In my view Chanel Mobile Art is irresistible + the exhibition in Hong Kong, the first stop of a two-year world tour, opened February 27, 2008 and runs until April 5, 2008 and showcases the works of 20 international contemporary artists.
A unique alchemy of luxury brands + artists!
Useful links:
www.chanel-mobileart.com
www.zahahadidblog.com
Thursday, March 27, 2008
The Writing On The Wall
The Writing on the Wall: China and the West in the 21st Century by Will Hutton is an interesting and informative book + I think he was spot on with his analysis of the world + economics of the 21st century will belong to China.
The Regent
(via Diamond Cuts in Historic Jewelry:1381-1910) Herbert Tillander writes:
The main facets of both the crown and the pavilion of the magnificent Regent Diamond (now in the Galerie d’Apollon, Musée du Louvre, Paris) are similar in width and shape to those of the Wittelsbach. However, the Regent has fourfold symmetry which is reflected in its culet facets as well as in the split star facets. Both types of facet appear to have been applied in pairs. The Regent, fashioned in London between 1704 and 1706 by a master cutter named Harris, eventually became one of the French Crown Jewels. Because of its excellent proportions and exceptional symmetry, it was regarded for centuries as unrivalled in every respect. Incredible as it may seem, by the application of a deliberately wavy girdle the ingenious cutter produced almost identical angles of inclination of the main facets all round the gem. This obviously resulted in uniform brilliance—virtually unheard of in cushion-shaped diamonds.
The main facets of both the crown and the pavilion of the magnificent Regent Diamond (now in the Galerie d’Apollon, Musée du Louvre, Paris) are similar in width and shape to those of the Wittelsbach. However, the Regent has fourfold symmetry which is reflected in its culet facets as well as in the split star facets. Both types of facet appear to have been applied in pairs. The Regent, fashioned in London between 1704 and 1706 by a master cutter named Harris, eventually became one of the French Crown Jewels. Because of its excellent proportions and exceptional symmetry, it was regarded for centuries as unrivalled in every respect. Incredible as it may seem, by the application of a deliberately wavy girdle the ingenious cutter produced almost identical angles of inclination of the main facets all round the gem. This obviously resulted in uniform brilliance—virtually unheard of in cushion-shaped diamonds.
The Modern Dutch School
(via The Outline of Art) William Orpen writes:
3
Of the landscape painters of modern Holland, the nearest to Corot—nearest in the delicacy of his coloring and in the lyrical note that rings out clearly in all his work—is Anton Mauve (1838-88). The son of a Baptist minister, Mauve was born at Naandam and brought up in a strict Protestant home, where art was not encouraged. It was much against the will of his parents that he eventually took up art, and he made little progress under his first master, Van Os, a dry academic painter whose stiff style had little attraction for his sensitive, rather dreamy pupil. The earliest paintings of Mauve were tightly drawn and highly finished, but later, after he had made the acquaintance of Israels, Willem Maris, and other artists in Amsterdam, he completely changed his style, his handling became looser and broader, and he restricted his palette to delicate greys, greens, light fawns, and pale blues. When he was thirty he exhibited at the Free Society in Brussels, and he was influenced by the French artists who exhibited there, particularly by Corot and by Daubigny, whose works he saw in the house of Mr Mesdag and other places in Holland. Mauve soon began to excel in landscape, rendering the soft hazy atmosphere that lingers over the meadows of Holland with infinite tenderness and poetic truth. The sand dunes near Scheveningen were for many years his favorite sketching-ground, and it was there that he painted one of the most popular of his pictures, ‘The Sand Cart’. It is a painting that captivates us at once by its winning simplicity, its entire truth, and the atmosphere of repose which it exhales; and this reposefulness is a general characteristic of the art of Mauve, though his subjects are usually taken from workday life. We do not think of him primarily as an animal-painter, though his love of animals is made clear by the frequency with which he introduces them into his pictures. But Mauve’s animals never seem to have been painted solely for their own sake; they are part and parcel of the landscape, in which they take a natural place, fulfilling their allotted function as aids to human activity. Each of Mauve’s landscapes has the animals appropriate to it. He painted horses—for many years his ‘Watering Horses,’ belonging to Mr J C J Drucker, was lent to the National Gallery—but he also painted donkeys on the seashore, cows in meadows and on the road, sheep at pasture and in their pens. The fine collection of Mauve’s work in the Mesdag Museum atThe Hague contains examples of all these subjects. Towards the end of his life Mauve painted sheep more frequently than any other animals, the reason being that after living at Amsterdam and The Hague he settled at Laren, which is in the heart of the sheep country to the north-east of Amsterdam. Mauve took all rural and seashore life for his province: he painted fishermen and fishwives at a fish auction on the beach, he painted groups of peasants gathered together at a timber sale, drawing the various types of faces with great insight and humor, but in all his pictures life is pleasant and work proceeds placidly in an atmosphere of peace and contentment.
