According to industry analysts, Live Nation, world's biggest concert promoter, owns 170 plus venues of various sizes worldwide + due to piracy and declining CD sales, artists are now realizing that the money lies in touring and merchandising + in the coming years we are going to see new business models via band merchandising, digital and branding rights.
Useful link:
www.livenation.com
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
The Magical Chorus
The Magical Chorus by Antonina Bouis offers a unique perspective + an insider's insight on writers, musicians, artists, dancers, theater and film directors, each an important masterstone in the social and political dynamics of Russian culture.
Old English And Old European Cuts
(via Diamond Cuts in Historic Jewelry:1381-1910) Herbert Tillander writes:
In gemological literature, the terms Old English and Old European are used for the same type of round cut. This is confusing,and I should like to suggest that the two names be retained but be given separate definitions: Old English for the fine products of the English master cutters of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and Old European for the poorer-quality diamonds with proportions of all kinds, produced by the major cutting factories elsewhere.
Small and medium-sized Brilliants were, on the whole, haphazardly fashioned. Almost all the exceptions are high-class English jewels. A striking example of a jewel with Old European Cuts is the large Bouquet made in 1760 for the Empress Catherine II, now in the Treasury of the Diamond Fund in Moscow. If such a mixture of different Brilliant Cuts was acceptable to this exacting imperial court, what must not lesser mortals have been satisfied with? Most customers were unfamiliar with the splendor of well-made Brilliants. The emphasis was on the style and execution of the ensemble rather than on the perfection of individual stones. This is why the English cutters were hard put to find customers for their superb—but expensive—products, and eventually went out of production altogether. However, by the late nineteenth century, jewelers were once again realizing that there was a market for well-cut stones and were refusing to buy poor-quality ones, so that Tolkowsky found a great many Brilliants in London as fine in quality as his ‘mathematically calculated’ ideal cut.
For this type of Brilliant cut I should like to suggest the term Early Circular Fine Cut. This would cover the first precision cuts fashioned with mechanical devices and introduced in about 1900, possibly by Morse himself. Crystals could be divided without difficulty by motor-driven circular saws, and the two parts could equally easily be bruted or rounded up into circular outlines on a lathe or cutting machine. The classical high 45° proportions were abandoned; by trial and error, cutters developed modern proportions and an attractive combination of brilliance and fire with the minimum of leakage of light through the pavilion facets.
The table below indicates the limits of variation in the proportions of Early Victorian or Old English round Brilliants.
Table size: 45 – 60%
Crown height: 20%
Crown angles: 36 - 45°
Girdle: very thin
Pavilion depth: 40%
Pavilion angles: c.40°
Culet size: max. 5%
By trial and error the London cutters must have discovered the correct angle for the main facets of the pavilion—an angle which is still applied today. It seems that they retained the old vertical proportions of a crown height equal to half the pavilion depth. However, they continued to try different ways of fashioning the crown, in an attempt to strike a balance between brilliance and fire. There is still no general agreement on the best way to achieve this, but today most Brilliants are fashioned for maximum brilliance and restricted dispersion of color.
Most authors of the nineteenth century, and even some later writers, repeat the definitions given by Jeffries and Mawe. However, one frequently comes across illustrations of incorrect and even impossible proportions. Clearly, the cutters took advantage of the ignorance of most of their customers. They had to compete with low-priced but ill-fashioned diamond of which there were plenty on the market. This is why, sadly, most of the old Brilliants, even the finest, were eventually refashioned.
In gemological literature, the terms Old English and Old European are used for the same type of round cut. This is confusing,and I should like to suggest that the two names be retained but be given separate definitions: Old English for the fine products of the English master cutters of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and Old European for the poorer-quality diamonds with proportions of all kinds, produced by the major cutting factories elsewhere.
Small and medium-sized Brilliants were, on the whole, haphazardly fashioned. Almost all the exceptions are high-class English jewels. A striking example of a jewel with Old European Cuts is the large Bouquet made in 1760 for the Empress Catherine II, now in the Treasury of the Diamond Fund in Moscow. If such a mixture of different Brilliant Cuts was acceptable to this exacting imperial court, what must not lesser mortals have been satisfied with? Most customers were unfamiliar with the splendor of well-made Brilliants. The emphasis was on the style and execution of the ensemble rather than on the perfection of individual stones. This is why the English cutters were hard put to find customers for their superb—but expensive—products, and eventually went out of production altogether. However, by the late nineteenth century, jewelers were once again realizing that there was a market for well-cut stones and were refusing to buy poor-quality ones, so that Tolkowsky found a great many Brilliants in London as fine in quality as his ‘mathematically calculated’ ideal cut.
