|
|
|
|
WELCOME TO THE EAST FINCHLEY OPEN ARTISTS MAY NEWSLETTER
|
|
|
This Month - Persian Carpets - Hampstead Art Fair - The Willow Pattern - Members News - and more
If you are viewing on gmail remember to click 'display images' and 'view entire message' when you reach the bottom.
|
|
|
OUR RECENT EXHIBITION 'INTERPLAY'
HAS CONCLUDED AT THE ORIGINAL GALLERY, HORNSEY LIBRARY
|
|
|
OUR NEXT MAJOR EVENT IS THE EVER POPULAR ARTISTS OPEN HOUSE WEEKENDS - 24/25th JUNE and 1/2nd JULY.
MORE INFORMATION NEXT MONTH
|
|
A couple of months ago we featured mosaics. This is the second part of art you can walk on – Carpets
MIKE COLES writes:-
When considering excellence in the art and skill of carpet making, probably the first thing you think of are hand made Persian carpets, and predictably the most expensive carpet ever sold is a Persian.
(The former Persia, modern day Iran, is the centre of a much larger ‘Carpet belt’ that runs from Turkey to the Far East and which includes what was originally the greater Persian Empire)
When we are talking about Persian carpets we are generally talking about pile carpets made up of individual knots of dyed wool (or sometimes silk, cotton or other materials) built up on a vertical ‘warp’ of, usually, cotton threads, crossed with a horizontal ‘weft’ of thinner threads. The density of the knots is often used as the yardstick to the quality and value of the carpet. High densities of knots, (maybe up to 800 per inch) can take years to make. There are other types of woven carpets, but pile ones are the most valuable and sought after.
The origins of floor coverings were originally practical. Thousands of years ago, nomadic tribesmen between Eurasia and Mongolia were the first to create pile carpets, wanting something more pleasant than smelly sheepskins. These carpets were woven to add warmth and comfort to their simple tent homes. Over time, as more and more tribes mastered the technique of weaving pile rugs, it became a common practice to incorporate their creativity into the designs transforming a trade skill into works of art.
This was the start of the world carpet industry. Simple looms were made of two wooden ribs which were secured to the ground and between them the warp was fastened. These horizontal looms, which are still used today by the nomads, have the advantage that they fold easily and can be moved to the next camp.
Over the centuries the skill of carpet weaving has been handed down by fathers to their sons, who built upon those skills and in turn handed them down to their own children as a closely guarded family secret.
From being practical coverings to protect the nomadic tribesmen from the cold and damp, the increasing beauty and quality of the carpets found them new owners - kings and noblemen, for whom they became signs of wealth, prestige, and distinction.
|
|
In 1949, Russian archaeologists discovered the oldest known "knotted" carpet in the Pazyryk valley, about 5000 feet up on the Altai Mountains in Siberia. Dating back to the fifth century BC, aside from its unique beauty, the Pazyryk carpet is woven with great technical skill. It measures around 2 metres square and has a knot density of approximately 360,000 knots per square meter. It has a higher knot density than most carpets around today. The middle of the pattern consists of a ribbon motif, in one border there is a procession with deers and in another warriors on horses. Probably woven in Persia around 500-400 B.C, when it was found it had been frozen in a block of ice, which is why it is so well-preserved.
In most Persian carpets cotton is used for both warp and weft, (called the ‘foundation’), however, some tribal carpets use wool in their foundation and intricate silk rugs often use silk as a foundation, as well as for the pile. (Pile refers to the material or fibre used in ’knotting’ the carpet which produces the tufts on the surface of the carpet.) Although the main materials used in Persian rugs are wool, silk and cotton, and sometimes camel or goats wool is added by tribal weavers - camel hair being pretty much indestructible.
|
|
|
Traditional Persian carpets use natural dyes made from plants and minerals
|
|
These materials are traditionally dyed with natural dyes. Indigo, produced by fermentation of indigo plant blossoms, is the source for all shades of blue. Mixing different dyes creates various colours, for example, mixing saffron with indigo produces green. Saffron, pear leaves, almonds, and buckhorn berries produce different shades of yellow. The most common dye made from plants is Madder, which creates a red colour and is quite prevalent in older carpets. Black is obtained by submerging previously dyed brown wool in indigo. Cochineal is a small insect - when the female is roasted and pulverized, (as you would), the resulting powder produces hues of violet. Many colours in the purple range result in combining a red and indigo.
