Laughter, Crying, Terror, and Tranquility … all stipple engravings made by George Stubbs' son: George Townly Stubbs (after his father) …
These prints, by Townly Stubbs, reproduce a lost set of wax models of facial expressions made by his father based on the influential illustrations of 'passions' designed by the 17th century French history painter Charles Le Brun, which many artists of the period used as a guide for depicting human expression.Laughter
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Charles Le Brun's The Expressions (1619 - 1690) |
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Echorche by Leonardo |
As you might have gathered … I've become slightly obsessed with the work of George Stubbs …
Stubbs was 'full on' as far as experimentation was concerned … which I'm sure you've gathered from this post and the earlier one.
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Terror / Fright |
He also collaborated with Josiah Wedgwood in producing ceramic plaques … it took over three years for a satisfactory 'canvas' to be prepared … with which Stubbs and Wedgwood continued to refine.
During this time – Stubbs also experimented with methods of painting enamels on copper. Again a few years passed as he worked with new pigments appropriate for enamelling in the 1700s.
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One of the books I learnt from |
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Anglo-Saxon hilt showing garnet inlay in the Cloisonne style |
Mosan 12thC armiet - showing the cast
recesses for the enamal
(in the Champleve style)
The main forms of enamelling are Champlevé, Cloisonné, Bassetaille, and painted (vitreous) enamels … these latter were the type Stubbs was exhibiting. I've linked Wikipedia's pages for each type …
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Vitreous Enamelling on my ring |
Well that's it … I just wish I was artistic and technically capable … still curiosity clicks in … as you can see …
The ring was made for me about 20 years ago … it's beautiful and was a wonderful prize to win – I got to chose what I wanted made … lucky me.
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Tranquility ... let's all be tranquil |
Hilary Melton-Butcher
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