For this type of Brilliant cut I should like to suggest the term Early Circular Fine Cut. This would cover the first precision cuts fashioned with mechanical devices and introduced in about 1900, possibly by Morse himself. Crystals could be divided without difficulty by motor-driven circular saws, and the two parts could equally easily be bruted or rounded up into circular outlines on a lathe or cutting machine. The classical high 45° proportions were abandoned; by trial and error, cutters developed modern proportions and an attractive combination of brilliance and fire with the minimum of leakage of light through the pavilion facets.
The table below indicates the limits of variation in the proportions of Early Victorian or Old English round Brilliants.
Table size: 45 – 60%
Crown height: 20%
Crown angles: 36 - 45°
Girdle: very thin
Pavilion depth: 40%
Pavilion angles: c.40°
Culet size: max. 5%
By trial and error the London cutters must have discovered the correct angle for the main facets of the pavilion—an angle which is still applied today. It seems that they retained the old vertical proportions of a crown height equal to half the pavilion depth. However, they continued to try different ways of fashioning the crown, in an attempt to strike a balance between brilliance and fire. There is still no general agreement on the best way to achieve this, but today most Brilliants are fashioned for maximum brilliance and restricted dispersion of color.
Most authors of the nineteenth century, and even some later writers, repeat the definitions given by Jeffries and Mawe. However, one frequently comes across illustrations of incorrect and even impossible proportions. Clearly, the cutters took advantage of the ignorance of most of their customers. They had to compete with low-priced but ill-fashioned diamond of which there were plenty on the market. This is why, sadly, most of the old Brilliants, even the finest, were eventually refashioned.
The Influence Of The Far East
(via The Outline of Art) William Orpen writes:
Hokusai is now generally regarded as one of the world’s great artists, worthy to rank with Rembrandt, Durer, and other giants. His ‘River Scene’, with the great bridge over the water and Fujiyama in the distance, shows his unsurpassed skill in the technique of his art, the largeness of his view, and the intense human interest with which he invested every scene he painted. A master of the first order as a draughtsman, Hokusai was also a daring pioneer as a colorist, being the first to combine the particular greens, blues, yellows, and browns which distinguish his famous series ‘Thirty six Views of Fujiyama,’ to use the telling contrast of red, bright blue, and brown seen in his ‘Views of te Loochoo Islands’, and to harmonise with infinite tenderness a whole gamut of greens and blues in his great designs based on carps. Hokusai lived to a great age, his death occurring when he was approaching his ninetieth birthday, and shortly before he expired he murmured, ‘If Fate had given me but five more years, I should have been able to become a true painter.’ He was not only one of the greatest and most poetic of the world’s artists, he was one of the most modest.
The beginning of the artistic influence of Japan on Europe is generally dated from the International Exhibition held at London in 1862, when the examples of Japanese art there shown made a profound impression on all who studied them. Seidlitz, in his History of Japanese Color Prints, gives the same date, but this authority traces the first discovery of Japanese art in Europe to a Japanese shop in the Rue de Rivoli, Paris. This shop, known as ‘La Porte Chinoise’ and owned by a dealer name Soye, was frequented by a number of artists who delighted in the color prints by Hokusai, Hiroshige, and others which they found there. To this shop came Manet, Degas, Monet, and other French artists afterwards to become famous, and to it also came a young American artist, James McNeill Whistler. The Japanese have a perfect instinct of decoration and consequently these color prints made an immediate and powerful appeal to a young artist who already had within him the instinct of decoration. In the work of Hokusai and Hiroshige, Whistler recognized those qualities which above all he desired to have in his own work.
