Jewelry Boxes: Gorgeous Inspirations from French Armoires

The French Armoire has a beauty to it that remains unrivaled to this day. The designs of these armoires have been so popular that several jewelry boxes over the years have been inspired from them. Armoire is a French word that was originally derived from the Latin one ‘armarium’ meaning a chest.

Armoires came into being from what were originally a series of shelves that were built into the wall and closed with wings or doors. As they evolved they became standalone pieces that looked like a series of chests placed on top of each other with some doors to close them. It was only by the 17th century that more attention came to be paid to their detailing.

In the beginning, these armoires were used in churches and monastries for religious purposes. The nuns used them for books and the priests used them in the sacristy for religious items like oil, vessels, and incense. A few of these are still around like the 13th century oak piece in the Bayeux Cathedral in France

The Cathedral of Noyon also has another well preserved armoire from this period. The Vestry of York has a great example of the perpendicular style of armoires. The way these armoires were decorated too began to evolve with time. There was a serious move from painting these surfaces to carving on them.

Some good samples can be found at Louvre but the best ones are at museums and exhibits in Cluny. A very popular designing element for the 16th century armoire was the linen-fold. England and America soon saw the arrival of the armoire. In its classic version, the armoire is an independent piece of furniture and has double doors that are beautifully carved.

Today, they are designed for a variety of storage purposes. There is the children’s armoire that is used as a toy cabinet. You also have the entertainment armoire that is big enough to hold a TV and all its associated paraphrenalia.

These individual armoires are also used as crockery cabinets, linen cupboards, as book shelves and more. Jewelry armoires are perhaps the prettiest of them all. These can stand on their own or can be wall mounted as well. These wooden structures can be carved ornately and give you a great way to store and show of your collection.

There are several styles that you can look into. The legs of the cottage style armoire are turned out and the design inspired from the colonial era. Finished in semi-gloss, the wood of this armoire is simple yet elegant. Pieces inspired from antique armoires have turned out legs as well. The carving and the style of decor is hand crafted and beautiful.

Present day armoires do have the basic shape of the classic version but with a modern look. Queen Anne style is popular for its hand renditions of scenery with roses and vines. Armoires enhance your decor with a wonderfully classic touch and give your jewelry a great setting.

So why wait any longer? Get out there and find the armoire that suits you best.

This article was written by Ruth D’Souza Prabhu of MarqART Gift Shop. Our jewelry boxes feature evocative wood art designs, created from unique wood grain patterns and colors. A fine addition to your dressing table or as a gift. Please visit http://www.marqartgiftshop.com to browse & buy exotic marqart jewelry box that will give you a lifetime of pleasure!

Tags: Jewelry, marqart jewelry box

American Marquetry, a Constantly Evolving Art Form

Decorating with wood is the best possible way to describe the art of Marquetry. Wooden surfaces of objects are adorned in an ornamental way with veneers. Multi-colored veneers are cut into different shapes and sizes and are then glued onto wooden surfaces in some decorative designs.

For centuries now, the art of Marquetry has been used to beautify wooden furniture and ornamental objects made of wood. This was a popular art form in Europe since the 17th century. It is this that inspired the American tradition of Marquetry.

In the 19th century German immigrants brought Marquetry to America. The mechanized wood industry stood in complete contrast to the art form. Beautiful pieces of art were created from simple hand tools and some glue.

Americans began to take to Marquetry closer to the time of the Civil War. The obsession with Marquetry then lasted for close to a century. On closer examination of the pieces created then, it is clear that locally available woods like cherry and maple were opted for.

Woods like Mahogany and other exotic versions were imported for use. Americans took to enhancing pieces of Marquetry by staining wood for added color. The number of patterns that thus became possible were quite limitless.

There was a huge range available that included simple geometric patterns and the more complex ones that resembled paintings. Steam powered saw mills came to America in 1830. An inch of wood could now be cut into as fine as 15 to 20 layers each.

Wood workers however opted to continue doing things with their hands despite such developments. When Marquetry debuted in America it was inspired mainly by European styles. However, the elaborateness of the work was not something the Americans assimilated.

American Marquetry in the early days was propagated mainly by the cabinet makers of Boston and some other artisans who assisted them. Gothic, Rococo, Renaissance as well as Louis the XV were some of the styles in vogue till the end of the World Wars. By the time the World Wars ended, Art Deco became a popular style.

Remy Vriz, in the 1980s created a technique known as piercing. Veneers were layered and then the topmost one sanded down to the level of its fiber being transparent. American Marquetry specialist Patrice Lejeune further developed this technique.

As a side form of art, Lejeune developed what is called “sprinkling”. Sawdust and shavings that lay waste from other projects were collected and used to given pigments or colors to veneers making them more dynamic. American Marquetry has developed quite a bit since its debut.

A few organizations dedicate themselves to innovating and promoting classical as well as contemporary forms of Marquetry in the nation. If this has caught your interest, then you should head to such places, which will give you the best training in Marquetry possible.

This article was written by Ruth D’Souza Prabhu of MarqART Gift Shop. Our jewelry boxes feature evocative marqart wood designs, created from unique wood grain patterns and colors. A fine addition to your dressing table or as a gift. Please visit http://www.marqartgiftshop.com to browse & buy exotic jewelry boxes that will give you a lifetime of pleasure!

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Making A Top Notch Music Video At Reasonable Expenditure

You in all probability can’t afford the luxury of advertising if you are an unsigned band or musician You are going to need to be creative and construct some ways that do not need a substantial investment to get started to be able to make an impact. Making a music video is an essential reflection of your personality, the direction of your music and your personal sound. It’s fairly easy to have an effect, but having that effect be a positive one is what’s essential. The expenditure of producing a music video has declined substantially over the past several years, and this is for the production of a high high quality video. If you want to get discovered and hopefully signed and are producing a music video, you will be judged on the high quality of your video production before your sound so it’s advisable to utilize a professional video production business. Here is some advice to assist you with producing a high quality video at affordable expenditure:

Before choosing a business, make a storyboard of your ideas that you can show the production companies episode by episode, like a picture book. Simple steps like this will reduce your expenses. If you need high high quality video production get in touch with Atlanta music video production.

Don’t be over ambitious. Keep it comparatively simple. The more intricate your idea, the more you’ll have to pay to create the video. So do your advisable to get your message across. However, do not make it too very intricate and complicated.

Make an attempt to steer clear of adding many special effects to your video while you are in process of editing it. This will more than likely raise the cost. Be careful to steer clear of using your music video to display your mastery of special effects! Special effects should be used only when they accentuate your video and the audience’s enjoyment. You should think about adding sound effects to give the video a boost in the opening and end of the video. For support with adding special effects to your video contact Atlanta music videos.

Nowadays many music videos cross the line and disobey the rules, this oftentimes brings about a greater impact. Being imaginative will help in all facets of producing an effective video. Make an make an effort to do it at a logical expenditure.

There are plenty of companies out there to pick from that will produce videos for you. Selecting someone with experience producing music videos, especially ones in your chosen genre would be very beneficial. Make sure that you provide the business with a very clear brief of how you want the video to proceed. This should have been done at the outset when the story book or slides were created. Giving the video production business a very clear and concise summary of what you are expecting will eliminate confusion and help you to lower your expenditure.

Tags: music video production, music videos