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 Classical GlossaryArt Deco Style: A style of design that was popular in the 1920s and 1930s which is characterized by stylized forms, geometric designs and bold colors. This style has had a lasting impact on jewelry, architecture and other arts in current times. Many Art Deco pieces are found in our "Modern Classics Collection". Bronze Cast: Bronze is the most popular metal for cast metal sculptures; a cast bronze sculpture is often called simply a "bronze." Common bronze alloys have the unusual and desirable property of expanding slightly just before they set, thus filling the finest details of a mold. Their strength and lack of ductility is an advantage when figures in action are to be created. The great civilizations of the old world worked in bronze for art, from the time of the introduction of the alloy for edged weapons. The Greeks were the first to scale the figures up to life size. Few examples exist in good condition; one is the seawater-preserved bronze now called "The Victorious Athlete," which required painstaking efforts to bring it to its present state for museum display. Far more Roman bronze statues have survived. The ancient Chinese, from at least 1200BC, knew both lost-wax casting and section mold casting, and in the Shang dynasty created large ritual vessels covered with complex decoration which have survived in tombs. Over the long creative period of Egyptian dynastic art, small lost-wax bronze figurines were made in large numbers; several thousands of them have been conserved in museum collections. From these beginnings, bronze art has continued to flourish. Making bronzes is highly skilled work, and a number of distinct casting processes may be employed, including lost-wax casting and sandcasting. Many of Unique Classic Accents' pieces are cast in solid bronze by our craftsmen using the same techniques that were used centuries ago, in a completely handicraft process. Burnishing: A process performed on a gilded surface such as a frame or an object, which consists of rubbing with an agate stone (shaped as a cat's claw mounted on a wooden stick) in order to enhance selected parts of the item with a shiny and polished finish. Chiseling: Handicraft process that consists in hammering on a rough bronze cast piece with a tool called a "chisel" (an edge tool with a flat steel blade with a cutting edge) to recreate the details lost in the casting process. The details are copied from the original in the molded but still undetailed piece. Chiseling is time-consuming and requires special skills (i.e., in a rough bronze cast eagle the chiseler recreates with his chisel each feather, the peak, the claw feet, etc.). Empire Style: The Empire Style, sometimes considered the second phase of Neoclassicism, is an early-19th century design movement in architecture, furniture, decorative arts, and the visual arts. The style originated in and takes its name from the period when Napoleon I ruled France, known as the First French Empire, where it was intended to idealize Napoleon's leadership and the French state. An earlier phase of the style was called the Adam style in Great Britain and "Louis Seize" or Louis XVI, in France. The Empire style drew influences from the ancient Roman Empire and its many archaeological treasures which had been rediscovered starting in the 18th century. The preceding Louis XVI and Directoire styles employed straighter, simpler designs in comparison with the Rococo style of the 1700s. Empire designs heavily influenced the American Federal style (such as the United States Capitol building), and both were forms of propaganda through architecture. It was a style of the people, not ostentatious but rather sober and evenly balanced. The style was considered to have "liberated" and "enlightened" architecture just as Napoleon "liberated" the people of Europe with his Napoleonic Code. The most famous Empire-style structures in France are the grand neoclassical Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel, the Vendome column, and La Madeleine, which were built in Paris to emulate the edifices of the Roman Empire. The style took particular root in Imperial Russia, where it was used to celebrate the victory over Napoleon in such memorial structures as the Russian Admiralty, the Kazan Cathedral, the Alexander Column, and the Narva Triumphal Gate. Stalinist architecture is sometimes referred to as Stalin's Empire style. In the United Kingdom, Germany, and the United States, the Empire style was adapted to local conditions and gradually acquired further expression as the Egyptian Revival, Greek Revival, Biedermeier style, Regency style, and late-Federal style. Leaf gilding: Handicraft process that consists of applying very thin metallic leaves on a surface, generally on frames or decorative objects. There are two main types of gilding: oil and water gilding. The names indicate the method by which the metal leaf is applied to the surface. Oil gilding is the cheaper and easier method for applying gold leaves. The advantage of oil gilding is that it can be applied to any smooth non-porous surface, so a piece of furniture, or a frame, only needs to be painted beforehand. The disadvantage is that it cannot be burnished. Traditional water gilding is complicated to learn and is more expensive in labor, but gives a richer result because it allows to highlight desired parts of the piece to be gilt to enhance the final result. Gesso must be used, as the burnishing, which takes place soon after the gold has been layed, actually compresses the softened gesso ground thus creating a smooth, polished surface to which the gold is melted into an apparently solid mass. Originally, the leaves were always of pure gold and were hammered into microscopically thin leaves. The material, though expensive, is used nowadays and is called "fine gold" (you will find some of our pieces gilded in 22K "fine gold"). Also, we find a 50% gold and 50% silver alloy called "white gold" that gives a warm silvery look. The most commonly used leaves to gild are bronze and copper alloy, which cast a gold finish, or aluminum, which casts a silver finish. These sheets of imitation gold or silver are approximately 5.5 in x 5.5 in (14 x 14 cm approx.) and started being used in mid 18th century as a replacement for the real gold. Different patinas and rubbing techniques give different effects and antique-like finishes. We carry gilded pieces crafted in different techniques (such as water or oil gilding) and in different leaf types, like genuine 22 carat gold or gold and silver imitation. Our leaves are always hand-applied by our skillful craftsmen in order to achieve a variety of interesting and eye-catching finishes. Napoleon: Napoleon I (born Napoleone di Buonaparte, later Napoléon