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Albumen Prints
Albumen prints were a major nineteenth century photographic development in printing positive prints of high quality. Its discovery in 1850 followed experimentation with a number of less successful approaches.
The photographic process known as Salted Paper Prints was developed in 1834 by William Henry Fox Talbot, an Englishman. The process, though revolutionary for its time, had its limitations due to the use of paper for the negative and also for the printed [...] Click here to continue reading.
Globe-Wernicke Barrister Bookcases
Barrister, or lawyer, bookcases are characterized by their stackable modular construction and glass paned lift-doors designed to keep books free of dust. The bookcases are found in as few as two and as many as seven stackable shelving units, usually in oak (plain or quarter-sawn), but occasionally in mahogany or imitation mahogany. Higher-grade units often have an Arts & Crafts flavored leading to the glass doors with beveled or colored glass [...] Click here to continue reading.
Constitution Mirrors
The term Constitution Mirror is modern usage, some would say ‘collector’s terminology’, to describe a specific form of high-style Chippendale mirror.
These mirrors, mostly of English manufacture in mahogany or mahogany veneer, were made from approximately 1720 to 1820 and all contain several common elements. Virtually all of them have swan neck pediments, often gilded, centering an ornamental finial. This finial frequently takes the form of a bird with wings extended and [...] Click here to continue reading.
Brise Fan
A brise fan is one which consists of a set of sticks and guards with no pleated leaf such as a folding fan has, often being held together by only the rivet at the bottom and a ribbon or cord at the top. The sticks are generally the same length as the guards and can be decorated in a variety of techniques, such as carving, piercing, painting, etc. Feathers may also be [...] Click here to continue reading.
Trenton Falls, New York
The geologic feature known as Trenton Falls is located in Oneida County, New York and was a major tourist destination in the nineteenth century. The falls comprise several drops of the West Canada Creek totaling 270 feet over a series of limestone ledges creating seven major falls, including: Upper High Falls, Lower High Falls, Village Falls, Cascade of the Alhambra, Sherman Falls, Bridal Veil Falls and Mill Dam Falls.
Beginning [...] Click here to continue reading.
Tipi – Terminology
There are many differing terms and spellings for similar Native American artifacts and practices, both in the English language and among the various North American tribes. Given this widely varied usage, p4A.com has elected to follow the Smithsonian’s Handbook of North American Indians in selecting the most authentic terminology and spellings for the database. In this case we use the term “tipi,” as opposed to “tepee” or “teepee” used elsewhere, for [...] Click here to continue reading.
Edmund Henry Osthaus (American, 1858 to 1928)
Edmund Henry Osthaus, born in Hildesheim, Germany, began his studies at the Royal Academy in Dusseldorf in 1874, where he had the privilege of studying with Andreas Muller, Peter Janse, E.V. Gebhardt, E. Deger and Christian Kroner. By 1882, at the age of 22, Osthaus left the Academy and followed his parents to America in 1883.
He settled in Ohio, where he found work as the head [...] Click here to continue reading.
Chopin Foundry
The Felix Chopin foundry (Chopen, Shopen) was one of the leading foundries working in bronze in St. Petersburg in the late nineteenth century. Their craftsmen were noted for their experience in casting highly detailed sculptures and for their technical ability to make accurate reductions of larger works for smaller sized editions.
Reference note by p4A editorial staff, 06.09.
Gueridon
Gueridon has unclear origins, but the French word has come to mean something similar to “decorative candlestand.” When the word originally came into use, it tended to refer to a small table with a circular top and the distinctive feature of a central figural support. The figures were usually Moorish or Indian. The form evolved and gueridon continued to be applied to three-legged tables with figural-carved legs, and during the Louis XV and [...] Click here to continue reading.
Pietra Dura
Pietra dura (also pietre dure) is an Italian phrase, with pietra meaning “stone” and dura meaning “hard” or “durable.” While pietra dura is the preferred term (at least according to The Getty’s Art and Architecture Thesaurus at http://www.getty.edu/research/conducting_research/vocabularies/aat/), the terms micromosaic or Florentine mosaic are occasionally encountered. (Some find “micromosaic” to be a little objectionable, applying only to the “rougher” forms of the art produced for the tourist trade.)
Pietra dura is [...] Click here to continue reading.
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