The Modern Dutch School (continued)
3
Of the landscape painters of modern Holland, the nearest to Corot—nearest in the delicacy of his coloring and in the lyrical note that rings out clearly in all his work—is Anton Mauve (1838-88). The son of a Baptist minister, Mauve was born at Naandam and brought up in a strict Protestant home, where art was not encouraged. It was much against the will of his parents that he eventually took up art, and he made little progress under his first master, Van Os, a dry academic painter whose stiff style had little attraction for his sensitive, rather dreamy pupil. The earliest paintings of Mauve were tightly drawn and highly finished, but later, after he had made the acquaintance of Israels, Willem Maris, and other artists in Amsterdam, he completely changed his style, his handling became looser and broader, and he restricted his palette to delicate greys, greens, light fawns, and pale blues. When he was thirty he exhibited at the Free Society in Brussels, and he was influenced by the French artists who exhibited there, particularly by Corot and by Daubigny, whose works he saw in the house of Mr Mesdag and other places in Holland. Mauve soon began to excel in landscape, rendering the soft hazy atmosphere that lingers over the meadows of Holland with infinite tenderness and poetic truth. The sand dunes near Scheveningen were for many years his favorite sketching-ground, and it was there that he painted one of the most popular of his pictures, ‘The Sand Cart’. It is a painting that captivates us at once by its winning simplicity, its entire truth, and the atmosphere of repose which it exhales; and this reposefulness is a general characteristic of the art of Mauve, though his subjects are usually taken from workday life. We do not think of him primarily as an animal-painter, though his love of animals is made clear by the frequency with which he introduces them into his pictures. But Mauve’s animals never seem to have been painted solely for their own sake; they are part and parcel of the landscape, in which they take a natural place, fulfilling their allotted function as aids to human activity. Each of Mauve’s landscapes has the animals appropriate to it. He painted horses—for many years his ‘Watering Horses,’ belonging to Mr J C J Drucker, was lent to the National Gallery—but he also painted donkeys on the seashore, cows in meadows and on the road, sheep at pasture and in their pens. The fine collection of Mauve’s work in the Mesdag Museum atThe Hague contains examples of all these subjects. Towards the end of his life Mauve painted sheep more frequently than any other animals, the reason being that after living at Amsterdam and The Hague he settled at Laren, which is in the heart of the sheep country to the north-east of Amsterdam. Mauve took all rural and seashore life for his province: he painted fishermen and fishwives at a fish auction on the beach, he painted groups of peasants gathered together at a timber sale, drawing the various types of faces with great insight and humor, but in all his pictures life is pleasant and work proceeds placidly in an atmosphere of peace and contentment.
The Modern Dutch School (continued)
Starting A Gem Collection
Many collectors of gemstones like to keep their specimens uncut (in the rough), while others cut and polish to bring out their color, character and beauty + one way to collect is to specialize in a particular family of gem species first, and the add more species and varieties gradually + beginners also will find that more experienced collectors are always ready with advice and assistance on the field + what's amazing is many now-popular gemstones were passed over by early prospectors as being of no commercial value.
Business Blogs
(via Fortune) I found these business blogs interesting + educational.
- Paul Kedrosky
http://paul.kedrosky.com
- Michelle Leder
www.footnoted.org
- Matt Marshall
http://venturebeat.com
- Paul Jackson
www.housingwire.com
- Business Tabloid
http://dealbreaker.com
- Paul Kedrosky
http://paul.kedrosky.com
- Michelle Leder
www.footnoted.org
- Matt Marshall
http://venturebeat.com
- Paul Jackson
www.housingwire.com
- Business Tabloid
http://dealbreaker.com
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
The Statens Museum, Copenhagen
(via budgettravel) The Statens Museum for Kunst is the best source for free art in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Useful link:
www.smk.dk
Useful link:
www.smk.dk
Borghese Gallery
(via Wikipedia) The Borghese Gallery (Italian: Galleria Borghese) in Rome is an art gallery housed in the former Villa Borghese Pinciana, a building that was from the first integral with its gardens, nowadays considered quite separately by tourists as the Villa Borghese gardens. The Galleria Borghese houses a substantial part of the Borghese collection of paintings, sculpture and antiquities, which was begun by Cardinal Scipione Borghese, the nephew of Pope Paul V (reign 1605–1621). The Villa was built by the architect Flaminio Ponzio, developing sketches by Scipione Borghese himself, who used it as a villa suburbana, a party villa at the edge of Rome.
