Archive for the ‘Ornaments History’ Category

Finding Navaho Ornaments

Friday, August 13th, 2010

The workmanship of some of the traditional Navaho ornaments is matchless. 

Navaho Ornament by Carrie Taylor  Navaho Ornament by Robert Charley  Navaho Ornament by M.Yanito Dineh

We stumbled upon Robert Charley in the Four Corners area of the United States in May.  We traveled down a little dirt road at the point where Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah meet on the Navaho Indian Reservation.  It was a beautiful clear day which we were told was a rare thing in that area as they get a lot of dust storms.  At the end of the narrow road, there were a few vendors set up with traditional Navaho art work and we spent a nice afternoon chatting with Navaho ornament artisan Robert Charley who has literally carved his own niche in the world of Native American ornaments with his arrow ornament designs. 

Mr. Charley learned to make arrows from his grandfather who traded with other tribes to get the obsidian that he needed for the tips of the arrows.  A process of flaking is used where the obsidian is hit at an acute angle and chipped away.  The obsidian becomes even sharper than a metal blade.  The native tribes in that area also used jasper, chalcedony, basalt and other hard minerals for the arrow tips which were struck with antlers, bones, wood or other rocks so that they were fractured into the shape and size needed for the arrow.  Once the tip was shaped, it was carefully chipped or ground, and today Robert Charley actually dulls the obsidian for the ornament arrows because of the safety issue. 

The Native American ornaments also have a spiritual significance to the Dine or Navaho culture.  It is said that the hand painted arrows hung over the doorway of your home offer protection for your family and all who enter.  Each ornament decoration has a different meaning with a lot of symbolism attached especially to color.  An arrow with a black feather can mean male as well as night or darkness.  Blue stands for female, sky or water.  An ornament hand painted in green signifies earth or rain.  Red represents sunset, and yellow is the symbol of day and sunshine.  Dots painted on an ornament symbolize day and night.  The four colors used to make the ornaments are also a symbol of protection from all four directions.  

 East – Black or Red     South – Turquoise     West – Yellow     North – White

Robert Charley says that he can sell all of the arrow ornaments that he can make and he doesn’t have a web site.  However, he did say that he welcomes calls to 970-739-2503 from individuals as well as stores that might have wholesale needs.   You may also contact him by email at RobertCharley@ymail.com .

Article and images used with permission from Robert Charley 

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Signature Ornaments by Gorky Gonzalez

Monday, February 1st, 2010

The ceramic ornaments are handcrafted in the studio of Gorky Gonzalez

 in Guanajuato, Mexico.

The colorful handcrafted and handpainted ceramic ornaments can be purchased online at La Casa Mexicana for $18 each.  The ornament supply is limited, so hurry if you want to add several Christmas ornaments or spring ornaments to your ornament collection.  The Gonzalez studio produces ornaments for many occasions and the red and green or red and blue heart ornaments are just perfect for a Valentines Day gift.

As the son of sculptor Rodolfo Gonzalez,  ornament artist Gorky Gonzalez  studied sculpture and casting objects in bronze and lost wax with his father. Later he worked in the village San Miguel de Allende at the School of Arts and the Allende Institute, where he built an artistic foundry attended by both student and professional sculptors.

Gonzalez also founded a small workshop of terra cotta manufacturing in the village of Marfil where he reproduced Jean Byron’s designs. His main interest, however, has always been rescuing the traditional majolica. Majolica refers to a type of pottery that is glazed with tin oxide to produce a soft white color.  Intricate designs are painted on the background with other metallic oxides.  These handpainted designs often change colors when the pottery is fired, making each ornament unique.   The name Majolica actually comes from the Spanish island of Majorca, where this style of pottery was exported to Italy beginning in the 15th century.

Currently, Gorky Gonzalez works with his son in his studio in Mexico where they continue to produce unique majolica ceramic ornaments.  You will want to see more of his ornaments as well as many of his other designs and creations at La Casa Mexicana.  You can also learn more about majolica and other Mexican handcrafted art on Wikepedia.