The Influence Of The Far East (continued)
Hokusai is now generally regarded as one of the world’s great artists, worthy to rank with Rembrandt, Durer, and other giants. His ‘River Scene’, with the great bridge over the water and Fujiyama in the distance, shows his unsurpassed skill in the technique of his art, the largeness of his view, and the intense human interest with which he invested every scene he painted. A master of the first order as a draughtsman, Hokusai was also a daring pioneer as a colorist, being the first to combine the particular greens, blues, yellows, and browns which distinguish his famous series ‘Thirty six Views of Fujiyama,’ to use the telling contrast of red, bright blue, and brown seen in his ‘Views of te Loochoo Islands’, and to harmonise with infinite tenderness a whole gamut of greens and blues in his great designs based on carps. Hokusai lived to a great age, his death occurring when he was approaching his ninetieth birthday, and shortly before he expired he murmured, ‘If Fate had given me but five more years, I should have been able to become a true painter.’ He was not only one of the greatest and most poetic of the world’s artists, he was one of the most modest.
The beginning of the artistic influence of Japan on Europe is generally dated from the International Exhibition held at London in 1862, when the examples of Japanese art there shown made a profound impression on all who studied them. Seidlitz, in his History of Japanese Color Prints, gives the same date, but this authority traces the first discovery of Japanese art in Europe to a Japanese shop in the Rue de Rivoli, Paris. This shop, known as ‘La Porte Chinoise’ and owned by a dealer name Soye, was frequented by a number of artists who delighted in the color prints by Hokusai, Hiroshige, and others which they found there. To this shop came Manet, Degas, Monet, and other French artists afterwards to become famous, and to it also came a young American artist, James McNeill Whistler. The Japanese have a perfect instinct of decoration and consequently these color prints made an immediate and powerful appeal to a young artist who already had within him the instinct of decoration. In the work of Hokusai and Hiroshige, Whistler recognized those qualities which above all he desired to have in his own work.
The Influence Of The Far East (continued)
No Dirty Gold
In a new report released by Earthworks + Oxfam America irresponsible mining continue to pollute air and water, and in some parts of the world, fuel violent conflict, at a time when metal prices are soaring, driving new mining development worldwide.
I think consumers can make a big difference by insisting mining companies to implement best practices that can be independently verified.
Useful links:
www.nodirtygold.org
www.earthworksaction.org
www.oxfamamerica.org
I think consumers can make a big difference by insisting mining companies to implement best practices that can be independently verified.
Useful links:
www.nodirtygold.org
www.earthworksaction.org
www.oxfamamerica.org
Money Laundering And Financial Crimes
I found the 2008 report on Money Laundering and Financial Crimes by numerous U.S government/international agencies @
http://www.state.gov/p/inl/rls/nrcrpt/2008/vol2/ interesting + insightful + I really don't know how effective the AML/CFT compliance programs are worldwide.
Useful links:
www.state.gov
www.imf.org
www.fincen.gov
www.worldbank.org
http://www.state.gov/p/inl/rls/nrcrpt/2008/vol2/ interesting + insightful + I really don't know how effective the AML/CFT compliance programs are worldwide.
Useful links:
www.state.gov
www.imf.org
www.fincen.gov
www.worldbank.org
Jean Nouvel
Jean Nouvel is a prolific French architect + he has designed a number of notable buildings across the world + he has been awarded his profession's highest honor--the 2008 Pritzker Prize.
I think his designs are different + connects the dots in a natural way.
Useful links:
www.jeannouvel.com
www.pritzkerprize.com
I think his designs are different + connects the dots in a natural way.
Useful links:
www.jeannouvel.com
www.pritzkerprize.com
Monday, March 31, 2008
Heard On The Street
Usually in the market when someone says I've never seen anything like this before, it means he/she is losing.
Vermeer's Hat
Vermeer's Hat: The Seventeenth Century and the Dawn of the Global World by Timothy Brook is a great book + the writer takes one piece of porcelain in a painting by Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer and uses it to explain 17th-century trade with China + he reflects on the cultural impacts of global commercial trade, an important era in the opening up of the world + I highly recommend the book.
Tanzanite Gem Miners Feared Dead
(via BBC) It has been reported that about 65 miners are feared dead after rainfall triggered the collapse of mines in the Mererani region, about 40km (25 miles) south-east of Arusha in north-eastern Tanzania + the area mines Tanzanite, a valuable violet-blue to blue gemstone found only in a small area near Arusha + Tanzania is also rich in diamonds, emeralds, rubies and sapphires and is Africa's third-largest gold producer.
I think there will be some price adjustments in Tanzanite in the coming days due to unexpected events in Tanzania.
I think there will be some price adjustments in Tanzanite in the coming days due to unexpected events in Tanzania.
