing remarkable, he carried it to Golkonda, and by good luck addressed himself to one who traded in diamonds. The trader having ascertained from the peasant the place where he had found the stone, was much surprised to see a diamond of such a weight, especially because the largest that had hitherto been seen did not exceed 10 or 12 carats.

The rumor of this new discovery quickly spread abroad throughout all the country, and some persons of wealth in the town commenced to mine in this land, where they found, and where they still find, large stones in greater abundance than in any other mine. They are found here at present, I say, many stones from 10 up to 40 carats, and sometimes indeed much larger; among others the great diamond which weighed 900 carats before cutting, which Mir Jumla presented to Aurangzeb, as I have elsewhere related.

But if this mine of Kollur is of importance on account of the number of large stones which are found there, it is a misfortune that, as a rule, these stones are not clear, and that their water contains indications of the quality of the soil where they are found. If the soil is marshy and humid, the stone tends to blackness; if it is reddish, it tends to red, and so with the other conditions, sometimes towards green, sometimes towards yellow, just as there is diversity of soil in the area between the town and the mountain. Upon the majority of these stones, after they are cut, there always appears a kind of grease which necessitates one always carrying a handkerchief in the hand in order to wipe them.

As regards the water of the stones, it is to be remarked that instead of, as in Europe, employing daylight for the examination of stones in the rough (brutes), and so carefully judging their water and any flaws which they may contain, the Indians do this at night; and they place in a hole which they excavate in a wall, one foot square, a lamp with a large wick, by the light of which they judge of the water and the cleanness of the stone, as they hold it between their fingers. The water which they term ‘celestial’ is the worst of all, and it is impossible to ascertain whether it is present while the stone is in the rough. But though it may not be apparent on the mill, the never-failing test for correctly ascertaining the water is afforded by taking the stone under a leafy tree, and in the green shadow one can easily detect if it is blue.

The first time I was at this mine there were nearly 60000 persons working there, including men, women, and children, who are employed in diverse ways, the men in digging, the women and children in carrying earth, for they search for the stones at this mine in an altogether different manner from that practised at Rammalakota.

Jean-Baptiste Tavernier’s Travels In India (continued)

Rhapsody In Blue

(via YouTube): George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue part1/2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiyc9Ak3EtQ

George Gershwin's - Rhapsody in Blue part 2/2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOcuvv01nO4

I loved it.

Vegetable Oil + Energy

Here is an interesting story where you can buy a car with a diesel engine and use vegetable oil + they say you can run a car on a 15% diesel / 85% vegetable oil mix. Save energy!

Useful link:
www.ravenfamily.org/andyg/vegoil.htm

Chocolate Evolution

Will Dunham writes about chocolate's origin at least 3,100 years ago in Central America not as the sweet treat people now crave but as a celebratory beer-like beverage and status symbol + other viewpoints @ http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071112/sc_nm/chocolate_beer_dc

An Interesting Emerald Find

(via Gemfields Resources PLC): The discovery of a 10050 carat emerald from Mbuva-Chibolele emerald mine in Kufubu emerald district of northern central Zambia is an interesting story. I don't know if it's gem quality specimen given the size, color and shape.

The company also owns amethyst mines (Kariba Amethyst mine), pink tourmaline + emerald mine (Kamakanga mine, west-southwest of the Mbuva-Chibolele emerald mine).

Useful link:
www.gemfields.co.uk

Grading System For South Sea Pearls

The Australian-based Autore group has released details of its proprietary South Sea Cultured Pearl Classification system based on the Five S's: Shine, Surface, Shade, Shape, and Size.

Useful link:
www.pearlautore.com

Chungking Express

Chungking Express (1994)
Directed by: Wong Kar Wai
Screenplay: Wong Kar Wai
Cast: Brigitte Lin, Tony Leung Chiu Wai

(via YouTube): Chungking Express 'Airplane' Scene
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krYuVgBQnGo

Brilliant. I enjoyed it.

Rembrandt Reaches The Web

(via The Guardian) James Fenton writes about British Museum's flat art project + its enormous collection of prints and drawings + unrestricted website link and to print off any image + anyone - student, teacher or amateur - being able to get hold of a decent A4 reproduction of the drawing or print they are interested in, for personal use + automatic downloading option that gives a free image (for use in a scholarly article or book) of a suitable quality for reproduction + a general trend (begun by Mark Jones at the V&A) of public institutions not charging for educational use of copyright material + other viewpoints @ http://arts.guardian.co.uk/art/visualart/story/0,,2208550,00.html

Sticks And Stones And Lemon Cough Drops

Sylvia Hochfield writes about artist's experimentation with materials that were never intended to be used in art making—from chocolate to excrement, foam rubber and fluorescent tubes, bodily fluids and banana peels—materials that are difficult or impossible to preserve + new preservation strategies + conservation problems + other viewpoints @ http://artnews.com/issues/article.asp?art_id=1183

Jean-Baptiste Tavernier’s Travels In India

Concerning Diamonds, And The Mines And Rivers Where They Are Found; And Especially Of The Author’s Journey To The Mine Of Rammalakota
(via Jean-Baptiste Tavernier’s Travels In India / V Ball / Edited by William Crooke)

Three days after I had bought this stone a messenger arrived from Golkonda who had been sent by an apothecary, named Boete, whom I had left at Golkonda to receive and take care of a part of my money, and in the event of the Shroff paying in rupees, he was to change them into golden pagodas. The day after he had received payment, he was attacked by so serious a disorder in the stomach that he died in a few days. He informed me by letter of his sickness,and that he had received my money, which was all in my chamber in sealed bags; but, as he did not believe that he would survive two days, he exhorted me to hasten my return, because he did not think that my money would be safe in the hands of the servants whom I had left with him. Immediately on receipt of this letter I waited on the Governor to take leave of him, at which he was astonished, and inquired if I had expended all my money. I replied that I had not spent half of it, and that I had still upwards of 20000 pagodas. He then said that if I wished he would afford me an opportunity of investing it, and that I should certainly not lose upon what he would enable me to buy. He further asked if I was willing to show him my purchases, although he was not ignorant of their extent, since those who sold were obliged to make a return of all to him, on account of the charge of 2 percent duty which is due to the King by those who buy. I showed him then what I had bought, and told him what they had cost me. This agreed with the book of the Banian who received the King’s dues. At the same time, I paid him the 2 percent for the King’s dues, on which he remarked that he perceived that the Franks were persons of good faith. He was the more persuaded of this, however, when, drawing forth the stone of 48½ carats, I said, ‘Sir, this is not in the Banian’s book, and there is no one in the town who knows that I have bought it, nor would you yourself had I not told you. I do not wish to defraud the King of his rights—here is what is due to him on account of the price paid by me for this stone.’ The Governor appeared surprised and much edified by my proceedings; he praised me much, and said that this was an action worthy of an honest man, and that there was not another merchant in the country, either Musalman or Hindu, who would act in the same manner if he believed that no one was aware of what he had purchased. Upon this he summoned the richest merchants of the place, told them the facts, and ordered them to bring with them the best stones they possessed. This was done by three or four of them, and thus I expended my 20000 pagodas in one or two hours. The transaction having been completed and the money paid, he told the merchants that as they had dealings with an honest man they ought to present me with a souvenir. This they did with good grace, giving me a diamond worthy nearly 100 ecus. As for the Governor himself, he gave me a turban and waistband.

