Exquisite glass cage cup from Cologne, dated to the mid-4th century AD Collection Staatliche Antikensammlung

No one really knows when, or where glass was first made, but since antiquity as a material, it has had an important place and impact on many different cultures. It has also been utilized in many different forms. From exotic Egyptian jewellery to the sleek sophistication of Pharaoh Tutankhamun’s glass headrest: to a product for vanity created at Venice or, one made for toasting exalted beauties and life in eighteenth century England. Since the dawn of recorded time, glass in its many guises has fascinated humankind for thousands of years.

More lately in our own time its use in the fields of medical science and space research are again extending its properties, which only adds to the mystique surrounding it. Its beginnings are romantic, especially if you want to enjoy the legend handed down by Roman historian Pliny the Elder. (AD 23-79). He recorded that it was Phoenician merchants and sailors who discovered glass around 5000 BC, when they came ashore to eat on the shores of the River Belus. It appears there were no stones to support their cooking-pots (even though the cargo of the ship was stone) so they placed lumps of soda underneath them. When these became hot and fused with the sand on the beach, streams of an unknown liquid flowed: glass. Soda is a relatively simple safe chemical known and used (in the form of natron) since ancient times as a cleaner, antiseptic and water softener.  The ancient Egyptians used it for many common tasks, from brushing teeth to mummification of the dead. Blended with oil, it was also used as a kind of body soap. It has many useful cleaning properties from softening water to removing oil, grease and alcohol stains. Although today soda has been superseded by the modern, factory produced, sodium bicarbonate.

Phoenician merchants and sailors were responsible for spreading knowledge about glass around the coasts of the Mediterranean. The earliest man-made glass objects, of which fragments have been found, are mainly non-transparent glass beads. They emerged quite independently in Mycenae (Greece), Cathay (China) and the North Tyrol 3500 years before the Christ event. Over the centuries throughout its adventurous journey the quality, chemical, composition and decoration of glass changed dramatically. The development of the glass industry has been influenced by technical innovations, historical events, and continual changes in design, style and taste.

But what is glass?

Glass is a homogeneous material with a liquid (non-crystalline) molecular structure whose manufacturing process requires that its raw materials be heated to a temperature sufficient enough to produce a completely used melt, which when cooled rapidly becomes rigid without crystallizing.

Glass-Thutmosis-III-c1400BC

The Egyptian glass industry was flourishing by 1500 BCE and the rise of the industry in the Middle East; saw Egypt and Syria at the forefront, a position they maintained for centuries.

The first known glass making manual discovered dates from seven centuries before the Christ event. The method was recorded on clay tablets in the remains of the library of the ancient Assyrian King Ashurbanipal (669-626) BC. Instructions stress it is also necessary to placate the spirits and observe true ceremony when making glass if you want to produce a satisfactory product.

Greek leader and hero Alexander the Great founded Alexandria in 332 BCE. Excavations have shown that glass factories sited in that town produced plain and ribbed bowls in green, blue and brown glass. The Greek Hellenistic Age (323BC – 30BC)  provided much needed impetus to the glass industry with an emphasis on man made shapes, such as pillar-moulded bowls, which were very much esteemed in the west. The technique of making these was intricate, requiring a number of processes to achieve the end result.

Following the production of the core, which was made of mud tempered with grass and coated with ground limestone, a rod was attached so it could be dipped into a vat of molten glass. Trails of coloured glass were applied to the surface, which was then reheated and rolled smooth. The rod and core were removed and the neck and base added. It all took time, which restricted the scale of production.

Stater with head of Greek King Alexander the Great - Metropolitan Museum of Art New York

The legends of glass become caught up in those surrounding the mysterious death of Alexander the Great, who died poetically at sunset on June 10, in the year we today know as 323 BC. He was only 32 years old. His body was reputedly on view for centuries in a translucent sarcophagus in what was the most renowned and respected shrine in the Roman Empire.

We know that his body was the object of veneration by Julius Caesar, Queen Cleopatra and Roman Emperors Augustus, Caligula, Hadrian, Severus and Caracalla as well as a host of luminaries as records support that fact. The tomb of Alexander seemingly stood within a sacred precinct the size of a large town at the heart of the greatest Greek city in the world. Yet at the end of the 4th century AD, when the Christian emperor Theodosius outlawed paganism the tomb and its contents disappeared without trace, creating the greatest archaeological enigma of the ancient world.  What became of the tomb of Alexander the Great? Does any part of it still survive? Was his sarcophagus made of glass, natural crystal or translucent alabaster? Or, did it exist at all?

