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| Wallpaper: A History of Styles and Trends |
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| Wallpaper: A History of Styles and Trends | Carolle Thibaut-Pomerantz | Flammarion |
I decided to decorate my frieze with a scroll, and this design caught my eye as the sort of look I wanted to achieve. It's a detail from an 1808 wallpaper design by the French company Dufour. Looking at the image below, you can see that the wallpaper design accurately reflects a Pompeian temple frieze.
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| Pompeii | Coarelli | Riverside |
This was a small temple in Pompeii, dedicated to Aesculapius (
Asclepius in Greek), the god of medicine and healing. Aesculapius was a son of Apollo and carried the snake-entwined rod that remains the symbol of medicine to this day.
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| Pompeii | Coarelli | Riverside |
Here's a scroll from a Pompeian interior mural. It comes from the salon of the House of the Painters at Work, so called because evidence suggests that the eruption of Mount Vesuvius interrupted a mural in progress.
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| The Grammar of Ornament | Owen Jones | Portland House |
Owen Jones published
The Grammar of Ornament in 1856, and included this frieze design from Pompeii. He wrote of it, "We have here the acanthus-leaf scroll forming the groundwork, on which are engrafted representations of leaves and flowers interlaced with animals, precisely similar to the remains found in the Roman baths, and which, in the time of Raphael, became the foundation of Italian ornament."
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| Florid Victorian Ornament | Karl Klimsch | Dover |
I settled on this scroll, which is simpler and more refined than the others I've shared. It's a design by the German artist Karl Klimsch (1867-1936), a portrait painter who is widely known today for his ornamental designs, reissued by Dover Publications.
Here's the Pompeii Room as it looks today.
In my next posting, we'll take a look at that brown circle on the far right of the photo above. A good Pompeian mural wouldn't be complete without it!
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Hello Mark:
ReplyDeleteWe are inclined to think that you have made exactly the right decision in your choice of pattern for the frieze. The relatively plain scroll does not, we feel, impinge, detract or dominate in any way the overall decoration of the room nor does it stand out or appear fussy which, with some of the other designs you considered, might well have been the case.
You must be so very excited at the progress to date and how the room is turning out. Have you started to think about how it will be furnished?
Hello, Jane and Lance:
DeleteRegarding furnishings, my intention is to have a set of smaller chairs with a Pompeian look, and to couple them with a light-framed glass-topped table, which would be against a wall. Since the room is quite small, the goal is to have furniture that complements it with as little volume as possible. There will be a lamp on the table, and it too will be small in scale.
Your classical masterpiece is looking awesome! Beautiful frieze with wonderful movement. Can't wait to see what's behind that dot.
ReplyDeleteHi, Loi,
DeleteThe scroll does have nice movement, doesn't it? Next week that brown circle will be quite different — you're looking at the base coat for something else.
French and neoclassical. I think we're on the same page. Yours a dryer version perhaps? And certainly elegant. How do you hide aircon paraphernalia?
ReplyDeleteHello, Columnist,
DeleteThe walls are looking French and neoclassical at the moment, but I warn you that by the end of the project they will be busily Pompeian! (I hope you'll still approve.)
Regarding air conditioning paraphernalia, there is a vent in the room's ceiling which has not shown up yet in photographs. I don't think there's any way of getting around it, but your question has made me realize that I could spray paint the grill the same color as the ceiling (so thanks for asking!).
Hello Mark, That vegetative scroll-work is perfect for your frieze, resembling a Greek key design but much gentler and less rigid. Something about the way it meanders and the curve of those tendrils puts me in mind of Dr. Seuss!
ReplyDeleteWith this addition, your room is starting to get a finished look, and is turning out quite handsome.
--Jim
Hello, Jim,
DeleteI'm really enjoying your analysis of this scroll, not just because I absolutely see the Dr. Seuss style in the tendrils, but also because you have seen, where I did not, that I gravitate to Greek keys even when they're disguised as vegetation. Brilliant!
As I've said the the Columnist, I'm far from having a finished Pompeii Room— I promise many, many more reveals!
Dear Mark - I am pleased that you have chosen to have a delicate garland style frieze, but how wonderful it is all progressing. Can't wait to find out what the brown circle will turn into next week - I have drawn a blank.
ReplyDeleteDear Rosemary,
DeleteI'd love to give you a hint, but I don't think I could say too much without giving it away!
May be it is a stone feature - a mythological face, urn, bust etc.
DeleteMy version won't be, but it could have been a mythological face.
DeleteAh! now I will try one more time - a self portrait!
DeleteNo, but that would be fun.
DeleteDear Mark, You have picked a difficult-to-paint design. At first glance it looks like it would be easy to paint, Even with the aid of a Schablone,. each curve will look slightly different..".that is the beast of the thing".
DeleteYour chosen frieze design is a perfect compliment to the rest of your overall design scheme.
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Dear Gina,
DeleteMy challenge was to find a design that suggested ornateness, but which wouldn't overpower all the detail that is yet to come. As the design gets increasingly complicated, the challenge for everything to be unified will become greater!
Dear Marcus Ruffnerius, talk about a cliffhanger! I can't wait to see what you're up to "behind the brown dot!" I'm sure it will be something none of us could think of on our own and be perfectly delightful. Barbara
ReplyDeleteDear Barbara,
DeleteI do have an affinity for the name Marcus, so thank you for that! When you see what the brown dot turns into next week, You'll say, "Oh, of course!"
Dear Mark, where would any of us be without Dover Publications? I have many of their design history books and still refer to them occasionally. I also, by the way have been known to do borders free-hand, inventing as I go along - usually floral and/or paisley type things with which I sometimes border my drawings. It's so much fun. Fun - remember that? I can tell you're having fun too, Mark. That's primary - right? Love the border you're using for your magnificent room. It's just the sort of thing I've always found impossible to do. My admiration knows no bounds.
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness, thank you!
DeleteI have referenced a large collection of Dover books so often that by now I have a pretty good catalog of images in my mind, not unlike playing a CD often enough to anticipate the order of songs. My favorites by far are the Dover archives of historic ornament, though I'm also partial to the Dover publications of 19th century typography ornaments.
Mark, here's a book from my reference 'library' which I'm thinking you might have come across: THE COMPLETE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLUSTRATION by J.G. Heck - Containing all the original illustrations from the 1851 edition of The Iconographic Encyclopedia of Science, Literature and Art. Publsihed by Park Lane, NY. Reason I mention it at all that is that it seems the sort of book you might enjoy perusing for inspiration.
ReplyDeleteHi again, Yvette,
DeleteI just did a quick inventory of my Dover illustration reference books and can report that I have over five dozen. Heck's book is not among them, but I thank you for the title, and I will look for it.
My favorite reference books are the ones on historic ornament, and one that I would recommend is Franz Sales Meyer's HANDBOOK OF ORNAMENT, not just because it catalogs ornament through the ages, but because the styles of ornament are accompanied with good commentary.