I have to record a rather singular and curious account of the manner in which the Indians, whether they are idolaters or Musalmans, make their sales of all kinds of commodities. All passes in complete silence and without any one speaking. The seller and the buyer sit facing one another, like two tailors, and one of the two opening his waistband, the seller takes the right hand of the buyer and covers his own with his waistband, under which in the presence of many other merchants, who occupy themselves sometimes in the same manner, the sale is completed secretly without any one having cognizance of it. For the seller and buyer talk neither by means of their lips nor their eyes, but only by the hand, which they manage to do in the following manner: When the seller takes the whole hand of the buyer that means 1000, and as many times as he presses it so many thousands of padogas or rupees, according to the coin which may be in question. When he takes only five fingers that means 500, and when he takes only one it means 100. By taking only the half up to the middle joint, 50 is meant, and the end of the finger up to the first signifies 10. This is the whole mystery employed by the Indians in their sales, and it often happens that, in a place where there are many people, a single parcel will change hands five or six times without those present knowing for how much it has been sold on each occasion. As for the weight of the stones, one need not be deceived if he does not buy in secret. For when one buys them in public there is a man specially employed by the King to weigh diamonds, who receives no fees from private persons. When he names the weight, both buyer and seller accept his statement, since he has no interest in favoring either party.

Having completed my business at the mine, the Governor gave me six horsemen, that I might traverse, with greater security, the tract under his authority, which extends up to a river separating the Kingdom of Bijapur from that of Golkanda. The transit of this river is very difficult, because it is wide, deep, and rapid, and there is neither bridge nor boat. In crossing it the same contrivances are used as those of which i have elsewhere spoken for the passage of certain Indian rivers, for men, for their goods, carriages, cattle, and horses. A round vessel of 10 or 12 feet in diameter made of branches of osier, like our hampers, and covered outside with ox hides, serves in place of a boat, and I have described in the same place how the passengers arrange themselves. Good boats or a bridge over this river might be provided, but the Kings of Golkonda and Bijapur do not allow this, because the river serves to separate the two Kingdoms. Every evening the boatmen on both banks are obliged to report to the two sub-governors, who reside on either side, at about a quarter of a league from the river, an exact statement of the people, beasts of burden, and merchandise which have crossed during the day.

Jean-Baptiste Tavernier’s Travels In India (continued)

Globalization Of Golconda

(via Rediff): Sanjaya Baru writes about the history of Golconda + the thriving trade in textiles, rice, iron and steel, tobacco, indigo and diamonds + the European link + other viewpoints @ http://www.rediff.com/money/2007/nov/12spec.htm

The Pointed Star Cut

(via Diamond Cuts in Historic Jewelry:1381-1910) Herbert Tillander writes:

This Point Cut is an important and almost forgotten diamond cut dating from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Its faceting design was eventually transferred to the faceting of pavilions of Brilliant Cuts and small complementary diamonds. The pattern was no doubt originally inspired by a natural crystal with a very similar distribution of faces—the hexoctahedron. But the basically octahedral faces of this crystal are in such low relief that cleaved-off slices had no appeal in their natural state and were usually faceted into a trihedral design instead. The cut can be described as being pavilion-based, with a crown with eight lozenges radiating from an elevated central point, and eight small upper girdle facets between the main facets. The pavilion was sometimes faceted in the same way, though it often had fewer facets.

One of the four-face points of the dodecahedron became the apex of the gem; the crystal’s ‘equator’ became the girdle, and the stone was then symmetrized above and below by applying facets to the four main edges and thus creating eight main facets. Girdle facets were applied as well. If for any reason it proved necessary to reduce the depths of the pavilion, this was usually left with four facets and a culet. One occasionally comes across a Pointed Star Cut with six-part symmetry. These were either developments of the Burgundian Point Cut or had been fashioned directly from dodecahedral rough with one of the three-face apexes facing the viewer.

Conventional representations of celestial bodies were often used as symbols of rank and authority, and this is one reason why important Star Cut diamonds are occasionally found in portraits of kings and queens. But another reason for the popularity of this cut was that, if the gem was fashioned from a perfectly formed dodecahedron, it was possible to retain far greater weight with this style than with a Table Cut. However, Pointed Star Cuts never became really common—the Burgundian Point Cut, made from the same type of rough, remained the fashionable cut along with the Pyramidal Point Cut and the various Table Cuts that still dominate the market.

Crown24K

Nimbus Systems has launched Crown24K, a unique software that could benefit jewelry manufacturing + precious metal, stone, diamond management + jewelry inventory management + jewelry POS + financial accounting, CRM, promotions management + bar coding, RFID support + image linking + human resource management + business reports + MIA + more for the gem and jewelry industry.

Useful link:
www.crown24k.com

Portable UV-Vis Spectrometer

It has been reported that SSEF will be introducing a small but portable UV-Vis spectrometer for pros + the concept could speed up the gem identification process on-site with unique absorption spectra database + standard microscope observations.

Useful link:
www.ssef.ch

Burmese Jade

It has been reported that supplies of top quality Jadeite Jade from Burma is getting scarce + the prices are high due to tense political situation in the country. But for real traders business will be as usual + without regular visits / purchases there won't any business, especially for dealers in Hong Kong. It will be interesting to see what happens at the rough Jadeite Jade auction in Rangoon, in mid-November 2007.

Judy Garland

(via YouTube): Judy Garland 'Get Happy' (Summer Stock, 1950)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2U-rBZREQMw

Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bpuoS-icGY

Mickey Rooney & Judy Garland (1963) - 1 of 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iip7u1LyL0I

Mickey Rooney & Judy Garland (1963) - 2 of 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_M-4Anu450

Judy Garland - Somewhere Over The Rainbow
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10w_sEcHlGs

Real gems from a different generation.