The Jubilee, Or Twentieth-Century, Cut
(via Diamond Cuts in Historic Jewelry:1381-1910) Herbert Tillander writes:
The short-lived Jubilee Cut is said to have been created in the United States in honor of Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee. The Jubilee itself was in 1897 but the cut did not appear until the beginning of the twentieth century. It is variously described, but appears to have been applied mainly to rough which was too thin for a well-made Brilliant. The illustrations are based on an actual gem weighing 2.63 ct, with a diameter of 8.85 x 8.95 mm and an overall height of 5.45 mm. It is slightly tinted J (Crystal) and somewhat scratched and abraded by wear. It could, however, be restored to flawless condition with very little loss of weight.
This cut may be described as an elaborate extension of the historical Pointed Star Cut, with five concentric rows of interlocking facets. The crown and the pavilion, though possessing forty facets each, are of totally different design from each other.
The short-lived Jubilee Cut is said to have been created in the United States in honor of Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee. The Jubilee itself was in 1897 but the cut did not appear until the beginning of the twentieth century. It is variously described, but appears to have been applied mainly to rough which was too thin for a well-made Brilliant. The illustrations are based on an actual gem weighing 2.63 ct, with a diameter of 8.85 x 8.95 mm and an overall height of 5.45 mm. It is slightly tinted J (Crystal) and somewhat scratched and abraded by wear. It could, however, be restored to flawless condition with very little loss of weight.
This cut may be described as an elaborate extension of the historical Pointed Star Cut, with five concentric rows of interlocking facets. The crown and the pavilion, though possessing forty facets each, are of totally different design from each other.
The Influence Of The Far East
(via The Outline of Art) William Orpen writes:
Japanese Color-prints And The Art of Whistler
1
To attempt any historical survey of the art of the East is beyond the scope of this Outline, but since several of the most distinguished Western painters of the nineteenth century were profoundly influenced by the art of China and Japan, it is necessary to make some brief mention of the wonderful art of the Far East and to record the genesis of its appreciation in Europe in order that we may perceive the part it played in shaping the style of certain modern masters.
Painting in water-colors on silk, or less often on paper, was practised in China from the earliest years of the Christian era. One of the oldest Chinese pictures known to exist is a scroll-painting called ‘Admonitions of the Instructress’ in the British Museum. This has been pronounced by experts to be a work of the fourth century, but has none of the characteristics of a primitive work executed when an art is in its infancy. The mastery of natural attitude and of the relation of figures to each other and the delicate expressiveness of the drawing prove that behind the art which produced it is a long history of development.
Chinese painting attained its highest excellence during the Sung Dynasty, i.e approximately between A.D 950 and 1250, and to this period belongs the masterly painting of ‘Two Geese’ in the British Museum. The exquisitely refined drawing and simple naturalism in this dignified bird painting show the high state of civilization in China at a time when Europe was only painfully emerging from the Dark Ages. We have only to turn back to the first chapter of this work and to compare the paintings of Cimabue or of Giotto with this still earlier picture from the East, to realize how superior was the naturalism of the Chinese artist to that of the most gifted of the earliest Europen painters. The art of the Sung period excelled in landscape and animal painting, and it was ‘inspired a mystical feeling for Nature (akin to that expressed by Wordsworth’s poetry) which gives a serious beauty to its treatment of simple or seemingly insignificant subjects.’
It is only in quite recent times, however, that Western artists have been attracted by the nobility of early Chinese art. In the nineteenth century Chinese paintings were scarce and little known in Europe, and the first examples of Oriental art made familiar to Europe were color prints from Japan. Though te Japanese today have a deservedly high reputation as an artistic nation, China was their intructress in all the arts. The art of printing in colors from a number of wood blocks in succession was practised in China in the seventeenth century, perhaps earlier, but it was not till the eighteenth century that it flourished in Japan. In that country the demand for a popular art had fostered a school of painting devoted to themes of daily life, and the woodcut provided a cheap means of multiplying designs. At first, in the early part of the eighteenth century, these woodcuts were colored by hand, then prints were made in two colors, rose-red and green, and in 1764 the first full-colored prints, known as ‘brocade prints,’ were issued. Harunobu (1705-72) was the first master to use te new invention, which during the next hundred years was to produce the most beautiful examples of color printing that the world has seen.