Scipione Borghese was an early patron of Bernini and an avid collector of works by Caravaggio, who is well represented in the collection by his Boy with a Basket of Fruit, St. Jerome, Sick Bacchus and others. Other paintings of note include Titian's Sacred and Profane Love, Raphael's depiction of the Entombment of Christ and works by Peter Paul Rubens and Federico Barocci.
Useful link:
www.galleriaborghese.it
Scipione Borghese was an early patron of Bernini and an avid collector of works by Caravaggio, who is well represented in the collection by his Boy with a Basket of Fruit, St. Jerome, Sick Bacchus and others. Other paintings of note include Titian's Sacred and Profane Love, Raphael's depiction of the Entombment of Christ and works by Peter Paul Rubens and Federico Barocci.
Useful link:
www.galleriaborghese.it
Siberian Ivory Trade
The Russian exports of mammoth ivory is up--thanks to global warming: The article Trade in mammoth ivory @ http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/03/25/europe/mammoth.php was educational + interesting + I think there will be always demand for ivory in Asia, for personal uses despite the international ban on ivory trade.
How To Be Human
The book How to be Human by Deirdre Nansen McCloskey is thought-provoking + a great read.
Useful link:
http://deirdremccloskey.org
Useful link:
http://deirdremccloskey.org
The Wittelsbach
(via Diamond Cuts in Historic Jewelry:1381-1910) Herbert Tillander writes:
The magnificent 36.56 ct Wittelsbach diamond, whose color has been compared to that of a deep blue aquamarine, was first recorded in 1664 as part of the dowry of the Spanish Infanta, Margareta Teresa, who in 1667 married the Emperor Leopold. In this way the gem came to Vienna. It was part of ‘a new aquisition of precious stones from India and Portugal’ and was possibly fashioned in Paris, since the Sancy, the French Blue, the Hortensia and a number of other important diamonds were cut or refashioned there during the seventeenth century.
Refashioning of obselete cuts was the specialty of the Paris cutters, and it is even possible that the Wittelsbach was originally a Pointed Star Cut. The Wittelsbach Brilliant is a Stellar Cut with radially bisected girdle facets. The star facets (round the table) are also radially bisected. Both the table facet and the culet are exceptionally large. The extra facets were most certainly applied to increase the gem’s brilliance, since the stone itself is shallow and dark.
The magnificent 36.56 ct Wittelsbach diamond, whose color has been compared to that of a deep blue aquamarine, was first recorded in 1664 as part of the dowry of the Spanish Infanta, Margareta Teresa, who in 1667 married the Emperor Leopold. In this way the gem came to Vienna. It was part of ‘a new aquisition of precious stones from India and Portugal’ and was possibly fashioned in Paris, since the Sancy, the French Blue, the Hortensia and a number of other important diamonds were cut or refashioned there during the seventeenth century.
Refashioning of obselete cuts was the specialty of the Paris cutters, and it is even possible that the Wittelsbach was originally a Pointed Star Cut. The Wittelsbach Brilliant is a Stellar Cut with radially bisected girdle facets. The star facets (round the table) are also radially bisected. Both the table facet and the culet are exceptionally large. The extra facets were most certainly applied to increase the gem’s brilliance, since the stone itself is shallow and dark.
The Modern Dutch School
(via The Outline of Art) William Orpen writes:
It may be said, therefore, that the art of Josef Israels, though he received his training in Paris, was far more the fruit of his own experience of life than the outcome of French influence. We feel that even if Millet had never existed, Israels would not have painted otherwise than he did, and though the subject matter of their respective pictures are akin, there are considerable differences between them. Millet painted his peasants out-of-doors in the light of the sun; Israels pictured his fisher-folk by preference indoors, in dim interiors. Hence his pictures are usually more subdued in color than those of Millet. Israels painted low life in low tones and built up his visions of life, whether in oil paintings, water-colors, or etchings—and he worked in all three mediums—by broad masses of light and shade. Further, his tendency is to be more tragic than Millet, and many of his picture have not inaccurately been described as ‘piercing notes of woe.’ One of his most famous pictures, ‘Alone in the World’, contains the essence of his art. In the treatment, in the rays of light dimly illuminating the gloom which befits the subject, we see the influence of Rembrandt; while in the bowed figure of the lonely widow, with her open Bible by her side, we have a poignant expression of the artist’s deep feeling for the daily tragedy of life.