Kona Coffee

Karin Stanton writes about Hawaii's Kona Coffee + new ways of attracting new consumers + the creativity and business angle + other viewpoints @ http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/071111/kona_coffee_japan.html?.v=2

Weakening Art Sales Rattle Sotheby's, Christie's

AFP writes about the sharp downturn in US stock markets + the unpredictable upsides and downsides in the art market + the unsold major works including a Van Gogh + other viewpoints @ http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071110/ts_afp/entertainmentartusauction_071110024929

Exposing The Hidden 'He'

Kim Levin writes about Linda Nochlin + her views on famous artists + successful women artists + other viewpoints @ http://www.artnews.com/anniversary/top6.asp

Wise Buys

Eileen Kinsella writes about great values in the art market + how to invest time, energy, and money in contemporary art + other viewpoints @ http://artnews.com/issues/article.asp?art_id=1165

Jean-Baptiste Tavernier’s Travels In India

Concerning Diamonds, And The Mines And Rivers Where They Are Found; And Especially Of The Author’s Journey To The Mine Of Rammalakota
(via Jean-Baptiste Tavernier’s Travels In India / V Ball / Edited by William Crooke)

It is very pleasant to see the young children of these merchants and of other people of the country, from the age of ten years up to the age of fifteen or sixteen, assemble every morning under a tree which is in the town square. Each as his diamond weights in a little bag suspended on one side, and on the other a purse attached to his waistband, which contains as much as 500 or 600 gold pagodas. They seat themselves there awaiting the arrival of anyone who wishes to sell diamonds, either brought from this or from some other mine. When anyone brings a stone he places it in the hands of the eldest of the children, who is, to speak, the chief of the band; he looks at it and passes it on to him who sits next. Thus it goes from hand to hand till it returns to the first one without anyone saying a word.

He than asks the price of the specimen, wishing to purchase, if possible; and if by chance he buys at too high a price he is responsible. In the evening these children count up what they have purchased, and after examining the stones separate them according to their water, weight, and cleanliness. Next they price each as they see how far the value exceeds the cost of purchase. They then carry them to the great merchants who always have a number of parcels to match, and all the profits is divided among the children, save only that their chief receives a quarter per cent more than the others. Young as they are, they know the value of all the stones so well that if one of them has bought a stone and is willing to lose a half percent, another gives him cash for it. You can seldom show them a parcel of a dozen stones, among which they will not discover four or five with some flaw, point, or defect at the angles.

It remains to be said that these Indians have a high regard for strangers, and especially for those whom they call Franks. Immediately on my arrival at the mine I went to call upon the Governor of the place, who also rules the Province on behalf of the King of Bijapur. He is a Musalman, who embraced me and assured me I was welcome—not doubting that I had brought gold with me—for at all the mines of Golkonda and Bijapur they speak but of new pagodas, which are golden coins—and that I had only to place it in my lodging, where it would be safe, and he would be responsible for all I had. Besides the servants I brought with me he allotted me four others, and commanded them to keep watch of my gold by day and night, and to obey all my orders. Shortly after I had left him he recalled me, and on my return: ‘I sent to seek you,’ he said, ‘in order to assure you again that you have nothing to fear—eat, drink, and sleep, and have a care for your health. I have forgotten to tell you to be careful not to defraud the Kind, to whom 2 percent is due on all your purchases. Do not attempt,’ he continued, ‘to do as some Musalmans did, who came to the mine and combined with the merchants and some brokers to withhold the royalties of the King—saying that they had only purchased to the value of 10000 padogas, while they had invested more than 50000.’ I then commenced to purchase, and saw that there was a sufficiently large profit to be made, all being 20 percent cheaper than at Golkonda, in addition to which, one sometimes, by chance, met with large stones.

One evening in Banian, poorly clothed, having indeed only a band round his waist and a miserable handkerchief on his head, came towards me politely and seated himself by my side. In this country one pays no attention to dress, and a person who has but a miserable ell of calico about his loins may sometimes have a good parcel of diamonds concealed. I, on my part, treated the Banian with civility, and after he had been seated by me for some time he asked me through my interpreter if I wished to buy some rubies. The interpreter told him to show them up to me, upon which he drew a number of small rags from his waistband, in which he had about a score of rings mounted with rubies. After I had examined them I said that they were too small for my purpose and that I sought large stones. Nevertheless, when I remembered that I had been asked by a lady at Ispahan to bring her a ruby ring of the value of about 100 ecus, I bought one of his rings which cost me nearly 400 francs. I knew well that he did not value it at more than 300 francs, but willingly risked the additional 100 francs in the belief that he had not sought me to sell the rubies only, and because I understood from his manner that he desired to be alone with me and my interpreter in order to show me something better. As the time of prayer of the Musalmans approached, three of the servants appointed by the Governor left, and I found an excuse for getting rid of the fourth, who stayed behind to wait on me, by sending him to buy bread, where he remained a sufficiently long time. For all the people of this country being idolaters, content themselves with rice, and do not eat bread, and when a person wishes for it it is necessary to have it brought from a distance, from the fortress of the King of Bijapur, where the Musalmans reside. The Banian, seeing that he was alone with me and the interpreter, with a good deal of mystery, removed his headdress and untwisted his locks, which according to the usual custom, were bound round his head. Then I observed a small rag appearing amidst his hair, in which there was concealed a diamond, weighing 48½ of our carats, of beautiful water and of cabuchon shape, three quarters of the stone clear, save for a small flaw on one side which appeared to penetrate some distance into the stone. The remaining quarter was full of flaws and red spots.

When I examined the stone, the Banian, seeing the attention which I gave to it, ‘Do not trouble yourself now, you will see it tomorrow morning at your leisure when you are alone. When a fourth of the day has passed, it is thus that they speak, you will find me outside the town, and if you wish for the stone you will bring the price of it with you, and he then stated the amount he wanted for it. For it should be stated en passant that after this quarter of the day or town where they dwell, both to satisfy the ordinary necessities of nature and bathing, as well as to say the prayers which their priests require them to repeat. The Banian having named this hour—because he did not wish anyone to see us together—I did not fail to go in search of him, and carried with me the price he asked, less by 200 pagodas, which I kept apart, in reserve. But in the end, after we had bargained for a short time, I gave him 100 pagodas extra. On my return to Surat I sold the stone to a Dutch captain, and I earned a fair profit from the transaction.