Bonaparte) (15 August 1769- 5 May 1821) was a French military and political leader who had significant impact on modern European history. He was a general during the French Revolution, the ruler of France as Premier Consul of the French Republic, Empereur des Français, King of Italy, Mediator of the Swiss Confederation and Protector of the Confederation of the Rhine. Born in Corsica and trained in mainland France as an artillery officer, he first rose to prominence as a general of the French Revolution, leading several successful campaigns against the First Coalition and the Second Coalition arrayed against France. In late 1799, Napoleon staged a coup d'état and installed himself as First Consul; five years later he became the Emperor of the French. In the first decade of the nineteenth century, he turned the armies of France against almost every major European power, dominating continental Europe through a lengthy streak of military victories-epitomized through battles such as Austerlitz and Friedland-and through the formation of extensive alliance systems. He appointed close friends and several members of his family as monarchs and important government figures of French-dominated states. The disastrous French invasion of Russia in 1812 marked a turning point in Napoleon's fortunes. The campaign wrecked the Grande Armée, which never regained its previous strength. In October 1813, the Sixth Coalition defeated his forces at Leipzig and then invaded France. The coalition forced Napoleon to abdicate in April 1814, exiling him to the island of Elba. Less than a year later, he returned to France and regained control of the government in the Hundred Days (les Cent Jours) prior to his final defeat at Waterloo on 18 June 1815. Napoleon spent the remaining six years of his life under British supervision on the island of St. Helena.. His campaigns are studied at military academies all over the world and he is widely regarded as one of history's greatest commanders. Aside from his military achievements, Napoleon is also remembered for the establishment of the Napoleonic Code (Code Napoléon), which laid the bureaucratic foundations for the modern French state. Empire Style, so called because of its identification with the reign of Napoleon I, it was largely inspired by his architects Percier and Fontaine . Traditional classical motifs, already seen in the reign of Louis XVI, were supplemented by symbols of imperial grandeur-the emperor's monogram and his emblem, the bee; representations of military trophies; and after the successful campaigns in Egypt, Egyptian motifs. Furniture was characterized by clear-cut silhouettes and symmetry in decoration. Pedestal tables with claw feet and gondola, or sleigh, beds were in vogue. The staple wood was mahogany, solid or veneer; bronze and ormolu mounts were the chief embellishments. Stucco decoration or painted classical motifs often enriched the walls; the ceilings were plain. The style continued in fashion until c.1830. A simplified form was adopted in England and the United States; a German bourgeois adaptation is known as Biedermeier. Neoclassical Stlye: Neoclassicism arose partly as a reaction against the sensuous and frivolously decorative Rococo style that had dominated European art from the 1720s on. But an even more profound stimulus was the new and more scientific interest in classical antiquity that arose in the 18th century. Neoclassicism was given great impetus by new archaeological discoveries, particularly the exploration and excavation of the buried Roman cities of Herculaneum and Pompeii (the excavations of which began in 1738 and 1748, respectively). And from the second decade of the 18th century on, a number of influential publications by Bernard de Montfaucon, Giovanni Battista Piranesi, the Comte de Caylus, and Robert Wood provided engraved views of Roman monuments and other antiquities and further quickened interest in the classical past. The new understanding distilled from these discoveries and publications in turn enabled European scholars for the first time to discern separate and distinct chronological periods in Greco-Roman art, and this new sense of a plurality of ancient styles replaced the older, unqualified veneration of Roman art and encouraged a dawning interest in purely Greek antiquities. The German scholar Johann Joachim Winckelmann's writings and sophisticated theorizings were especially influential in this regard. Winckelmann saw in Greek sculpture "a noble simplicity and quiet grandeur" and called for artists to imitate Greek art. He claimed that in doing so such artists would obtain idealized depictions of natural forms that had been stripped of all transitory and individualistic aspects, and their images would thus attain a universal and archetypal significance. Wood Carving: Wood carving is a form of woodworking by means of a hand-held cutting tool (this may be a power tool), resulting in a wooden figure or figurine (this may be abstract in nature) or in the sculptural ornamentation of a wooden object. The wood carver begins a new carving by selecting a block of wood that is of the approximate size and shape of the figure he wishes to create. The type of wood is important. Hardwoods are more difficult to shape but have greater luster and longevity. Softer woods may be easier to carve, but are less resistant to damage. Once the sculptor has selected his wood, he begins a general shaping process using gouges of various sizes. The gouge is a curved blade that can remove large portions of wood smoothly. For harder woods, the sculptor may use a chisel and mallet, similar to a stone carver. Smaller sculptures may require the wood carver to use a knife, and larger pieces might require the use of a saw. No matter what wood is selected or tool used, the wood sculptor must always carve with the grain of the wood, never against the grain. Once the general shape is made, the carver may use a variety of tools for creating details. For example, a "veiner" can be used to make deep gouges into the surface, or a "v-tool" for making fine lines or decorative cuts. Once the finer details have been added, the wood carver smooths the surface. General smoothing can be done with tools such as "rasps," which are flat-bladed tools with rippled edges. "Rifflers" are similar to rasps, but round in shape for working in folds or crevasses. The finer polishing is done with sandpaper. Large grained paper with a rougher surface is used first, with the sculptor then using finer grained paper that can make the surface of the sculpture slick to the touch. Finally, the finished carved piece may be polished, painted, gilt, aged with a patina, etc. You will find many of Unique classic Accents' items completely hand carved in solid wood. |
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