In 1870 Josef Israels left Amsterdam and moved to The Hague, where he lived till he died on August 12, 1911, respected, honored, and world-famous. He was a painter who appealed equally to the general public and to connoisseurs and though so many of his works are tragic, this never interfered with his popularity, because he pictured the tragedies of common life which all have experienced and all can understand. Further, if he reached his highest intensity of expression in rendering sorrow, suffering, endurance, and the pathos of old age, Israels was not wholly tragic in his art. Pictures like ‘A Frugal Meal’ and ‘A Happy Family’ show the reverse of the medal, the compensations of poverty, and the happiness of the humble. But even in these scenes of domestic contentment there is something touching, and the philosophy of Israels seems to bid us to ponder on the life of people who can be happy with so little.
When Josef Israels was a young man, working as a clerk under his father, one of his frequent duties was to take a money bag to the bank of a Mr Mesdag. This banker had a son Hendrik Willem Mesdag, born at Groningen on February 25, 1831, who also became a famous painter. For many years H.W. Mesdag practised art as a amateur, and it was not till he had amassed a considerable fortune in business that he retired from banking and devoted himself entirely to painting. Thus Mesdag was not only in the independent position of being able to paint what he pleased, without thinking of the taste of buyers, but he was also wealthy enough to help his brother artists whose works he admired.
In 1886, when he was thirty-five years of age, Mesdag went to Brussels, where his friends and relative Alma-Tadema was then residing. Roelofs also was living in Brussels, and it was under his guidance that the banker began the serious studies which should fit him to make art henceforward his profession. Mesdag stayed three years at Brussels and returned in 1869 to The Hague, no longer an active man of business but an artist. He was not only a painter himself but a collector of paintings, and in course of time he formed a very important collection of modern pictures, chiefly of the Barbizon and Modern Dutch Schools, which in 1903 he generously presented to the public. The Mesdag Museum at The Hague is a lasting monument of his own taste and of the genius of his contemporaries. As a painter Mesdag gave himself almost exclusively to the painting of the sea, and his marines are remarkable for thier luminosity, truth, and the vigor of their handling. ‘A Seascape’ is a good example of his power of suggesting the life and movement of the waves and of his skill in placing shipping, so that his picture is at once absolutely natural and yet decorative in design.
The numerous painters of the Modern Dutch School—almost as numerous as the ‘Little Masters’ of the seventeenth century—may broadly be divided into two classes, the figure of genre painters for whom Israels was the chief influence, and the landscape painters who were inspired by Roelofs and the French painters of Barbizon. Among the genre painters we may mention Albert Neuhuys, born at Utrecht in 1844, who approaches closely to Israels in his grave tender renderings of humble interiors; David Adolf Constant Artz (1837-90), who, in addition to interiors, painted the fisher-folk of Scheveningen out-of-doors, frequently at moments when they were resting on the sandhills; and Bernardus Johannes Blommers, born at The Hague in 1845, who developed in his own way the lighter side of the art of Israels. There is nothing tragic in the pictures of Blommers, whose favorite subjects are children playing on the sands at Scheveningen or paddling in the water. ‘On the Beach’ is a typical example of the happy seaside scenes in which the artist displays alike his love of children and his knowledge of sea and sky.
The Modern Dutch School (continued)
It may be said, therefore, that the art of Josef Israels, though he received his training in Paris, was far more the fruit of his own experience of life than the outcome of French influence. We feel that even if Millet had never existed, Israels would not have painted otherwise than he did, and though the subject matter of their respective pictures are akin, there are considerable differences between them. Millet painted his peasants out-of-doors in the light of the sun; Israels pictured his fisher-folk by preference indoors, in dim interiors. Hence his pictures are usually more subdued in color than those of Millet. Israels painted low life in low tones and built up his visions of life, whether in oil paintings, water-colors, or etchings—and he worked in all three mediums—by broad masses of light and shade. Further, his tendency is to be more tragic than Millet, and many of his picture have not inaccurately been described as ‘piercing notes of woe.’ One of his most famous pictures, ‘Alone in the World’, contains the essence of his art. In the treatment, in the rays of light dimly illuminating the gloom which befits the subject, we see the influence of Rembrandt; while in the bowed figure of the lonely widow, with her open Bible by her side, we have a poignant expression of the artist’s deep feeling for the daily tragedy of life.