From the time of Harunobu to the death of Utamaro in 1806, a succession of artists poured forth a series of these popular pictures, which were sold for the merest trifle, chiefly to the working classes of Japan. The painters of Japan catered for aristocratic tastes and were patronized by the wealthy and eminent, but the makers of color-prints were democratic both in origin and aim and were regarded socially as artisans rather than artists. The aristocratic painters of Japan, like those of China, were symbolists, whose work conveyed subtle allusions to educated Orientals; but the designers of color prints were realists, who rendered the common life of everyday people. Among the Japanese this art, despised by the higher classes, was named the ‘Mirror of the Passing World.’ With the common people of Japan the drama was an overwhelming passion, and consequently the subjects of innumerablle color prints are taken from the stage, which provided endless themes. In all the earlier Japanese color prints figures predominate, but after the death of Utamaro a great artist arose in Hokusai (1760-1849), who invented a new landscape style. Hokusai was followed by other great landscape artists, Hiroshige (1796-1858) and his successor Hiroshige II, who worked c. 1840-65, and the splendid landscape designs by these artists were the first to make their influence felt in Europe.
The Influence Of The Far East (continued)
Japanese Color-prints And The Art of Whistler
1
To attempt any historical survey of the art of the East is beyond the scope of this Outline, but since several of the most distinguished Western painters of the nineteenth century were profoundly influenced by the art of China and Japan, it is necessary to make some brief mention of the wonderful art of the Far East and to record the genesis of its appreciation in Europe in order that we may perceive the part it played in shaping the style of certain modern masters.
Painting in water-colors on silk, or less often on paper, was practised in China from the earliest years of the Christian era. One of the oldest Chinese pictures known to exist is a scroll-painting called ‘Admonitions of the Instructress’ in the British Museum. This has been pronounced by experts to be a work of the fourth century, but has none of the characteristics of a primitive work executed when an art is in its infancy. The mastery of natural attitude and of the relation of figures to each other and the delicate expressiveness of the drawing prove that behind the art which produced it is a long history of development.
Chinese painting attained its highest excellence during the Sung Dynasty, i.e approximately between A.D 950 and 1250, and to this period belongs the masterly painting of ‘Two Geese’ in the British Museum. The exquisitely refined drawing and simple naturalism in this dignified bird painting show the high state of civilization in China at a time when Europe was only painfully emerging from the Dark Ages. We have only to turn back to the first chapter of this work and to compare the paintings of Cimabue or of Giotto with this still earlier picture from the East, to realize how superior was the naturalism of the Chinese artist to that of the most gifted of the earliest Europen painters. The art of the Sung period excelled in landscape and animal painting, and it was ‘inspired a mystical feeling for Nature (akin to that expressed by Wordsworth’s poetry) which gives a serious beauty to its treatment of simple or seemingly insignificant subjects.’
It is only in quite recent times, however, that Western artists have been attracted by the nobility of early Chinese art. In the nineteenth century Chinese paintings were scarce and little known in Europe, and the first examples of Oriental art made familiar to Europe were color prints from Japan. Though te Japanese today have a deservedly high reputation as an artistic nation, China was their intructress in all the arts. The art of printing in colors from a number of wood blocks in succession was practised in China in the seventeenth century, perhaps earlier, but it was not till the eighteenth century that it flourished in Japan. In that country the demand for a popular art had fostered a school of painting devoted to themes of daily life, and the woodcut provided a cheap means of multiplying designs. At first, in the early part of the eighteenth century, these woodcuts were colored by hand, then prints were made in two colors, rose-red and green, and in 1764 the first full-colored prints, known as ‘brocade prints,’ were issued. Harunobu (1705-72) was the first master to use te new invention, which during the next hundred years was to produce the most beautiful examples of color printing that the world has seen.
From the time of Harunobu to the death of Utamaro in 1806, a succession of artists poured forth a series of these popular pictures, which were sold for the merest trifle, chiefly to the working classes of Japan. The painters of Japan catered for aristocratic tastes and were patronized by the wealthy and eminent, but the makers of color-prints were democratic both in origin and aim and were regarded socially as artisans rather than artists. The aristocratic painters of Japan, like those of China, were symbolists, whose work conveyed subtle allusions to educated Orientals; but the designers of color prints were realists, who rendered the common life of everyday people. Among the Japanese this art, despised by the higher classes, was named the ‘Mirror of the Passing World.’ With the common people of Japan the drama was an overwhelming passion, and consequently the subjects of innumerablle color prints are taken from the stage, which provided endless themes. In all the earlier Japanese color prints figures predominate, but after the death of Utamaro a great artist arose in Hokusai (1760-1849), who invented a new landscape style. Hokusai was followed by other great landscape artists, Hiroshige (1796-1858) and his successor Hiroshige II, who worked c. 1840-65, and the splendid landscape designs by these artists were the first to make their influence felt in Europe.
