Émile Prisse d’Avesnes (d’Avennes) (1807-1879)

I was very taken by these gorgeous illustrations posted recently over at the indispensable BibliOdyssey. From BibliOdyssey:

Émile Prisse d’Avesnes (d’Avennes) (1807-1879) was an important mid-19th century French Egyptologist and something of a polymath. He was a soldier, engineer, writer, illustrator and talented linguist.

“When he returned to Paris in I860; Prisse brought 300 folio drawings of paintings of various epochs, each up to seven or eight meters (23 to-26 feet) long; 400 meters (1300 feet) of paper impressions of bas-reliefs; 150 photographs of architectural and ornamental details, plans,sections and elevations; and 150 stereoscopic photographs, together with his enormous collection of drawing and notes. He also brought back, and later donated to the Louvre, the skulls of 29 mummies which he had identified by era, position and individual name.” [source]

Incidentally, not long afterwards I was browsing Cooper Union Typography’s post on Aldo Novarese, and a specimen for his typeface Egizio uses a very similar image.

Karen’s Whimsy

I am thoroughly fascinated by history (especially the Middle Ages) and I love to unashamedly indulge in the elaborate, romanticised version of Medieval history that appears in books, films and illustrations. For this reason, I was very excited to stumble upon Karen’s Whimsy, a website containing hundreds of public domain vintage images of everything from King Arthur of Camelot and Medieval Knights to Victorian, Renaissance and other Vintage Fashion. In fact, I believe there are even some images of Molluscs and a section devoted to Celtic Knot Patterns.

[That reminds me…] Pattern & Embellishments

Today I saw this lovely piece of work for Madam Madsen by Tim Bjørn whilst reading the selective and inspiring blog designworklife.

This made me think of other inspiring work I have been seeing lately that use pattern in a similar way. Firstly, it reminded me of Jessica Hische, (previously featured) and her wonderfully intricate embellishments, and secondly of the wonderful Marian Bantjes’ complex, highly resolved work.


Jessica Hische

Marian Bantjes’ Restraint typeface

And thirdly, it reminded me of the Kolam patterns that I also saw very recently on the equally wonderful BibliOdyssey.

Kolam (as it is known in Kerala and Tamilnadu) is form of sandpainting using rice powder that is traditionally practised by female members of the family outside the home. They are thought to bring prosperity to the home.

Images from BibliOdyssey

According to Bibbi Forsman:

“The basic pattern is a mathematical construction of beauty, one single line with no beginning and no end.”

Images — Bibbi Forsman

There’s such a rhythm and balance to these patterns and designs, and I love the craft and the mathematics involved in its traditional practise.

A few other delightful aspects of Kolam:

“Through the day, the drawings get walked on, rained out, or blown around in the wind; new ones are made the next day. Every morning before sunrise, the floor is cleaned with water, the universal purifier, and the muddy floor is swept well for an even surface.”

And my favourite:

“In olden days, kolams used to be drawn in coarse rice flour, so that the ants don’t have to work so hard for a meal. The rice powder is said to invite birds and other small critters to eat it, thus inviting other beings into one’s home and everyday life: a daily tribute to harmonious co-existence.”

(both—Wikipedia)

These characteristics of the practise reminded me of part of an essay by Ros Moriarty called Interpreting Visual Language: Aboriginal Australia (in Open Manifesto 2, 2005). Moriarty explains that the Indigenous Australian mark-making process similarly rejects the idea of art as precious, and immediately after being made a mark will naturally start to deteriorate and disappear.

“The diametric opposition between Indigenous and Western approaches to art, applies equally to signage. While a Western artist might often create a work to hang in a permanent location, to be reviewed and assessed, judged and acclaimed, the immediacy of Indigenous art making has no such aspirations. Whether gouged from rock on an inaccessible cliff face, scattered in ochre on the ceremony ground, or slathered in river clay on an initiate’s body, patterns and symbols are about the meaning of the moment. Their spontaneous beauty lacks artifice or self-interest. The very act of their creation is to pass knowledge, re-enact process, ensure meaning will pass to each new generation.”

Artist: Giovanni Battista Braccelli [Baroque Period]

I recently found my way over to Rare Book Room via TypeNeu.

There I was blown away by images I found of a book by Giovanni Battista Braccelli (b. between 1600–1650). He was an ‘almost unknown’ Florentine painter and engraver and the book illustrated below book remained obscure until relatively recent times.

A remarkable precursor of the radical artistic movements of the twentieth century, this rare show of visual oddities is filled with fabulous and jocund variations on the human form, constructed from a hallucinatory variety of animate and inanimate components.
— From Octavo

The book, Bizzarie di Varie Figure, (1624) is full of the most extraordinary figures made up of all sorts of different shapes and objects. It is fascinating and brilliant.

All images below are © The Rare Book Room. http://www.rarebookroom.org/