Jean-Baptiste Tavernier’s Travels In India (continued)

Woody Allen + Billy Graham

(via YouTube): Woody Allen interviews Billy Graham.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6iAaxOAHCM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Lwx3Wc18Mc

I enjoyed it.

Farewell My Concubine

Farewell My Concubine (1993)
Directed by: Kaige Chen
Screenplay: Lillian Lee (also novel), Bik-Wa Lei, Wei Lu
Cast: Leslie Cheung, Gong Li

(via YouTube): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-d5Aiy50P8

It was brilliant.

Quick Fix

The Economist writes about the phenomenon of Banksy, an English graffiti artist + other viewpoints @ http://www.economist.com/daily/columns/artview/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10122228

The ART News 200: 2002

Milton Esterow writes about the world's top collectors + other viewpoints @ http://artnews.com/issues/article.asp?art_id=1164

The First Word On Pop

Barbara A. MacAdam writes about Pop art + other viewpoints @ http://www.artnews.com/anniversary/top5.asp

The Emerald Story

How does a novice differentiate between the natural and synthetic emeralds?
1. Refractive index (R.I): The refractometer is an instrument which measures the R.I of a gemstone. The R.I of a natural emerald tend to lie between 1.570 – 1.590. However, the R.I of a flux-grown synthetic emerald tend to be slightly lower, 1.563-1.566. This might be the first indication as to the authenticity of the stone, however. Care should be taken as some rare natural emeralds may also have low R.I readings. Hydrothermally grown synthetics will have R.I’s in the same range as natural stones.

2. Specific gravity (S.G): Specific gravity can be estimated using indicator liquids, or precisely using the hydrostatic method. The S.G of natural emerald is usually in the area of 2.7 – 2.8. Flux grown synthetics generally have a low S.G in the area of 2.66. Hydrothermally grown synthetics will have S.G’s in the same range as natural stones.

3. Inclusions under magnification: The nature of certain inclusions can indicate to us that an emerald is real or synthetic.
Natural emerald: Two or three phase inclusions, mineral inclusions such as calcite, pyrite, and mica, etc.
Synthetic emerald: Wispy veils of flux feathers, arrow head zoning, fine ling structural zoning, etc.

4. Chelsea Filter: A simple hand-held instrument, designed originally differentiate between emeralds and other green simulants. When viewed through this filter, a natural emerald appears anywhere from green to light pink, to red, depending on the chromium content in the stone. The more the chromium present, the more red it appears under the filter. On the other hand, many synthetic emeralds appear a striking or (hot coal) red under filter. Today many synthetic emeralds have been deliberately produced with a lower chromium content so this test should be used only with caution.

5. Others: More sophisticated means of identification are available to the lab gemologist, such as infra-red spectroscopy, and energy dispersive x-ray fluorescence. Therefore, if doubt exists, the stone should be submitted to a reputable gem testing laboratory for examination.

Imitations of emerald (natural or man-made)
An imitation of a gemstone is a material (natural or otherwise) that has same general appearance as the gem it imitates, but does not have the same chemical and/or physical properties, i.e. an imitation stone only looks like the gemstone it imitates. Some of the materials that might be mistaken for emerald are the natural gems: green tourmaline and peridot, the altered gems: dyed agate, dyed green quartz, and green glass.

Identification: The properties of these imitations differ markedly from those of natural emerald, e.g. R.Is, S.G’s, and inclusions. It should therefore be relatively easy to differentiate between these and natural emeralds.

Examples of possible imitations of emeralds and their properties

Green tourmaline
R.I = 1.62-1.64
S.G = 3.05
Inclusions = Flat liquid-filled feathers, growth tubes, etc.

Peridot
R.I = 1.65 – 1.69
S.G = 3.34
Inclusions = Lily-pad-like inclusions, etc.

Jadeite (green)
R.I = 1.66
S.G = 3.33
Inclusions = Granular appearance, etc.

Dyed Green Quartz
R.I = 1.544 – 1.553
S.G = 2.65
Inclusions = Concentration of dye in cracks, etc.

Green Glass
R.I = 1.44 – 1.69
S.G = 2 – 4.2
Inclusions = Gas bubbles, swirl structures.

Composite stones
More common imitations of emerald are composite stones or as they are often referred to doublets/triplets. Doublets have the appearance of one whole stone but are an assembly of two pieces of stone using a colored adhesive. Generally, the junctions of the two pieces may be seen in the area of the girdle (however, with garnet-topped doublets this may not be the case). The most common emerald doublets are formed using two pieces of colorless beryl to form the top and bottom, and these are cemented together with a green colored layer in the area of the girdle.

Identification: Composite stones are easily detected upon immersion in a liquid. The green junction is easily visible dividing the top and bottom when the stone is viewed, with a lens or microscope, in profile.

The grading of emerald
As with any other gemstone, the four C’s determine the value of emerald. These are color, clarity, cut and carat weight.

Color: This is the most important determinant of value. An included stone with good color will fetch a higher price than a clean stone with a weak color. Deep, pure green is desirable. Any variation of the green shade can fetch a good price provided there is depth of color.

Clarity: Emeralds are characterized by the fact that they almost invariably contain inclusions. It is very hard to find a flawless emerald with the desired color. The location of the inclusion plays a vital role in the valuation. If a flaw is very prominent on the crown of the stone, it could bring down the price. But if the same flaw were present in a more subtle position, the ultimate value would not be affected.

Cut: The depth of color and apparent clarity of a gemstone is to a certain extent the function of its cut. A well cut stone could improve the depth of color and mask certain flaws, thereby upgrading the stone. The emerald cut is ideal for emeralds for a given quality. Depending upon the number of inclusions and color, other cuts are employed, e.g. cabochons, beads, rounds, hearts, fancy cuts, etc.

Carat weight: The value of a gemstone is calculated by multiplying price/carat into total carat weight. Hence, the more the weight, the higher the potential return. Size also affects the price per carat. This is because it is very rare these days to find a large-sized emerald of an acceptable quality. Given two stones of the same quality, the one significantly larger will fetch a higher market price per carat. If two stones are of the same size and quality and thus form a pair the price per carat of the pair jumps up.