The Influence Of The Far East (continued)
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Art + Commerce + Technology Model
I like the concept of pairing art with commerce and technology because artists are amorphous and have an inquisitive mind + when you have an open-minded environment with the right attitude, there will be spontaneous interaction between the faculties of mind, resulting in natural synthesis and orderly crystallization of ideas into functional formats.
Useful links:
http://shl.stanford.edu
www.julie9.org
http://montalvoarts.org
www.aec.at
Useful links:
http://shl.stanford.edu
www.julie9.org
http://montalvoarts.org
www.aec.at
Energy Update
The article The Clean Energy Scam by Michael Grunwald @ http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1725975,00.html was informative + spot on because no one knows the long term pros and cons of diverting grain and oilseed crops from dinner plates to fuel tanks + with billions in investment capital via multinational companies worldwide the biofuels boom/bust are going to haunt us for generations like the dot-com era.
Useful links:
www.wetlands.org
www.wfp.org
www.conservation.org
www.whrc.org
www.edf.org
www.nrdc.org
www.earth-policy.org
www.cargill.com
www.carlyle.com
www.ge.com
www.bp.com
www.grupomaggi.com.br
www.ford.com
www.shell.com
www.georgesoros.com
www.richardbranson.com
Useful links:
www.wetlands.org
www.wfp.org
www.conservation.org
www.whrc.org
www.edf.org
www.nrdc.org
www.earth-policy.org
www.cargill.com
www.carlyle.com
www.ge.com
www.bp.com
www.grupomaggi.com.br
www.ford.com
www.shell.com
www.georgesoros.com
www.richardbranson.com
Tintin
The Adventures of Tintin is a series of comic books created by Belgian artist Hergé, the pen name of Georges Remi + in my view the expressive drawings in Hergé's signature ligne claire style is engaging, in a variety of genres + I'm a big fan of TinTin , and now Thomas Sangster, from south London, has been chosen by Steven Spielberg to be his Tintin for a three-movie adaptation of the boy reporter's adventures.
Useful links:
www.tintin.com
http://tintinmovie.org
Useful links:
www.tintin.com
http://tintinmovie.org
Ultra Fast Lasers
I found the article on Ultra Fast Lasers + properties @ http://www.economist.com/science/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10918079 informative + in adddition to its applicatons in engineering, computing and medicine, I must add that they have become very important in analytical gemology, especially with detecting gemstone treatments and synthetics.
Edward Weston
Edward Weston was an American photographer + he is generally recognized as one of the greatest photographic artists of the 20th century + The Center for Creative Photography at the University of Arizona in Tucson houses a full archive of Edward Weston's work.
I like the tone of black/white photographs, and Edward Weston's works have that natural look and clarity.
Useful links:
www.edward-weston.com
www.creativephotography.org
I like the tone of black/white photographs, and Edward Weston's works have that natural look and clarity.
Useful links:
www.edward-weston.com
www.creativephotography.org
Two Multi-Faceted Split Cuts
(via Diamond Cuts in Historic Jewelry:1381-1910) Herbert Tillander writes:
I once analyzed an exceptional diamond in the surviving top section of an Order of the Golden Fleece made for Maximilian III Joseph, Elector of Bavaria, in about 1750. The diamond is oval, a Brilliant Cut with fifty six facets round its sixteeen-sided table, far more than on the Tiffany diamond. The star facets and the two different types of girdle facets are split, and the main facets do not even extend to the girdle. In contrast, the pavilion is simply divided into eight main facets round a small octagonal culet. The gem is exceptionally well proportioned, and this, combined with its perfect symmetry, makes it equally brilliant all over. Unfortunately, it is distinctly flawed and I graded it as an I (first Piqué). The surrounding gems are all normal Brilliants. The diamond measured approximately 20 x 17 mm and I calculated its weight as being about 50 ct.
A seventeenth-century experimental Brilliant with radially split facets is illustrated in the catalogue of Philip Hope’s famous collection, Pearls and Precious Stones (1893). Herz describes the gem simply as ‘a brilliant of a square shape, with rounded corners, weighing 5¼ ct.’ In addition to an octagonal table, the gem has forty-eight facets in the crown. There is one inner row of short main facets, and another row, split radially, touching the girdle. There are also normal star and girdle facets. The pavilion is not described.
