Reality Fragments

vivalundinproductions:

Joseph Chinard

Etienne-Vincent Marniola

Portrait Bust 1809

(via vivalundinproductions)

sculpture

Antony Gormley (1950 − )OUT OF THIS WORLD

1983-84

Out of this World is an early clay and lead sculpture. Gormley has discussed how unpleasant it can be to work with lead - a nasty, noxious substance. Yet his appreciation of this metal is partly autobiographical. Born in 1950, Gormley grew up during the precarious political climate of the Cold War. From the 1960s to the early 1980s there was a perva¬sive belief that the world would end in a nuclear holocaust. Many of Gormley’s early sculptures were informed by this conviction, and his choice of lead was inspired by the material’s ability to insulate against radiation. Out of this World consists of a clay figure crouching on top of a large head made from lead. The head is hollowed out, like a shelter, and Gormley has indicated that this could be a protective case for the figure above. The grid across the face could also represent the lines on a globe, suggesting that this is an existential experience in which the seated figure is cowed by the vast, untrammelled cosmos in which it is suspended. The head is also reminiscent of Constantin Brancusi’s Sleeping Muse (1909-10),[2] an icon of Modernism and one of the compo¬nents of a group of sculptures that culminated in a simple ovoid called The Beginning of the World (1920).[3] Gormley’s version could be inter¬preted as its apocalyptic opposite.

Dimensions

130 X 120 X 90 CM
Media LEAD, FIBREGLASS AND LEAD, FIBREGLASS AND CLAY

bookspaperscissors:

Textile sculptures by Karine Jollet

DogBoy. Terracotta. Some people thought he looked like a monkey, sadface.

Creator:

Guido Mazzoni (d. 1518) (sculptor)

Creation Date:

c. 1498

Materials:

Painted and gilded terracotta

Dimensions:

31.8 x 34.3 x 15.2 cm

RCIN

73197

Reference(s):
XQG 1964 Italian 53
XQG 1988 121
XQG 2002 59

Acquirer:

Henry VIII, King of England (1491-1547)

Provenance:

Perhaps commissioned by or presented to Henry VII

Description:

This fragile bust seems to have remained in the Royal Collection since it was made. It is probably identifiable with the ‘Head of a laughing boy’ noted at Whitehall Palace in the reign of James II and in the Store Room at Whitehall Palace in an inventory made for William III; also with the ‘Cast of a Chinese boy - laughing countenance’ that was sent to Brighton Pavilion on 4 September 1815. It has subsequently been described as a laughing girl, a German dwarf, and as a portrait of Henry VIII (1491-1547) as a 7-year-old boy.

In 1925 Lionel Cust, Surveyor of the King’s Pictures and Works of Art, attributed the bust to the Modenese sculptor Guido Mazzoni, also known as Paganino. Mazzoni’s surviving work consists almost entirely of life-size painted terracottas of the same strikingly realistic character, forming groups of the Nativity and Lamentation. A second, equally consistent mark of his work is a very high degree of technical proficiency, which is fully evident here. The bust was formed of clay pressed into a mould to a maximum thickness of 5 millimetres, and the boy’s open mouth, ears and nostrils served to allow steam to escape during firing. Paint analysis was carried out in 1964 and in 1985-8, when the bust was cleaned, and nineteenth-century overpaint was removed from the child’s tunic, revealing the original scheme - a green glaze over an incised layer of tin foil, perhaps intended to imitate cloth of gold.

When Mazzoni was working on the tomb of the French King Charles VIII in Paris in the late 1490s, he submitted designs and an estimate for the tomb of Henry VII for Westminster Abbey, which were later rejected in favour of those by Pietro Torrigiano. The estimate does not indicate whether Mazzoni (who is called ‘Master Pageny’ in the English accounts) ever came to London, and no commission for the bust has come to light. Its identification as Prince Henry remains conjectural, supported only by its royal provenance and by the child’s apparent age.

Catalogue entry from Royal Treasures, A Golden Jubilee Celebration, London 2002

(via Henry VIII (1491-1547) when a young boy (?) | The Royal Collection)

CLASSIC VERACRUZ
Mexico
Ballplayer
600–900
Ceramic

21 1/4 x 21 1/2 x 20 inches

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

A ballgame similar to soccer was important in Pre-Columbian cultures of ancient Mexico and neighboring areas. Large playing fields have been discovered in ceremonial centers. The winner was predetermined: Rulers emerged victorious, and the captive enemies lost both the game and their lives as an offering to the gods.

Depictions of ballgames appear on painted ceramics and architectural stele, or carved monuments. Players and objects related to the ballgame were carved from stone and molded in clay. Life-size ceramic ballplayers like this one are extremely rare. He sits cross-legged with his hands resting on his knees, arms fully extended, and wearing what would have been a leather helmet secured by a band and strap. Heavy fringe to deflect bright sunlight extends over the helmet’s rim. His ears are pierced for ornaments, probably of perishable material. The ballplayer wears large, elaborate wrist bands, possibly for protection, and a protective yoke around his waist.

The entire figure is exceptional for its elegance with smooth skin, almond eyes, high cheekbones, and full mouth. The limbs are graceful with elongated fingers and toes and deeply incised nails. When painted, this ballplayer must have been astonishingly realistic. Traces of paint remain.