Article and images used with permission from LaCasaMexicana.com

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Old World Christmas Ornaments – New in 2009

Wednesday, October 28th, 2009

Tim and Beth Merck keep the spirit of German glass ornaments alive.

The tradition of blown glass ornaments is known to have started in a small German town called Lauscha, sometime in the late 16th century. Originally, only glass balls were produced, but in 1847 Hans Greiner began producing glass ornaments in the shape of fruits and nuts using a glass blowing process that utilized molds to create the unique shapes. These glass ornaments were distributed throughout Europe, and in the 1880’s Woolworth’s began importing these German glass ornaments to sell in the United States – which soon proved to be a very lucrative business move.

In 1979, Tim and Beth Merck’s love of Christmas and its traditions inspired them to begin revitalizing the fine art of mouth-blown glass ornaments. Today, Merck Family’s Old World Christmas is a well known wholesale ornament producer, offering hundreds of fine glass ornaments from traditional fruit and nuts to all varieties of animals, cars, decorative bells and balls, flowers, houses and churches, angels, pirates, various renditions of Santa Claus, and much more.

Producing glass blown Christmas ornaments like the pieces offered by the Merck Family is a labor-intensive process that involves mouth-blowing molten glass into a mold and then pouring a hot solution of liquid silver inside the ornament. The Merck Family’s Old World Christmas ornaments are then hand-painted with fine details and dusted with glitter to add an even more magical appeal.

While the tradition of blown glass ornaments has been around since the 16th century, the grand appeal of these whimsical ornaments has not lost any of its popularity. Old World Christmas ornaments are hand made with pride. Browse the staggering collection of glass ornaments by Old World Christmas at the Christmas Treasures website.

Article and images used with permission from Christmas-Treasures.com

 

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Old Chinese Art – New Incredible Ornaments

Wednesday, August 19th, 2009

The ancient technique to create the ornaments is called reverse hand painting.

Ne’Qwa Art is the world’s largest producer of the centuries-old tradition of painting on the inside of glass. The same meticulous techniques that captivated emperors and art connoisseurs ages ago are used to create each of their lovely designs, including their most popular lines of decorative ornaments and petite ornaments. Although some scholars have dated the Chinese art form of painting on the inside of glass to over 1000 years ago, it was not until the mid-17th century that it became a prized and collected art form within the imperial court.

The artists at Ne’Qwa Art must paint through a small opening in the ornament on the inside of the glass. To paint in this art form, the artist has to paint in reverse order with the foreground completed first and then finish with the background. Certain ornaments used are opaque mouth-blown glass. These ornaments don’t allow the artist to see the tip of the brush and all painting must be done by “feel”. Through a small opening in each ornament, the artist uses delicate brush strokes to hand-paint on the inside of mouth-blown glass. From outlining to shading to color application, all work is painstakingly done in freehand. Although this reverse-painting art form flourished during the 17th century, today there are only a few artist groups, living in remote villages throughout China, who possess the skill to create these Ne’Qwa ornaments. The carefully chosen artists at Ne’Qwa Art offer stunning diversity of subject matter, ranging from whimsical characters to sensuously rich details.

Their distinguished artists have built a following of fans worldwide who recognize their distinctive styles. Collected by celebrities across the globe, these amazing ornaments are enjoyed as perfect gifts for any occasion. You will recognize several names & faces on the celebrity gift list who appreciate these outstanding hand painted glass ornaments. Each piece comes packaged in a luxurious, satin-lined, velour presentation case, ideal for gift giving. In addition, each ornament is accompanied by a signed Certificate of Authenticity describing the unique art history and reverse painting process.

Take a look at Ne’Qwa Art’s online video to see the artist at work and watch how the incredible images are magically created on the inside of glass. After all… true beauty comes from within.

Article and images used with permission from NeQwa.com

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27th Year for the Original Ornament Shop

Friday, July 31st, 2009

This year Ornament Shop celebrates its 27th year in the business of selling Christmas decorations and gifts. And, they are celebrating their 11th year of selling personalized Christmas ornaments on the internet. Their first year of selling ornaments was 1982 and they offered 500 ornaments. Now you will find over 2,000 ornaments on their web site and the list is growing every day.