I once analyzed an exceptional diamond in the surviving top section of an Order of the Golden Fleece made for Maximilian III Joseph, Elector of Bavaria, in about 1750. The diamond is oval, a Brilliant Cut with fifty six facets round its sixteeen-sided table, far more than on the Tiffany diamond. The star facets and the two different types of girdle facets are split, and the main facets do not even extend to the girdle. In contrast, the pavilion is simply divided into eight main facets round a small octagonal culet. The gem is exceptionally well proportioned, and this, combined with its perfect symmetry, makes it equally brilliant all over. Unfortunately, it is distinctly flawed and I graded it as an I (first Piqué). The surrounding gems are all normal Brilliants. The diamond measured approximately 20 x 17 mm and I calculated its weight as being about 50 ct.
A seventeenth-century experimental Brilliant with radially split facets is illustrated in the catalogue of Philip Hope’s famous collection, Pearls and Precious Stones (1893). Herz describes the gem simply as ‘a brilliant of a square shape, with rounded corners, weighing 5¼ ct.’ In addition to an octagonal table, the gem has forty-eight facets in the crown. There is one inner row of short main facets, and another row, split radially, touching the girdle. There are also normal star and girdle facets. The pavilion is not described.
The Modern Dutch School
(via The Outline of Art) William Orpen writes:
Nevertheless it is important to note that there is not the same note of romanticism in pictures he painted only two years earlier. In 1868 Matthew joined his brother James in Paris, and we may see in the National Gallery a little picture he painted there in 1870. ‘Montmartre,’ as it is called, shows us dust-carts tipping rubbish on the side of a hill which has a windmill at the top. It is beautifully painted, perfect in its refined realism, but it is not romantic.
When the Franco-Prussian war broke out, James Maris returned to Holland. Matthew remained, went through the siege of Paris, and, like other residents, was enrolled in the Municipal Guard and called out for duty. His post was on the fortifications, opposite Asniéres and just under Mont Valérien, and he suffered considerably from the bitter cold during night duty. Military life was not congenial to this gentle artist, and the thought of killing anybody was abhorrent to him. He confessed afterwards, ‘I never put a bullet in my gun, but only pretended to do so!’
His war experiences certainly did Matthew Maris no good; they saddened him and tended to make him shrink into himself, so that he became more and more of a recluse. After the siege Matthew Maris came to London in 1872, and there he remained to the end of his days. He had rooms at first in the house of an art decorator named Daniel Cottier in St James’s Terrace, Regent’s Park, and Cottier, a strong active business man, had much influence over him, telling him what sort of pictures he ought to paint. Although Cottier, an admirer of Rossetti, undoubtedly encouraged the romantic element in the Dutch artist. Matthew Maris rebelled at painting under his direction and professed that he was thoroughly unhappy in his house. Yet between 1872 and 1875, when he was under the spell of Cottier, Matthew Maris painted what are generally considered to be his finest pictures. Among them we may mention ‘The Girl at the Well’ and ‘Feeding Chickens’, painted in 1872; ‘The Christening’ and ‘Enfant Couchée’, in 1873; ‘He is Coming’—in 1874; and ‘The Sisters’ in 1875. Yet even these works, full of indescribable poetry and romantic beauty, failed to satisfy the artist, who in after years would speak of them as ‘potboilers’ which he had compelled to paint by a tyrannical taskmaster.
Though discontended and professedly unhappy, Matthew Maris was slow to leave what he regarded as a house of bondage, and it was not till 1887—and then chiefly because Mrs Cottier was in ill-health—that he finally left. He went to 47 St John’s Wood Terrace, intending to remain there only a fortnight, while he looked around for a more convenient studio, and he stayed there nineteen years. In 1906 he found a home at 18 Westbourne Square, Paddington, in a half-flat with a small painting room, and in this modest abode, tended by a faithful housekeeper, he remained till he died on August 17, 1917. He seldom went out and he had few visitors, the most intimate friends of his later years being the Dutch picture-dealer, Mr E J Van Wisselingh and his wife, a Scottish lady, daughter of Mr Craibe Angus, of Glasgow, who had been one of the earliest British patrons of Matthew Maris. His later paintings became more and more mysterious; instead of the clear outlines of his earlier pictures, forms were seen dimly as through a mist, and these pictures he would work over and over many times, each re-painting seeming to cast a new veil over faces and figures that became more and more spiritual. Had he wished, Matthew Maris might have had fortune as well as fame, for there were ardent collectors in many countries eager to secure examples of his works, but his means were straightened largely because he could with difficulty bring himself to part with a picture and desired to keep them all in his painting room. In 1911 a Dutch admirer of his work, Mr Thomsen, of The Hague, offered to the compatriot of whom he was proud a small pension. This the painter accepted, and the pension was continued till his death.