Unusual and complete Roman glass standing "jug" with pouring lip and handle. The body is decorated by pinched features. Translucent iridescent blue colour

Every morning, a well-to-do Roman lady of the first century would have bathed and had her make up applied by her maids before visiting, or being visited by her friends. The favourite scents of the day were all toilet waters, prepared with French lavender, saffron, and crushed rose petals: in the evening, heavier perfumes based on cinnamon and myrrh might be worn. The perfumes retained the properties of their fragrance because they were stored in brilliantly coloured glass vessels to protect the fragrances from light.

Changing the colour of glass at this time was a bit like cooking: everyone could follow the recipe by adding different metal oxides to sand, soda and lime, the basic ingredients for glass, creating different colours. For example: green and aqua glasses usually have iron added, while amber and adding small amounts of iron and sulphur produces brown colours. Light blues require copper; dark blues small quantities of cobalt. Amethyst contains manganese, while opaque white contains either tin, or calcium. Selenium is just one metal oxide used to produce reddish colours.

Some reds and pinks also require the addition of fragments of gold. Superb glass vessels made by the core method were used for perfumes and medicament’s. Roman Physician Scribonius Largus (active about A.D. 50) insisted certain medical preparations should only be kept in glass containers. A more specialized subgroup of mould-made glass made by the Romans were Mosaics, used to create fabulous images on both floors and walls

Unusual, complete Roman glass bowl with flared top, decorated below with applied openwork “basketry” repeated zig-zag patterns all around. Translucent iridescent bright pea-green colour

In ancient times molten glass was kept in a liquid state using a wood-burning furnace. It takes a lot of wood to heat a furnace to over 1000 degrees and to put it into a contemporary context – if we only used timber to build a two story house that is about the same amount required to heat a wood fueled furnace for just one run of glass in ancient times.

If you imagine how much glass was being made throughout the Roman Empire it is easy to see how and why the natural wood supplies would become exhausted quickly turning once viable land to desert. Glassmakers were force to migrate constantly to other districts once they had exhausted the wood in the surrounding forest. So glass making was not an environmentally friendly process and the constant movement is more than likely why evidence of glass making is more difficult to obtain. Vessels and ovens for making molten glass were dismounted often and moved as well.

Translucent glass bowl filled with fruit - fresco at Pompeii

The skilled workers at Alexandria produced colourless glass, the last and most difficult, at first, to achieve, as well as gold-leaf glass; gold beaten out to a very thin sheet and sandwiched between layers of protective clear glass. It was when colourless glass was invented (through the introduction of manganese oxide) in Alexandria around AD 100 that the Romans first began to see its application for architectural purposes.

Glass windows, albeit with poor optical qualities, began to appear in the most important buildings in Rome and the most luxurious villas of the Roman patricians in Campagna. Glass windowpanes have been found at Pompeii and Herculaneum as they were coming into wider use when Vesuvius erupted and buried the town in 79ACE.

Roman stoic philosopher; statesman and tragedian Lucius Annaeus Seneca, called The Younger, (died ca. A.D. 65) maintained that fruit appeared more beautiful in a glass vessel. In a still life from the House of Julia Felix at Pompeii pride of place is given to a delightful crystal bowl, which receives most of the light. It overflows with luscious and ripe Campania fruit, including grapes, the staple crop of Pompeii’s economy.

Glass fragment with image of gladiateur found by Begram Guimet round région de Kapiça, Afghanistan - courtesy Musée Guimet, Paris.

The historical event that gave Roman glass workers the opportunity to exploit an exciting and rapidly emerging technology was the victory over Mark Anthony by Julius Caesar’s nineteen-year-old great-nephew, Gaius Octavius Thurinus, known as Octavian, at the Battle of Actium in 31 B.C and its aftermath. It was not a massive battle between huge fleets; in fact, it was a rather small one. However it did effectively end the difficulties in governing the republic following Caesar’s murder.

