March 11th Today, I am...

...this beautiful Art Nouveau hand mirror!

We've mentioned Art Nouveau before. The name came from an interior design gallery in Paris, the Maison de l’Art Nouveau. This style uses forms that resemble stems and blossoms of plants as well as geometrical forms. The coming of Art Nouveau can be traced to two specific influences: the first was the introduction, of the Arts and Crafts movement, that was led by the English designer William Morris. Just like Art Nouveau, this movement was a reaction against the cluttered designs of Victorian-era decorative art. The second influence was the latest vogue for Japanese art, especially wood-block prints, which swept up many European artists in the 80s and 90s, such as Gustav Klimt, Emile Galle and James Abbott McNeill Whistler. The Japanese wood-block prints consisted of floral and rounded forms, and “whiplash” curves, these were the elements that would eventually become Art Nouveau. Hand mirrors have a long history of use both as household accessories and as objects of decoration. For the most part, they were hand cut and beveled, then framed in an array of metals, such as German silver, brass, silver plate and sterling, some with a gold wash. 

other Art Nouveau hand mirrors:

interesting mirror facts:

* Narcissus was supposedly bewitched by his own reflection in a pool of water, and magic powers are ascribed to mirrors in fairy tales
* the concepts of the soul are often associated with mirrors, which results in a wealth of superstition surrounding mirrors (for instance, breaking a mirror causes seven years of bad luck because the soul which shatters with the broken mirror regenerates every seven years)
* mirrors also have a strong connection to spirits; they are covered when some dies, because according to some superstitions, a mirror can trap the soul of the person who dies
* a broken mirror to this day is said to bring seven years of bad luck; this curse goes back thousands of years ago to the period of ancient Romans
* the first mirrors were often sheets of polished metal and were used almost exclusively by the ruling classes
* silvering—the process of coating the back of a glass sheet with melted silver—became the most popular method for making mirrors in the 1600s
* in some severe cases, the images these mirrors reflected were similar to those we'd see in a fun-house mirror today

(facts found at Encyclopedia.com and  Mirror History)

March 5th Today, I am...

...Queen Maud of Norway's dress!

Queen Maude of Wales was born in 1869. She became Queen of Norway in 1905. She was a daughter of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra of the United Kingdom. Maud of Wales was the first queen of Norway since 1380 who was not also queen of Denmark or Sweden. As for the dress, I am a gorgeous example of Art Nouveau Fashion of late 19th and early 20th century. A square silhouette (broad, padded shoulders and straight body) was typical. New inventions like the zipper (for shoes) and rayon (for hosiery) found their way into fashion. Women's clothing softened, sleeves became more modest, and a soft, triangular silhouette developed. Later the triangular skirt became cylindrical, producing a narrow, rectangular silhouette. Bodices and skirts were more commonly combined into one-piece dresses, and lighter construction was used. Tailored looks became more popular. Top fashion designers such as Paul Poiret experimented with unusual silhouettes. Soft fabrics like crepe, charmeuse, chiffon, and batiste were popular for tea dresses and evening gowns. Dresses made of lace, or embroidered cotton combined with lace, were fashionable for warm weather. Firmer fabrics such as wool and cotton duck were used for tailored wear.
The House of Worth (a French house of high fashion) sold these designs throughout Europe.

other Queen Maude's dresses:

interesting Art Nouveau fashion facts:

* this was a period of immense social upheaval, particularly for women
* after the war (WW1), there was an explosion of exhuberance in style, as a youthful generation took center stage amid a decade of prosperity
* the excitement of Jazz Age life, prohibition, and the idealization of college men and coeds in the US gave a youthful emphasis to fashion
* knits, leather, and rayon for the first time became important fashion materials
* during the depression years of the 1930's fashion was driven by the fantasies of Hollywood, and by a desire to return to a more traditionally feminine image for women
*  in the late Art Nouveau period movie stars like Marlene Dietrich and Katherine Hepburn made it acceptable for women to wear trousers in public
* the war (WW2) provided an opportunity for American designers to establish themselves; previously fashion ideas had emanated mainly from Paris

(all facts found at: Art, Design and Visual Thinking)

February 21st ~Today, I am...

...this exquisite fork!

I was produced in 1902 as a serving fork for high class. I am made of silver with beautiful delicate decorations. I belong to artistic period of Art Nouveau (meaning "New Art"), which is a modern french style in its finest during 1890 and 1910. Art Nouveau "was inspired by natural forms and structures, not only in flowers and plants, but also in curved lines." It was found in all forms, such as furniture, buildings, accessories, perfume bottles, dresses and so on. Periodically, it is very close or even overlaps with another interesting, but a bit more graphical style, Art Deco. We will be seing a lot of these two styles on this page!

here are some other forks in Art Nouveau style:

interesing FORK FACTS:

* it is against the law to eat chicken with a fork in Georgia, the "Chicken Capital of the World"
* in the 11th century the Christian Church was opposed to the use of forks; when a Byzantine princess who used a 2 tined gold fork died from the plague, her death was called "a just punishment from God"
* forks were initially used for the carving of meat
* the fork was very important in Germany because they believed eating with your fingers was very rude and disrespectful