The owner of Ornament Shop is Dianne Weller and she says that it is the satisfied customers that have helped her company become one of the largest online retailers of personalized ornaments. At OrnamentShop.com, customers have come to expect high quality ornaments and personalizing at reasonable prices. In addition, she says that her customers feel confident with their secure shopping cart system and their very high customer ranking, as recorded by the independent survey company, Bizrate.

The vendors that design and supply ornaments are also an important part of the business, and Ornament Shop has become trusted by companies like Byers’ Choice. This ornaments supplier recognizes the integrity of Diane and her ornaments staff and limits its internet sales to only one other online company besides Ornament Shop.

Dianne is proud of her business and the fact that she has traveled the US for 27 years, looking for the finest and most unique ornaments for her customers. She started out buying from crafters, who make wonderful gifts. But, as Ornament Shop grew, she expanded her offerings to include kids ornaments, wedding ornaments, African American ornaments and more, keeping in mind that the crafters would always be a part of the product mix. The 27 year old ornaments company has such an extensive variety of ornaments that they could easily be listed in every category on The Ornaments Directory.

Over the years, Diane has made sure that the Ornament Shop staff knows that the most important part of their ornaments business is making sure that the customers come first and that their needs must be addressed with 100% satisfaction and the appreciation and loyalty of her customers is evident on the Testimonial page on the web.

Article and images used with permission from OrnamentShop.com

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Ancient Art of Egyptian Glass Ornaments

Friday, May 29th, 2009

Egyptian glass ornaments are made to shine and reflect all lights.

Glass was an invention of the Ancient Egyptians. Modern Egyptian glass designs are exotic, colorful, intricately patterned and an excellent value for the money. Great as souvenirs, house accessories or gifts, Egyptian glass ornaments and other glassware can be found in numerous shops all over Egypt.

Located in Cairo, Egypt, Bazaar in Egypt designs their ornaments in the traditional Egyptian style and they have one of the most extensive collections of Eyptian glass ornaments on the web. They are able to ship their handblown glass ornaments worldwide from their warehouse in the UK.

Glass was produced on a large scale in Egypt very early on. Ornaments, figures and jars made from glass have been found in various ancient tombs. The earliest piece discovered is a bead-bearing cartouche of Amen-Hotep 1, currently on display at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, which dates back to the 8th dynasty.

Flinders-Petrie discovered the remains of a glass furnace at Tel El Amana, which has been dated to 1400 BC. There they made rods, beads, jars and other figures.

Glass was usually of the soda-lime variety often colored and beautifully patterned. There was even a large trade in the export of artificial pearls made from glass.

Handmade glass is still a big industry in Egypt and glassware products such as the unique and beautiful Christmas Ornaments and the Christmas Ornament Gift Baskets found at Bazaar in Egypt are extremely popular with both locals and tourists. Factories in Cairo take great pride in their craft and offer tours where you can watch the glass being blown.

Article and images used with permission from BazaarInEgypt.com

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Pacific Northwest Glass Ornaments

Wednesday, May 6th, 2009

Early Sunday morning May 18, 1980, seemed to be the beginning of just another beautiful pre-summer day near Mount St. Helens in Washington state. All that changed as the north face of the mighty mountain collapsed in a massive avalanche of ice and rock debris following an earthquake and the eruption of the volcano. The destruction was catastrophic.

Fast forward nearly 30 years to Glass Eye Studio.

Raindrop Ornament-Holiday Swirl

Using the volcanic ash from the horrific natural disaster described above, the artists at Glass Eye Studio have created a collection of exquisite collector glass ornaments. Skilled Pacific Northwest glass blowers from the Glass Eye Studio have made each unique work of art. No two glass ornaments will be exactly alike and they are all beautiful.

As the anniversary of the Mount St Helens eruption draws closer, a Glass Eye Studio ornament made from the volcanic ash of the powerful mountain will remind you not only of the energy of nature. In these handblown glass ornaments, you will also perhaps recognize the triumph of beauty and imagination. Purchase the ornaments directly from PacificNorthwestShop.com. No ornaments collector should be without one.

Excerpts used with permission from PacificNorthwestShop.com

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