During the reign of Emperor Augustus (Octavian 31BC – 14ACE) Rome emerged as an economically successful city with a population approaching one million. Augustus conquered Alexandria in Egypt on the 1st August 30BCE and the glass factories all became Roman.

Roman glass makers decorated their glass by almost every method known, including engraving it with a sharp instrument. This is a technique with Egyptian antecedents as far back as fourteen centuries B.C and it was during this time that glass became an integral aspect of the economic, social, and cultural life of the Roman world.

Glassblowing provided a solution to many problems. Shaping a mass of molten glass by attaching it to a blow pipe and inflating it was faster than casting. Glass blowers soon realized that the biggest limitation on the size of any object they could produce was the strength of their arms.

Since the first century B.C., glass makers have used the same tools to model, manipulate and decorate molten glass. The blowpipe is an iron or steel tube, usually about five feet long, for blowing a parison, or gather, of molten glass.

Moulds are then used to impress decorative patterns on the parison. The pontil is a solid metal rod that is applied to the base of a vessel to hold it after it is cut off from the blowpipe. It became a common tool from the seventh and eighth centuries. The pontil leaves an irregular ring-shaped mark on the base commonly known as a pontil mark.

Blowing glass made large-scale glass production much more practicable and available to an ever expanding market. Thousands of bottles to hold oil, wine, and other liquids, were made, often square in shape so they could be packed together conveniently without wasting space.

The Romans’ ambivalence about glass is neatly summed up in the playwright Petronius’ Satyricon, in which Trimalchio the quintessential parvenu, remarks to his guests at dinner.

The Romans loved a good banquet

“You will excuse me for what I am about to say: I prefer glass vessels. Certainly, they don’t smell and if they weren’t so fragile, I would prefer them to gold. These days, however, they are cheap.”

Trimalcho (c.27-66 ACE) was the advisor of luxury and extravagance to the Emperor Nero. He personally lived a life of excess and pleasure, and reputedly like a bat, because he was largely nocturnal. At his absurdly lavish banquet Trimalchio served rare, vintage wines in glass amphorae. Meanwhile, in the kitchen, various foods and condiments, such as garum, a popular fish sauce, were being stored in glass bottles and jars.

He wrote The Satyricon a vast satire, the longest extant part of which describes a private banqueting party of this former slave. It was held in his house in Campania with seemingly no expense spared. Trimalcho could distinguish himself when appointed to positions of responsibility, but made many political enemies. He was finally forced by Nero to commit an elaborate suicide rather than face execution. Although it seems he had the last laugh when he lampooned Nero in his will.

Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella wrote the important surviving Latin agricultural treatise De Re Rustica, in which he recommended glass jars for preserving pickles.

Glass containers not only preserved flavour, but also had the advantage (in a society with a high level of illiteracy) of allowing one to see the contents without removing the cover. So, glass was used at all stages in the preparation and consumption of food for serving food, drinking, and for washing hands between courses.

Roman elegiac poet Sextus Propertius (died ca. 2 B.C. ) reported that glass services were used instead of metal ones for drinking or dining in summer.

Very elegant and valuable pieces of glass made their way safely across hundreds of miles to all the outposts of the Empire, including Britannia, and despite their high value, many were consigned to the after world after burial.

Lycurgus Cup - Pea Green colour - British Museum

Lycurgus Cup - Rose colour - British Museum

Much Roman glass has been found in Britain and the so-called Lycurgus Cup in the British Museum is quite unique.

By transmitted light the vase changes colour; the green turns to a wine colour and the yellower areas to amethyst purple.

The Lycurgus Cup dates to the fourth century and the gilded bronze base and rim were added in more recent times. A frieze showing the myth of King Lycurgus being dragged into the underworld by Ambrosia, who has been turned into a vine, surrounds the cup. The frieze stands out from the body of the cup, connected to it only by small shanks or bridges.

It belongs to a type of Roman glasses called cage cups. Their elaborate design and fragile nature ensured that only a few survived intact.  The main body was normally colourless and a cage effect created so the final effect was that of an inner vessel sitting within a network of glass threads that stood proud of the surface.

To find out what caused the colours of the Lycurgus Cup it was examined by a transmission electron microscope; the glass was seen to contain tiny crystals of metal about 70 nanometres across (a nanometre is a millionth of a millimetre). X-ray analysis showed the crystals consist of about seven parts silver to three parts gold. The crystals scatter the light, rather in the same way fine particles in the atmosphere cause the ‘red sky at night’ effect.

