Sunday, May 11, 2008

Invented Histories

Seashell Specimen 08-50 Under Glass

Added this to the lynndavis.etsy.com site today. Spent most of the week thinking about it and making sketches, finally made it come to be a real object.

The box is brass, that's the golden glow inside. The seashell is real, with a soldered cap, hanging inside the box from a soldered loop. The box is lidded with glass, with a brass hammered tag hanging below.

Have been thinking about the late 1890's when people had leisure to collect, itemize and study the natural world.

Butterfly collections, in boxes with the carefully handwritten labels.

This is the inspiration for this piece. Very time-consuming to make, definitely one of a kind and unique. And very visually interesting, looks like something from a museum or a country clergyman's collection.

Has a sense of history and a story.

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