How the market operates
There is no centrally operated and controlled market for emeralds, as one has for diamonds. The mining process is largely carried out by private companies in most countries, and a few mines are run by governments. The rough stones procured are cleaned and sorted into parcels by the mine owners. The main mines are in Colombia and Brazil. Buyers come from all over the world to bid for and buy these rough parcels. These are then taken to the cutting and wholesale centers in New York, India, Israel, Germany, Hong Kong among others. Wholesale and retail buyers from all over the world come to these centers to buy faceted emeralds. These are subsequently set in jewelry and sold to the ultimate consumers.

Ice Road Truckers

Here is an interesting website on Ice Road Truckers @ Ice Road Truckers + History Channel: link. Ice road trucking is considered one of the dangerous jobs + the vital supplies they carry to diamond mines over frozen lakes that double as roads is an unparalleled adventure.

Useful link:
http://www.history.com/minisites/iceroadtruckers

Jean-Baptiste Tavernier’s Travels In India

Concerning Diamonds, And The Mines And Rivers Where They Are Found; And Especially Of The Author’s Journey To The Mine Of Rammalakota
(via Jean-Baptiste Tavernier’s Travels In India / V Ball / Edited by William Crooke)

I have known them to weight a stone with 150 livres of lead. It is true that it was a large stone, which weighed 130 carats after it had been cut, and that the mill was like ours, the large wheel of which was turned by four blacks. The Indians do not agree with us in believing that weighting them causes flaws in the stones. If theirs do not receive any it is because they always have a small boy who holds in his hand a very thin wooden spoon, with which he anoints the wheel incessantly with oil and diamond powder. Besides this their wheel does not go fast as ours, because the wooden wheel which causes the steel one to revolve is seldom more than 3 feet in diameter.

The Indians are unable to give the stones such a lively polish as we give in Europe; this, I believe, is due to the fact that their wheels do not run so smoothly as ours. For, being made of steel, in order to grind it on the emery, of which it has need every twenty-four hours, it has to be taken off the tree, and it cannot be replaced so as to run as evenly as it should do. If they possessed the iron wheel like ours, for which not emery but the file is required, it it not necessary to remove it from the tree in order to file it, and they could give the stones a better polish than they do. I have stated that it is necessary to rub the wheel with emery or to file it every twenty-four hours, and it is desirable that this should be done every twelve hours if the workman is not lazy. For when the stone has run a certain time, the part of the wheel where it has pressed becomes polished like a mirror, and if the place be not roughened by emery or the file, the powder does not stick to it. When it does adhere more work can be done in one hour than in two when there is none on the wheel.

Although a particular diamond may be by nature hard, having, so to speak, a kind of knot, such as is seen in wood, the Indian diamond-cutters would not hesitate to cut such a stone, although our diamond cutters in Europe would experience great difficulty in doing so, and as a general rule would be unwilling to undertake it; but the Indians are paid something extra for their trouble.

I come to the government at the mines. Business is conducted with freedom and fidelity. Two percent, on all purchases is paid to the King, who receives also a royalty from the merchants for permission to mine. These merchants having prospected with the aid of the miners, who know the spots where the diamonds are to be found, take an area of about 200 paces in circumference, where they employ fifty miners, and sometimes a hundred if they wish the work to proceed rapidly. From the day they commence mining till they finish the merchants pay a duty of 2 pagodas per diem for fifty men, and 4 pagodas when they employ a hundred men.

These poor people only earn 3 pagodas per annum, although they must be men who thoroughly understand their work. As their wages are so small they do not show any scruple, when searching the sand, in concealing a stone for themselves when they can, and being naked, save for a small cloth which covers their private parts, they adroitly contrive to swallow it. The chief of all the merchants who embark in mining one day pointed out to me one of these miners, who had worked for him for many years, and who had stolen a stone from him which weighed a mangelin, i.e. nearly two of our carats. He had concealed it in the corner of his eye, but it was taken from him as soon as the theft was discovered. In order to prevent these knavish tricks there are always twelve to fifteen watchmen employed by the merchants to see that they are not defrauded. If by chance a stone is found which weighs above 7 to 8 mangelins, it is taken to the master of the mine, who by way of recompense gives a sarpo, which is a piece of cotton cloth to make a turban, of the value of 25 to 30 sols, and generally with it half a pagoda in silver, or else a pagoda, when rice and a plate of sugar are not given.

The merchants who visit the mine to buy, remain in their dwellings, and every morning at from 10 to 11 o’clock the masters of the miners, after they have dined (for the Banians never leave their houses till they have washed and eaten), take their diamonds to show to them. If the parcels are large, and contain many stones of the value of from 2000 up to 15000 or 16000 ecus, they entrust them to the foreign merchant for seven or eight days or more in order that he may examine them with care. When the stones have been examined, and are returned by the merchant, if they suit him he should conclude the transactions at once, otherwise the owner of the stones wraps them in a corner of his waistband, his turban, or his shirt, and departs, so that one never sees the same stones again, or at least they are mixed with others, when the miner returns with another parcel. When the transaction is concluded the purchaser gives an order for payment on the Shroff or person who issues and receives bills of exchange. If you have agreed to pay in three or four days, and delay longer, you have to pay interest at the rate of 1½ percent per month. Most frequently, when the merchant is known to be solvent, a bill of exchange on Agra, Golkonda, or Bijapur is preferred, but more especially one upon Surat, where, as it is the most famous port in India, the dealers desire to purchase the commodities which come in vessels from foreign countries, and are suitable for their wants.

Jean-Baptiste Tavernier’s Travels In India (continued)

Singin' In The Rain

Singin' in the Rain (1952)
Directed By: Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly
Screenplay: Betty Comden, Adolph Green
Cast: Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor, Debbie Reynolds

(via YouTube) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkEvy-9yVyQ

A real gem. All-time favorite musical.

Nuristan

(via Wikipedia): Nuristan (also spelled Nooristan, Nurestan, or Noorestan) is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. It was formed in 2001 from the northern parts of Laghman Province and Kunar Province. The ethnic Nuristanis make up the majority of the population of this province. Located on the southern slopes of the Hindu Kush mountains in the northeastern part of the country, Nuristan spans the basins of the Alingâr, Pech, Landai Sin, and Kunar rivers. Its capital is Nuristan. It is bordered on the north by Badakhshan Province, on the west by Panjshir Province, on the south by Laghman and Kunar provinces, and on the east by Pakistan + the region is well-known for its unique colored gemstone deposits.