In 1870 Josef Israels left Amsterdam and moved to The Hague, where he lived till he died on August 12, 1911, respected, honored, and world-famous. He was a painter who appealed equally to the general public and to connoisseurs and though so many of his works are tragic, this never interfered with his popularity, because he pictured the tragedies of common life which all have experienced and all can understand. Further, if he reached his highest intensity of expression in rendering sorrow, suffering, endurance, and the pathos of old age, Israels was not wholly tragic in his art. Pictures like ‘A Frugal Meal’ and ‘A Happy Family’ show the reverse of the medal, the compensations of poverty, and the happiness of the humble. But even in these scenes of domestic contentment there is something touching, and the philosophy of Israels seems to bid us to ponder on the life of people who can be happy with so little.
When Josef Israels was a young man, working as a clerk under his father, one of his frequent duties was to take a money bag to the bank of a Mr Mesdag. This banker had a son Hendrik Willem Mesdag, born at Groningen on February 25, 1831, who also became a famous painter. For many years H.W. Mesdag practised art as a amateur, and it was not till he had amassed a considerable fortune in business that he retired from banking and devoted himself entirely to painting. Thus Mesdag was not only in the independent position of being able to paint what he pleased, without thinking of the taste of buyers, but he was also wealthy enough to help his brother artists whose works he admired.
In 1886, when he was thirty-five years of age, Mesdag went to Brussels, where his friends and relative Alma-Tadema was then residing. Roelofs also was living in Brussels, and it was under his guidance that the banker began the serious studies which should fit him to make art henceforward his profession. Mesdag stayed three years at Brussels and returned in 1869 to The Hague, no longer an active man of business but an artist. He was not only a painter himself but a collector of paintings, and in course of time he formed a very important collection of modern pictures, chiefly of the Barbizon and Modern Dutch Schools, which in 1903 he generously presented to the public. The Mesdag Museum at The Hague is a lasting monument of his own taste and of the genius of his contemporaries. As a painter Mesdag gave himself almost exclusively to the painting of the sea, and his marines are remarkable for thier luminosity, truth, and the vigor of their handling. ‘A Seascape’ is a good example of his power of suggesting the life and movement of the waves and of his skill in placing shipping, so that his picture is at once absolutely natural and yet decorative in design.
The numerous painters of the Modern Dutch School—almost as numerous as the ‘Little Masters’ of the seventeenth century—may broadly be divided into two classes, the figure of genre painters for whom Israels was the chief influence, and the landscape painters who were inspired by Roelofs and the French painters of Barbizon. Among the genre painters we may mention Albert Neuhuys, born at Utrecht in 1844, who approaches closely to Israels in his grave tender renderings of humble interiors; David Adolf Constant Artz (1837-90), who, in addition to interiors, painted the fisher-folk of Scheveningen out-of-doors, frequently at moments when they were resting on the sandhills; and Bernardus Johannes Blommers, born at The Hague in 1845, who developed in his own way the lighter side of the art of Israels. There is nothing tragic in the pictures of Blommers, whose favorite subjects are children playing on the sands at Scheveningen or paddling in the water. ‘On the Beach’ is a typical example of the happy seaside scenes in which the artist displays alike his love of children and his knowledge of sea and sky.
The Modern Dutch School (continued)
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Preannotation Technique
(via Wired) A new facial-recognition algorithm created by Allen Yang, a postdoctoral researcher at UC Berkeley's College of Engineering is able to recognize faces with 90-95 percent accuracy, even if the eyes, nose and mouth are obscured + according to Shankar Sastry, the dean of UC Berkeley's College of Engineering, Yang's new facial-detection method also renders years of research in the field obsolete.
I think the new technique will pave the way for new business (startups) models + privacy issues + security concerns.
Useful links:
http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/~yang
http://perception.csl.uiuc.edu/recognition/Home.html
I think the new technique will pave the way for new business (startups) models + privacy issues + security concerns.