An abnormal being, Matthew Maris was ‘alone in the world’ because he chose of his own accord to live the life of a hermit shut up with his dreams.
Nevertheless it is important to note that there is not the same note of romanticism in pictures he painted only two years earlier. In 1868 Matthew joined his brother James in Paris, and we may see in the National Gallery a little picture he painted there in 1870. ‘Montmartre,’ as it is called, shows us dust-carts tipping rubbish on the side of a hill which has a windmill at the top. It is beautifully painted, perfect in its refined realism, but it is not romantic.
When the Franco-Prussian war broke out, James Maris returned to Holland. Matthew remained, went through the siege of Paris, and, like other residents, was enrolled in the Municipal Guard and called out for duty. His post was on the fortifications, opposite Asniéres and just under Mont Valérien, and he suffered considerably from the bitter cold during night duty. Military life was not congenial to this gentle artist, and the thought of killing anybody was abhorrent to him. He confessed afterwards, ‘I never put a bullet in my gun, but only pretended to do so!’
His war experiences certainly did Matthew Maris no good; they saddened him and tended to make him shrink into himself, so that he became more and more of a recluse. After the siege Matthew Maris came to London in 1872, and there he remained to the end of his days. He had rooms at first in the house of an art decorator named Daniel Cottier in St James’s Terrace, Regent’s Park, and Cottier, a strong active business man, had much influence over him, telling him what sort of pictures he ought to paint. Although Cottier, an admirer of Rossetti, undoubtedly encouraged the romantic element in the Dutch artist. Matthew Maris rebelled at painting under his direction and professed that he was thoroughly unhappy in his house. Yet between 1872 and 1875, when he was under the spell of Cottier, Matthew Maris painted what are generally considered to be his finest pictures. Among them we may mention ‘The Girl at the Well’ and ‘Feeding Chickens’, painted in 1872; ‘The Christening’ and ‘Enfant Couchée’, in 1873; ‘He is Coming’—in 1874; and ‘The Sisters’ in 1875. Yet even these works, full of indescribable poetry and romantic beauty, failed to satisfy the artist, who in after years would speak of them as ‘potboilers’ which he had compelled to paint by a tyrannical taskmaster.
Though discontended and professedly unhappy, Matthew Maris was slow to leave what he regarded as a house of bondage, and it was not till 1887—and then chiefly because Mrs Cottier was in ill-health—that he finally left. He went to 47 St John’s Wood Terrace, intending to remain there only a fortnight, while he looked around for a more convenient studio, and he stayed there nineteen years. In 1906 he found a home at 18 Westbourne Square, Paddington, in a half-flat with a small painting room, and in this modest abode, tended by a faithful housekeeper, he remained till he died on August 17, 1917. He seldom went out and he had few visitors, the most intimate friends of his later years being the Dutch picture-dealer, Mr E J Van Wisselingh and his wife, a Scottish lady, daughter of Mr Craibe Angus, of Glasgow, who had been one of the earliest British patrons of Matthew Maris. His later paintings became more and more mysterious; instead of the clear outlines of his earlier pictures, forms were seen dimly as through a mist, and these pictures he would work over and over many times, each re-painting seeming to cast a new veil over faces and figures that became more and more spiritual. Had he wished, Matthew Maris might have had fortune as well as fame, for there were ardent collectors in many countries eager to secure examples of his works, but his means were straightened largely because he could with difficulty bring himself to part with a picture and desired to keep them all in his painting room. In 1911 a Dutch admirer of his work, Mr Thomsen, of The Hague, offered to the compatriot of whom he was proud a small pension. This the painter accepted, and the pension was continued till his death.
An abnormal being, Matthew Maris was ‘alone in the world’ because he chose of his own accord to live the life of a hermit shut up with his dreams.
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