Over the centuries, rulers of the Persian Empire and of India in particular, specifically promoted carpet making at their palaces and courts and used the carpets as a symbol of prosperity and wealth. Some unique artworks from the 15th and 16th centuries can still be admired in museums today, including the V & A.
A few words about the process. The weaving of pile rugs is time-consuming, and, depending on the quality and size of the rug, may take anywhere from a few months to several years to complete.
As we mentioned earlier, to begin making a carpet, you need a foundation consisting of warps and wefts: Warps are strong, thick threads of cotton, wool or silk which run through the length of the rug. Similar threads, wefts, pass under and over the warps from one side to the other.
Weaving normally begins from the bottom of the loom, by passing a number of wefts through the warps to form a base to start from. Knots of dyed wool, cotton or silk threads are then tied in rows around consecutive sets of adjacent warps. As more rows are tied to the foundation, these knots become the pile of the rug. Between each row of knots, one or more wefts are passed to keep the knots fixed. The wefts are then beaten down by a comb-like instrument, the comb beater, to further compact and secure the newly woven row.
Depending on the fineness of the weave, the quality of the materials and the expertise of the weavers, the knot count of a handmade rug can vary anywhere from 16 to 800 knots per square inch. The colours of the knot threads form the design of the carpet.
After the carpet knotting is complete the pile is very long and un-even and the pattern barely visible from the front. At this stage the pile must be carefully clipped and shaved to the correct height which in turn shows the design and achieves an even texture. Washing the rug ensures there is no colour run later in life and removes excess dye and debris. This process may be repeated several times.
And so, for centuries Persian carpets were the gold standard in floor coverings, well out of the range of ordinary people – and then…
Enter American Erastus Bigelow born 1814 in Massachusetts, the son of a cotton weaver.
|
|
|
left: - Erastus Bigelow right- His infernal carpet making machine at Crystal Palace
|
|
In 1839, the carpet industry was changed forever by the invention of the power loom for weaving carpets. Created by Erastus Bigelow. His mechanical loom doubled carpet production the first year after its invention. Bigelow, who because of family circumstances had had little formal education, nevertheless had an aptitude for invention and had already adapted cloth loom technology to make rope and lace by the time of the 1851 ‘Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations’ at Crystal Palace in London, where, aged 37, he showed his first powered mechanical carpet loom to great acclaim.
Marvelling at its technical complexity The Illustrated London News attempted to describe it:
“Wires three feet or more in length are here inserted and withdrawn with a precision and quickness which no manual dexterity ever attained.
Let us watch the operation.
First mark that intruding knife or wedge, which, as it rises, separates from its companions the wire next to be taken, and guides the pusher, which shoves it along toward the pincers. The pincers now walk up, grasp the wire, and draw it entirely out. While this is doing, another set of nippers, hanging down like two human hands, come forward, descend, and catch the wire at the moment when the drawing pincers drop their prey.
No sooner have they seized the wire than they retreat to their original position, beneath which a small angular trough has just arrived. The fingers relax, and the wire drops into the trough, which immediately returns. Last of all, a triangular pusher, rushing through the trough, sends the rod into the open shed.
Note, also, the double action of the withdrawing pincers, which, while they attend to their own special mission, perform also sergeant's duty by constantly bringing into line the draggling wires. Those bird-like three-fingered claws, which dart back and forth with such rapidity, are busy in plaiting the selvedge, and their work is perfect. These too are ‘contrived a double debt to pay,’ for whenever their thread breaks they instantly stop the loom.”
Around the same time the introduction of synthetic dyes brought about another significant change and now, in no time at all, the middle classes could have their own ‘Persian’ carpets.
|
|
|
The 'Clark Sickle-Leaf Vine' carpet - yours for £27 million!
|
|
The most expensive carpet ever sold is an antique 17th century Persian. The ‘Clark Sickle-Leaf Vine’ carpet sold for $33.7 million (£27 million) at a Sotheby’s auction in June 2013. The carpet was woven in Kerman, Iran, featuring a vase pattern. Vase carpets depict colourful vases overflowing with flowers. There may be a single vase at the centre, or many smaller vases sprinkled across the face of the rug.