Useful links:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nurestan_Province
www.gems-afghan.com

MoMA Makes Its Move

Barbara Pollack writes about moving an entire museum + real-estate issues + other viewpoints @ http://artnews.com/issues/article.asp?art_id=1136

A Modernist Manifesto

Ann Landi writes about Meyer Schapiro (1904–96) + his concepts + the liberating quality of avant-garde art + other viewpoints @ http://www.artnews.com/anniversary/top4.asp

The Emerald Story

Emerald Simulants (synthetics and imitations)

Synthetic emeralds: Synthetic emeralds are man-made emeralds which have the same physical, chemical and optical properties of a natural emerald. Man has very skillfully duplicated this natural green stone so that it is sometimes extremely difficult to tell the difference. However, with the aid of magnification and other tests, a synthetic readily reveals its true identity. Synthetic emeralds have been in the market for several decades, but it’s only now, due to sophisticated mass production techniques that they have become more prevalent and a cause for concern. In the past synthetics were deceptively passed off as natural emeralds by dealers, but today they are now being successfully marketed as synthetics or lab-created by such companies as the San Francisco-based Chatham Inc, Russian-based Tairus, and others.

The techniques employed for the production of synthetic emeralds are:
- Flux growth
- Hydrothermal growth

Flux method: A flux is a chemical compound which when melted has the ability to assist another substance to melt at a temperature lower than would be normal for that material. The chemical components of emerald may be dissolved with an appropriate flux while being held within a platinum-lined crucible. Upon cooling, crystals of synthetic emerald are formed. Chatham employs the flux method for the production of his synthetic emeralds.

Typical inclusions:
- Solid masses of residual flux which appear cloudy.
- Wispy veils—look like thin veils blowing in breeze. Resemble natural liquid fingerprints, but may be more dense.
- Venetian-blind—refers to the appearance of very fine straight line growth zoning which takes on the appearance of venetian blinds.

Hydrothermal process: Of all the synthetic gem growth techniques, this process mimics most closely the process of nature for the creation of emeralds. As the name indicates, it involves water, heat and pressure. Nutrient material (chemical compound for emerald) is placed in an autoclave or ‘bomb’ along with a number of seed crystals located towards to upper (eventually cooler) part of the vessel. Heated water under high pressure dissolves the nutrient and through convection, the chemical needed to grow emerald are deposited on the seed crystal. These crystals now continue to grow so long as the conditions for growth remain and there is a supply of the nutrient.

Typical inclusions:
- Liquid feather with the appearance of fingerprints.
- Distinct fine line zoning.
- Arrow head zoning.
- Nail-head-like phenakite inclusions.

Emerald Story (continued)

Jean-Baptiste Tavernier’s Travels In India

Concerning Diamonds, And The Mines And Rivers Where They Are Found; And Especially Of The Author’s Journey To The Mine Of Rammalakota
(via Jean-Baptiste Tavernier’s Travels In India / V Ball / Edited by William Crooke)

The diamond is the most precious of all stones, and it is the article of trade to which I am most devoted. In order to acquire a thorough knowledge of it I resolved to visit all the mines, and one of the two rivers where diamonds were found; and as the fear of dangers has never restrained me in any of my journeys, the terrible picture that was drawn of these mines, situated in barbarous countries to which one could not travel except by the most dangerous routes, served neither to terrify me nor to turn me from my intention. I have accordingly been at four mines, of which I am about to give descriptions, and at one of the two rivers whence diamonds are obtained, and I have encountered there neither the difficulties nor the barbarities with which those imperfectly acquainted with the country had sought to terrify me. Thus I am able to claim that I have cleared the way for the others, and that I am the first European who has opened the route for the Franks to these mines, which are the only places in the world where the diamond is found.

The first of the mines which I visited is situated in the territory of the King of Bijapur in the Province of Carnatic, and the locality if called Rammalakota, situated five days journey from Golkonda, and eight or nine from Bijapur. The fact that the two Kings of Golkonda and Bijapur were formerly subject to the Mogul, and were then only Governors of the Provinces which they acquired by their revolt, caused it to be said, and to be still said by some people, that the diamonds come from the Empire of the Great Mogul. It is only about 200 years since this mine of Rammalakota was discovered, at least so far as I have been able to ascertain from the people of the country.

All round the place where the diamonds are found the soil is sandy, and full of rocks and jungle, somewhat comparable to the neighborhood of Fontainebleau. There are in these rocks many veins, some of half a finger and some of a whole finger in width; and the miners have small irons, crooked at the ends, which they thrust into the veins to drawn from them the sand or earth, which they place in vessels; it is in this earth that they afterwards find the diamonds. But as the veins do not always run straight, as some ascend, while others descend, they are obliged to break the rocks, always following the direction of the veins. After they have opened them out, and have removed the earth or sand which may be in them, they then commence to wash it two or three times, and search it for whatever diamonds it may contain. It is in this mine that the cleanest and whitest-watered diamonds are found; but the evil is that in order to extract the sand more easily from the rocks the miners strike such blows with a heavy iron crowbar that it fractures the diamonds, and gives rise to flaws. This is the reason why so many thin stones come from this mine, for when the miners see a stone in which there is a flaw of some size, they immediately cleave it, that is to say split it, at which they are much more accomplished than we are. These are the stones which we call thin (foible), which make a great show. If the stone is clean they do not do more than just touch it with the wheel above and below, and do not venture to give it any form, for fear of reducing the weight. But if it has a small flaw, or any spots, or small black or red grit, they cover the whole of the stone with facettes in order that its defects may not be seen, and if it has a very small flaw they conceal it by the edge of one of the facettes. But it should be remarked that the merchant prefers a black point in a stone to a red one. When there is a red one the stone is roasted, and the point becomes black. I learned this trick at length so well that when I examined a parcel of stones which came from this mine, and saw that there were facettes on any of them, especially small facettes, I was certain that there was some speck of flaw in the stone.

There are at this mine numerous diamond cutters, and each has only a steel wheel of about the size of our plates. They place but one stone on each wheel, and pour water incessantly on the wheel until they have found the ‘grain’ of the stone. The ‘grain’ being found, they pour on oil and do not spare diamond dust, although it is expensive, in order to make the stone run faster, and they weight it much more heavily than we do.

Jean-Baptiste Tavernier’s Travels In India (continued)

Spain Shown Perils Of Climate Change

(via The Guardian) The images from the book 'Photoclima' via Greenpeace is quite shocking. What will be the fate of cities like Dubai, Singapore, and other coastal cities in the coming decades? Frightening and nowhere to run!