Useful links:
http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/~yang
http://perception.csl.uiuc.edu/recognition/Home.html
Feathers In Amber
The article Dino-Era Feathers Found Encased in Amber @ http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/03/080311-amber-feathers.html was fascinating and educational + an interesting spin would be the exotic collectors: they will be looking for dinosaur feathers in amber worldwide + who could afford the prices?
Buyer beware! There will be plenty of imitations in the market very soon!
Buyer beware! There will be plenty of imitations in the market very soon!
Diamond Source
According to industry analysts, Botswana is the largest producer of diamonds in the world, accounting for 25% of the production followed by Russia (22%), Canada (12%), South Africa (12%), Angola (10%) and Namibia (6%) + India is the world’s largest importer of rough diamonds and exporter of cut and polished diamonds with over 90% per cent market share.
Understanding French
A Guide to the French: Handle with Care by Elaine Sciolino @ http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/03/24/travel/23sciolino.php was brilliant + it was educational + gem dealers, jewelers, artists, businessmen should read it several times.
Randy Pausch
Here is an inspiring story of Randy Pausch + his last goodbye is making millions rethink life.
Useful links:
www.randypausch.com
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/randy-pausch-the-dying-man-who-taught-america-how-to-live-800182.html
Useful links:
www.randypausch.com
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/randy-pausch-the-dying-man-who-taught-america-how-to-live-800182.html
Graphic Books
I found the Newsweek article Everything is Illuminated @
http://www.newsweek.com/id/128537 interesting and insightful because in my view illustrated images are attention-grabbing and the best way to teach a concept + you are able to connect with people of all ages + you remember the story forever.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/128537 interesting and insightful because in my view illustrated images are attention-grabbing and the best way to teach a concept + you are able to connect with people of all ages + you remember the story forever.
The Prince
The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli is an insightful book + a great psychology tool + provides valuable lessons on strategy and power + I highly recommend this book.
Useful link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niccol%C3%B2_Machiavelli
Useful link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niccol%C3%B2_Machiavelli
The Hortensia
(via Diamond Cuts in Historic Jewelry:1381-1910) Herbert Tillander writes:
The Hortensia, which was not actually given this name until the reign of Napoleon I, was initially mentioned in the French Crown inventory as being pink and pentagonal and weighing 21ct, but it is far more interesting than this bald description implies. IN 1787, Brisson described its outline as ‘a square with one corner off’, which was taken to mean that the rough from which it was originally fashioned was an octahedral crystal.
However, judging from the sixfold symmetry, it is quite obvious that the rough was dodecahedral. In fact, after a close inspection of the crown facets, I am now almost certain that the Hortensia Brilliant is a refashioned Naville Cut. This conviction is strenghthened by the knowledge that Parisian diamond cutters at the end of the seventeenth century specialized in refashioning obsolete cuts, in particular Tailles en Seize and larger Navilles, which is why these two cuts disappeared so rapidly.
The master cutter Alvarez may well have been responsible for recutting the Hortensia in 1678. With its dimensions of 19.5 x 21.6 x 8.7 mm, the stone was far too shallow to reflect light properly. By adding two rows of starlike facets round the culet, the cutter conjured beautiful reflections from the pavilion. The Polar Star, so highly praised for its magnificent reflections, is similarly fashioned.
The Hortensia, which was not actually given this name until the reign of Napoleon I, was initially mentioned in the French Crown inventory as being pink and pentagonal and weighing 21ct, but it is far more interesting than this bald description implies. IN 1787, Brisson described its outline as ‘a square with one corner off’, which was taken to mean that the rough from which it was originally fashioned was an octahedral crystal.
However, judging from the sixfold symmetry, it is quite obvious that the rough was dodecahedral. In fact, after a close inspection of the crown facets, I am now almost certain that the Hortensia Brilliant is a refashioned Naville Cut. This conviction is strenghthened by the knowledge that Parisian diamond cutters at the end of the seventeenth century specialized in refashioning obsolete cuts, in particular Tailles en Seize and larger Navilles, which is why these two cuts disappeared so rapidly.
The master cutter Alvarez may well have been responsible for recutting the Hortensia in 1678. With its dimensions of 19.5 x 21.6 x 8.7 mm, the stone was far too shallow to reflect light properly. By adding two rows of starlike facets round the culet, the cutter conjured beautiful reflections from the pavilion. The Polar Star, so highly praised for its magnificent reflections, is similarly fashioned.
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