Intaglios

My source for reasonably priced framed intaglios: Quatrefoil Design Store.

Last year, on a visit to the Jerry Pair showroom, I came across a wall arrangement that was simply breathtaking. It consisted of 16 individually framed intaglios by Dessin Fournir. I love the look of a framed wall series (see my post from July on framed wall series), and this was one of the most beautiful series I had seen; the intaglios were simple, sculptural, and framed exquisitely.

Dessin Fournir Neoclassical Framed Intaglio

An intaglio is a figure or design carved into stone or a hard material. "Intaglios, cameos, and medals were popular among collectors in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. Skilled engravers copied such artefacts from the classical world, reproductions were made in paste and glass, and collectors bought them not only for display, but to study classical Greece and Rome. Additionally new medals and intaglios were as popular with collectors, who bought them to commemorate, and to show an affinity with the contemporary events and personalities depicted in them: battles, parliamentary acts, political campaigns, and philosophers, statesmen, soldiers, sailors, poets, writers." (from the UCL Bentham Project)

Jerry Pair ad, featuring Dessin Fournir framed intaglios

"An intaglio was first made in hard stone or metal, and then cast in glass, the glass often being coloured to imitate gem stones. The intaglios could be kept in drawers and brought out for private or communal contemplation, displayed in cabinets, hung in windows with light shining through, or mounted in a ring. The intaglios could also be used as seals, unmounted or mounted in a fob or a ring, for use on private correspondence, replacing the more usual personal crest, and would declare an affection for and/or association with the event or person depicted." (from the UCL Bentham Project)

Although they are an art form that is hundreds of years old, they can look quite contemporary and striking when framed and hung in sets.

Framed intaglios, Suzanne Kasler Interiors

Framed Intaglios above bed, Liz Williams

Southern Accents cover - framed intaglios above the bed

My source for reasonably priced framed intaglios: Quatrefoil Design Store.

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