Useful link:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/nov/10/flooding.climatechange

Madagascar

(via Wikipedia) Madagascar, or Republic of Madagascar (older name Malagasy Republic), is an island nation in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa. The main island, also called Madagascar, is the fourth largest island in the world, and is home to five percent of the world's plant and animal species; more than 80 percent of which are endemic to Madagascar. Most notable are the lemur infraorder of primates, the carnivorous fossa, three endemic bird families and six endemic baobab species + the entire country is rich in colored gemstones.

Useful links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madagascar
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/worldguide/destinations/africa/madagascar

Enrico Caruso

Enrico Caruso was an Italian opera singer + one of the most famous tenors in history. I enjoy the music + listening to Caruso's songs + his extraordinary voice + the natural tone is inspirational and therapeutic. He was a superstar of his time but the music still lives on.

Enrico Caruso songs:
La donna è mobile
Ave Maria
Vesti La Giubba
No Pagliaccio non son
La Partida
O Sole Mio
Santa Lucia

(via Henry Rosner) Hear Enrico Caruso sing Vesti la giubba from "I Pagliacci, Act 1" 17 March 1907 (in mp3 format)

More information about Enrico Caruso's recordings @ Enrico Caruso recordings.

The Emerald Story

The main cuts employed for emeralds

Step/Emerald cut: This is the most important and popular cut employed for emeralds. All facets are cut in squares or rectangles which are arranged in steps, giving an elongated octagonal outline. The best quality emeralds are almost universally fashioned in this way for these reasons:
- It shows the saturated deep velvety-green of emerald to the best advantage. Since color is the most important determinant of value in emeralds, a stone with a good depth of color fetches a higher market price than one that does not.
- The step cut minimizes loss of mass during cutting and polishing. This means more carat weight retention of the stone and hence value (value = price/carat x carat weight).

Mixed cut: The crown of the stone is brilliant cut, while the pavilion is step cut. It is not very popular since it gives the stone a pale glassy look, which is not desirable.

Cabochon & beads: Stones which are turbid and heavily included and are of good color are commonly cut as cabochons and beads. A cabochon may have a flat base and a dome-shaped upper portion. Emeralds cut in this manner are usually sub-transparent to opaque, and can range from light to very dark green. Emeralds of low to medium quality are thus fashioned. Emerald beads and cabochons are becoming increasingly popular since they are a beautiful yet inexpensive form of natural emeralds.

Fancy cuts and carvings: Heavily included emeralds with good color but limited transparency are an excellent base for carving. Carved emeralds are fashioned into pendants, belt-buckles, and show pieces in a variety of exotic jewelry.

The cut of a stone is crucial to its color and beauty, and has great influence on its ultimate value.

Common treatments applied to emeralds
Mining, cutting, faceting, and polishing procedures are accepted and considered, as the normal processing of gemstones. However, in his endeavor to enhance value, man has subjected his gems to further treatments. Some of the treatments are necessary and are now accepted as normal processing for a gemstone, while others are subject to disclosure.

The common treatments for emeralds are oiling, staining/dyeing and resin impregnation.

Oiling: Perhaps the most universal treatment for emeralds, practised by emerald dealers all over the world. This treatment is more of a finishing touch applied to emeralds of good color but with visible internal fissures. Oiling enhances surface shine and luster, and reduces the visibility of fissures in the stone, thereby adding to its saleability.

Oils used: Cedarwood oil, Canada Balsam, mineral oil.

Method: The method of oiling varies from dealer to dealer, with much being kept secret for obvious reasons. But basically, it involves these steps: (a) Emeralds are first cleaned thoroughly using a mild acid (b) They are then soaked in warm clear oil (Cedar oil is popular) and subjected to appropriate heat and sometimes pressure or vacuum.

Effect: The oil permeates into the fissures and fills them, reducing their visibility. Modern oiling machines offer an easily and effective treatment method for emeralds.

Durability of treatment: The oil comes out of the fissures when subjected to heat, ultrasonic cleansing, immersion in soapy water or acids, alcohol or other solvents. Otherwise, for normal wear and tear, it remains stable for a reasonable period of time. Stones can be re-oiled if necessary.

The practice of oiling is so prevalent that it is hard to curb. It is regarded as standard practice. But since the effect is not 100% permanent, trade organizations and gem testing laboratories encourages disclosure of the treatment to customers upon purchase.

Detection of oiling under the microscope: Traces of oil may be seen in fissures when the stone is viewed under the microscope. Typical signs of oiling are:
- Low relief of fissures that would otherwise appear white. Some fissures tend to appear shiny (fluid-like) when viewed at certain angles.
- Flattened gas bubbles trapped in the filling media (oil)
- Some oils fluoresce (emit light) when subjected to ultra-violet (UV) radiation. For e.g. Canada Balsam shows a weak greenish yellow light under UV.

Staining/dyeing: Yet another age-old technique to enhance the appearance of a gem that is commonly applied to emeralds. Whereas the main motive for oiling an emerald is to conceal fissures, the main aim of dyeing an emerald is to give a false appearance of color in otherwise pale-colored emeralds. The dyeing of colorless beryl to simulate the appearance of emerald is also carried out. Staining or dyeing may be either a surface only treatment or it may penetrate fissures.

Dyes used: Natural organic dyes, synthetic dyes (e.g. aniline) compounds of metallic salts.

Method: (a) The stone is thoroughly cleaned. (b) The stone is soaked in oil containing the green dye at an appropriate temperature for a few hours.

Effect: The green oil permeates into the stone increasing depth of color, and reducing the visibility of internal fissures.

Durability of treatment: Natural organic dyes are least stable and some deteriorate easily. Synthetic dyes tend to last longer. Certain dyes don’t come out of the fissures even if the oil wears off when subject to heat or alcohol.

Status of treatment: Since dyeing significantly alters the appearance of emeralds and possibly other beryls and is not permanent, this treatment should be disclosed to customers upon purchase.

Detection of treatment: One can always detect the presence of dye under magnification. Indications are: (a) Color concentration in fissures and chips, (b) Slightly colored outlining of fissures, (c) Uneven color distribution, (d) Some colored oils fluoresce under UV radiation.

Resin impregnation of fissures (Opticon treatment): A relatively recent development in the treatment of emeralds. It involves impregnating fissures with a synthetic resin marketed as Opticon. Opticon, as a resin, is more durable than oil, making the treatment more permanent. It is a two part product consisting of the resin itself plus a separate hardener (an additional fluid which when added to the resin causes it to become hard). A vacuum is usually used to assist the flow of the resin into the fissures in emerald. Sometimes the treater will then add the hardener and sometimes not.

