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www.hygra.com    Antique Boxes and tea caddies.

Antique straw-work Face Screen. Circa 1800 


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Description:
Ref:   140fs    http://hygra.com/face/140fs  

Antique straw-work Face Screen.

This screen was probably made by a Napoleonic prisoner of war in the early years of the 19th century. It is extremely rare. The surround is made by using straw at different angles to create a symmetrical pattern by catching the light from varied perspectives. The outer part of leaf and berry uses straight and shaped straw to define the design.

The central picture is an astonishing feat of skill and artistry. It depicts figures from Aesop’s fables, a fox and a stork in the landscape. Some of the straw is tinged with green and darker brown, but the perception is of a great variation of colour. Sunrise is suggested by using straight pieces of light straw at an angle, while the earth is made up of small pieces of differing shades at different angles to differentiate flat earth from mountains. The trees are made up of such tiny pieces that I needed a magnifying glass to even see them. The foliage looks completely natural and light, thin branches visible here and there. The animals too are made up of tiny pieces, the feathers being especially well defined. Such fine work is rarely found even on boxes which are in greater numbers than other objects. The person who made this must have been a master straw-work artist before his incarceration. This is probably the reason he was trusted with a commission for an object which was to be publicly used.  

The back is also in straw-work, the symmetrical pattern more complex than it first appears with the round circles breaking the austerity of the pattern. 

 The handle is in bone.

Origin: UK;  Circa:1800 ; Materials: wood, straw, bone.

Size:  Screen  21.1 cm wide by 27.2 cm; handle  7.7 cm long:  8.3 inches wide by  10.7 inches; handle  3  inches.

Condition:  Please refer to the above photographs for details of condition.

Keywords: Hygra.com, Antique box, Antique Face Screen, fan, fire screen, Napoleonic prisoner of war, Aesop’s fables, a fox and a stork in the landscape, straw work, straw marquetry, parquetry,

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All text and images and linked images are © 1999-2015 Antigone Clarke and Joseph O'Kelly. If you require any further information on permitted use, or a licence to republish any material, email us at copyright@hygra.com

 

 
All text and images and linked images are © 1999-2015 Antigone Clarke and Joseph O'Kelly. If you require any further information on permitted use, or a licence to republish any material, email us at copyright@hygra.com