Kerman carpets often feature vivid reds and golds. Part of the reason these are so popular is due to the rare weaving technique used to construct them. The Clark Sickle-Leaf Vine Carpet is the only known vase-technique rug with a red background, which is part of why it sold for so much. The vase technique utilizes asymmetrical knots that give them a unique shine and texture.
|
|
Not all Persian carpets have that traditional look.
Persian Gabbeh carpets from the Shiraz area in the south of Iran have abstract, almost modern designs.
For centuries, they have been made by nomads who roamed across the southwestern region of Persia. To produce authentic Persian Gabbeh carpets, nomad and semi-nomad weavers use hand-spun wool threads gathered from the sheep herds in their local area. No design templates are used for this process. Instead, the design of each Persian Gabbeh is the direct outcome of each weaver’s creative talent, a one-of-a-kind artwork.
|
|
The Coronation Carpet
The Coronation Carpet was used at the 1902 coronation of Queen Victoria’s son, Edward VII, hence the name. The carpet is believed to be from Tabriz in Iran, due to the carpet’s exceptionally high quality.
At the time, only the best carpets came from Tabriz.
The exact date that the carpet was woven is undetermined although it’s thought to be from the Safavid period in the second quarter of the 16th century. Very few carpets from this period survived, making the Coronation Carpet particularly rare if true.
|
|
|
So, what about the future of hand made Persian carpets?
The world is changing – American trade sanctions against Iran did lasting damage to the Iran carpet industry, cutting off its biggest market. The trade sanctions have now been lifted but Persian carpets have fallen out of favour even in Iran, with many middle-class Iranians preferring cheaper plastic laminate floor covers. Those who still like carpets often go for cheaper Chinese and Indian copies.
“We are selling around 10 percent of what we used to sell over a decade ago,” said Morteza Talebi, who runs the Shiraz bazaar in Iran. The century-old bazaar was filled with carpet shops, but there were no buyers. Even the original producers of carpets, the nomads, are becoming harder to find. Tourists are taken to a nomadic camp outside Shiraz. There, men cheerfully blow trumpets and shoot rifles into the air to celebrate their visitors. Women in colourful traditional clothes spin wool, others weave a carpets.
But it turns out that several of the “nomads” were recovering drug addicts from other parts of the country who were entertaining tourists as part of an attempt to stay clean.
“Many nomads are in search of jobs and better salaries,” said Mina Bahram Abadian, a member of an Iranian group that helps nomads and drug addicts. Their situation is not that different from the problems many indigenous people have worldwide," she said.
“Divorce rates are up, as is drug use,” she said. “They cannot cope with all the changes. They get depressed and stop making carpets.”
|
|
|
Carpets have turned up in paintings. Vermeer’s ‘Young Woman with a Water Pitcher’ painted around 1662 features a Persian carpet spread over a table.
|
|
If £27 million is a bit too much for you, why not go for a reproduction from Carpet Right (on every High Street) Depending in size, this ‘Persian Carpet’ is available for £30 - £60.
One last oddity, for many years Persian carpets were preferred in sound recording studios for their ability to absorb extraneous noises and neutralise sonic artefacts (whatever they are)
|
|
|
HAMPSTEAD GARDEN SUBURB ART
Our friends at Hampstead Garden Suburb Art have their Art Fair coming up later in the month:-
|
|
|
ALSO COMING UP, IF YOU ARE QUICK!
A DRAWING COMPETITION FOR KIDS
|
|
Pretty much every home in the country has an example of some kind of the famous Chinese Willow Pattern porcelain.
For nearly two centuries, it has been one of the most popular ceramic designs.
Despite its Chinese associations the design is actually uniquely British, so, how did it come to be?
|
|
The fine ceramic we know as porcelain was invented by the Chinese around 2,600 years ago. Made from a kaolin clay mixture, it was a clear white colour which could be made so fine it was almost translucent.
Europeans could only make ceramic items from brown clays so, thanks to the East India Company, delicate blue and white Chinese porcelain wares began to be imported in numbers in the early 1600s.