Detection of the treatment: Many resins, including Opticon can be detected by the observation of blue and yellow/orange color flashes coming from the region of treated fissures. Positive identification can come from Raman spectroscopy available only in the best equipped gem labs.

Status of treatment: If no hardener is applied, whilst this resin treatment might be a little more stable than oiling it is still not permanent. If a hardener is applied this may cause fissures to expand under warm conditions, or when being repolished, which may result in severe damage-occurring. Hence, disclosure of treatment is required.

Emerald Story (continued)

Memories Of Spain

(via The Guardian) James Fenton writes about the Hispanic Society of America, on West 155th Street in Manhattan (USA) + Archer Milton Huntington + his passion + other viewpoints @ http://arts.guardian.co.uk/art/visualart/story/0,,2204239,00.html

The Real Thing?

Ann Landi writes about contemporary realism + handful of mature artists pursuing realist idiom of one stripe or another + the impact + other viewpoints @ http://artnews.com/issues/article.asp?art_id=1150

The Burgundian Point Cut

(via Diamond Cuts in Historic Jewelry:1381-1910) Herbert Tillander writes:

A Refined Dodecahedron
In the days when superstition prevailed, a cutter could evade the strict rules which controlled the shapes of fashioned diamonds if he had a particularly well developed dodecahedron at his disposal. The four rhombic faces of such a crystal, chosen to face the viewer, could be smoothed and polished at a minimal angle of inclination, thus preserving the shape of a natural crystal.

Crystals fashioned in this way, side by side with Pyramidal Points and Table Cuts, were entirely acceptable and considered ideal as talismans. The Court Goblet of the Duchy of Burgundy in the Vienna Hofburg, with its numerous early and mid-fifteenth century diamonds, is our foremost source of information on cuts of the period. It also indicates that fashioning had been fully mastered by then.

The majority of the larger diamonds display brilliance in the modern sense of the term. This means that by the early fifteenth century cutters had discovered the property inherent in diamonds of reflecting the rays of light from pavilion facets set at correct angles of inclination. Fortunately for posterity, princes of refined taste appreciated these sparkling qualities of diamonds, although at the time fashion still demanded pyramidal shapes and Table Cuts, disapproving of brilliance.

The Burgundian is also exceptional in that it became a prototype which could, simply by means of additional faceting, be transformed into a number of other patterns: the Pointed Star, the Taille en Seize, and finally the Baroque type of Brilliant cut. It was also economical, since it could be fashioned on the wheel alone, and therefore with comparatively little loss of weight.

At first, the pavilion did not differ very much from the crown, but when strictly crystal-like shapes were no longer challenged, the cutters were free to fashion the pavilions differently—depending, of course, on the symmetry of the crystal and the presence of disturbing inclusions in the lower part of the gem.

As a rule, natural dodecahedrons have distinctly rounded faces and sharp, curved edges. Symmetrization of these faces presented no problems to the cutters. The corners were frequently left blunt and were partly hidden by the setting, so that regular crystals could be made to appear almost perfectly round or oval or lozenge-shaped. They were about 25 per cent lower than Pyramidal Point Cuts, but looked lower still because of their semi-spherical appearance. In addition to an amazing amount of brilliance, many of the fashioned gems also displayed fire. Easily identified in contemporary inventories, they are frequently described as having four main lozenge-shaped facets in the center, surrounded by eight semi-lozenges—i.e. Lozenges split into two triangles. In many cases they are described simply as faceted diamonds with an adjective indicating the outline.

As the fashion for Table Cuts (both traditional and more exotically faceted) grew, the apexes of many Burgundian Cuts were ground down. Later, most of the remaining stones of this type were re-cut, the larger sizes into Baroque Brilliants and some smaller ones into matching complementary Double Cuts. This explains why so few Burgundian Point Cuts have survived in their original form.

Fortunately, there are two on the Burgundian Court Goblet. The larger gem, which is about 8.7 mm in diameter, is in a separate setting. In 1621 it was described as ‘Ain Diamant spitzig sternweiss geschnitten (a pointed diamond cut like a star)’. The smaller gem, about 5 x 3 mm in size, forms part of a fleur-de-lis.

An illustration by an artist from Basel, drawn in about 1500, shows a Burgandian Cut on another famous jewel belonging to Charles the Bold, the Feather, thought to have been made in the 1460s. The stone, which must have been about 12.5 mm in diameter, with a weight of about 6 ct, can be seen very clearly in the sales document drawn up between the City of Basel and Fugger’s, and was described as ‘ein demant mit faceten, gutt wasser, nit rein, vol swartzer bunten’.

There is one other illustration of a jewel covered with diamonds of this type. This is a sketch drawn, according to Erna von Watzdorf, by G.C Dinglinger, the less talented brother of the famous Johann Melchior Dinglinger. The drawing is said to date from as late as 1719, when this type of cut was already out of fashion.

An Engagement And Wedding Web Site For Men

Groomgroove.com, an engagement and wedding web site for men is an interesting concept + the calculator allows the groom to enter his gross salary + calculate what he should spend on a diamond engagement ring + provides information for the groom-to-be on how to buy an engagement ring + other infos.

A brilliant idea.

The Definition Of A Gem Mine

The owner of a gem mine in Southeast Asia told me the definition of a gem mine: 'It's a hole in the ground with a bunch of liars standing around the hole looking down into it.'

De Beers Must Enforce Its Best Practice Principles – Or Irreparably Damage Its Brand Equity

Chaim Even-Zohar writes about De Beers management’s Best Practice Principles + reputational issues + sightholder concerns + other viewpoints @ http://www.idexonline.com/portal_FullEditorial.asp

The Golf Doctor

(via Dailyspeculations) Alan Millhone writes:

There are some things in life that you can't think about while you do them, and golf is one. Golf isn't played the way it's learned. It's learned by conscious competence on the driving range and played by unconscious competence on the golf course.

There was never a champion who just wandered up to the ball and hit it. So approach the ball as if you mean it. The average player plays with no commitment to the shot. The good player plays with partial commitment to the shot, but the champion plays with total commitment to the shot.

Relax! The time you have to swing the club is not a second and a half but 30 to 45 seconds. It runs from the beginning of your shot routine until the ball is in the air.

The late and great checker world champion Tommie Wiswell admonished, "Move in haste, repent in leisure". With golf, chess, checkers, tennis, stock trading (I think I should add diamond and colored stone trading), take your time. Survey the situation. Do your homework. Keep a manuscript full of your notes on whatever you are doing.

"Knowledge is power" in anything!

I think it was brilliant. A real gem. I enjoyed it.