They became very desirable. The cargoes were so valuable they were known as ‘white gold’. European makers kept trying to re-create porcelain, but kept failing.
As they couldn’t work out how to make genuine porcelain, British and Dutch makers tried another approach. They covered their local brown earthenware with a white tin glaze decorated with mainly blue designs, very often with copycat Chinese-style motifs. From around 1620, the main centre of production was the town of Delft in the Netherlands, and this type of blue and white ware became known as Delftware, wherever it was made.
Eventually, in 1710, the German factory of Meissen found the secret of producing porcelain using locally sourced kaolin and other European makers rapidly followed, but it didn’t stop the desire for real Chinese porcelain - the attraction of the simple combination of blue motif on white continued. Although more Western designs developed, Chinese-themed patterns endured.
The specific willow pattern design we are all used to today is believed to have been originated by Thomas Minton for Thomas Turner’s Caughley factory in Shropshire around 1780. Minton then moved to the Spode factory, Staffordshire, and in 1784 and they started using the design. Willow Pattern has set characteristics. It features a pagoda structure, three figures on a bridge, a figure on a boat, two flying birds and, of course, a weeping willow tree.
There is a story behind it
It tells of Knoon-shee, a lovely Chinese maiden, whose affections were bestowed upon her father's secretary, Chang, but who was commanded by her parents to wed a wealthy rival suitor.
She refused to comply with their wishes, whereupon her enraged father locked her up in the little house just visible on the left of the temple. From here she contrived to send a message to her lover, 'Gather thy blossom, ere it be stolen.' Thus encouraged, Chang succeeded in entering the apple orchard and carrying off his beloved. So we see them hurrying over the bridge. Knoon-shee with a distaff, and Chang carrying her box of jewels, while the angry father follows hard after them armed with a whip - in some patterns also accompanied by the discarded lover.
The couple made good their escape in the 'Chinese ship sailing by' and landed on the island, which can be seen on the left of the picture, where they took refuge in the little wooden house. But the father and discarded suitor tracked them and set fire to the house while they were sleeping; and so the lovers perished.
Next morning, from the ashes rose their spirits, in the forms of two doves. And so we see them with out-stretched wings flying off to the realms of eternal happiness.
It’s disputed whether this was in fact an original Chinese or even Japanese legend brought over from the East by the Crusaders or one actually made up in a pub in Staffordshire.
|
|
The main elements of the ‘Standard Willow Pattern’ include:-
an apple tree, (maybe originally an orange tree)
a main tea house (pagoda)
with a smaller building next
to it, a fence adorning the foreground, a willow tree,
a bridge with three persons crossing it, a boat, an additional building on a separate shore and two birds (probably doves) occupying the central upper section of the ware.
|
|
|
By the beginning of the 20th century most British ceramics companies produced some variant of the Willow Pattern, and it remained popular with buyers throughout the 1900s.
It’s less fashionable at the moment but the Churchill company in Tunstall, Stoke-on-Trent still produce a range called Blue Willow Sandringham. Variations of the design have existed, but ‘Standard Willow Pattern’ is the one most common and the one still in production today. The fact that this pattern was still sold in 2012 by Argos, the largest general goods retailer in the UK, attests to its enduring appeal.
Nowadays the Willow Pattern can be found everywhere - from cheque books to wallpaper and woolly jumpers.
|
|
MEMBERS NEWS - CHRISTINE WATSON
Top EFOA artist Christine Watson PS will be showing four pastels at the Pastel Society Exhibition 2023. This is her first time as an elected member of the society.
The exhibition open from the 24th May to 3rd June at the Mall Galleries
Open daily 10am to 5pm.
See https://www.mallgalleries.org.uk/ for further details.
|
|
Christine will also be showing, along with other EFOA members, two pastels at the Islington Art Society Spring Exhibition at Stoke Newington Library from 11th May to 21st May.
See below for opening times
|
|
ABOUT EAST FINCHLEY OPEN ARTISTS
Find out about us on our website www.eastfinchleyopen.org.uk
There you will find details of all our current members plus photo's of their work and contact details plus information on recent and upcoming exhibitions
MEMBERSHIP: If you are interested in joining East Finchley Open Artists please contact the Membership Secretary at membership@eastfinchleyopen.org.uk
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