Paris wearing his Phyrigian Cap

The Romans became particularly adept at cutting glass, and they made vessels from two layers of glass, usually dark blue and white melded together. What is known as the Cameo technique was then produced by cutting through the white layer to provide an image in relief against the dark ground beneath. This was the most refined and revered of all the techniques the Romans developed and cameos were produced from other materials like sardonyx.

The most famous of all the cut glass Roman vessels ever found displaying the cameo technique is the Barberini, or so called Portland Vase, now in the British Museum at London.

Originally this stunning vessel was made by workers at Alexandria. On the bottom there is a bust of a young man in a Phrygian fisherman’s cap, thought to have been added at a later date. The vase was found in an ancient marble sarcophagus excavated at Monte del Grano near Rome in the pontificate of Urban VIII (1623-44) and placed in the palace of the Barberini family. It was sold c.1782 and passed through several hands until acquired by England’s Duke of Portland, who in 1810 lent it to the British Museum on permanent loan. In 1845 the famous vase was completely shattered when a visitor dashed it to the floor, breaking it into over one hundred and fifty pieces.

Detail Aphrodite, goddess of Love superb Roman cameo technique Portland Vase

All the fragments were gathered and it has been restored on several occasions since. Each time a small number of minute slivers remained, one of which was used to obtain an analysis with a scanning electron microscope.

Modern analysis revealed that the body of the vase was made from a soda-lime-silica type of glass. The dark blue of the background is caused by minute amounts (about one tenth of one per cent) of the colouring metal cobalt, which was added to the glass by the craftsmen.

The mythological scene on the vase probably represents Peleus and Thetis accompanied by Poseidon on one side and Aphrodite, goddess of Love on the other.

The white glass was engraved probably by using diamond, the hardest natural substance known in Roman times. It was used to cut gemstones and to produce the glorious cameo effect.

The Portland Vase was again taken apart and restored again, this time using all its fragments in 1989 . By scanning each fragment a modern computer system was able to work out where each one of them fitted. Reassembly of the vase was made difficult as the edges of some fragments were found to have been filed down during previous restorations.

Roman Glass, Cameo technique used for the 'Portland Vase', fully restored 1989 - British Museum

Nevertheless, all the fragments were eventually replaced except for a few minute splinters. Any areas still missing were gap-filled with a blue-coloured epoxy resin or, where loss occurred to the figures, with white-coloured resin.

This now newly restored and conserved Portland Vase was returned to display again and, except for light cleaning it should not require major conservation work for many years to come. And so the great jigsaw puzzle has finally been put to rest, over 150 years after all the damage. The wonders of modern technology.

Glass from Egyptian or Roman times is often seen today as far more ornate and complex than the subsequent medieval glassware made throughout Europe. Basically, the art of glass making was not really lost following the decline of the Roman Empire but for a thousand years it did remain limited.

There are some beautiful blue drinking horns of blue glass surviving from the Medieval period of north western Europe…and throughout the Middle Ages small glass-factories continued to work, some of them deep in forests, which supplied the timber needed for their furnaces.

Carolyn McDowall © The Culture Concept, November 2010

Related posts:

1. All That Glistens Is Glass – Venice, Verzelini and Vauxhall
2. All that Glistens is Glass – Engraving, Enamelling and, Amen
3. All that Glistens is Glass – Restoration & Ravenscroft

Regency period antique Tea Caddy - a rare and unusual container for tea in the shape of an Egyptian pylon surmounted by a cornice and decorated with Egyptian symbols on a gold background. English, early 19th century courtesy Martyn Cook Antiques, Redfern at Sydney

Over the past few centuries containers, including boxes and caskets of all shapes and sizes, have played an important role in everyday life. Many lay gathering dust in storage units for years, because for a long time they were only thought of as mere containers. Today with knowledge and information to hand they are recognized as being important cultural objects and, in some cases, precious works of art. This means that for charm collectors or box buffs like me they are completely collectible in their own right.  When in Sydney recently I visited the Redfern Municipal Electric Light Station, a smart establishment where Martyn Cook Antiques displays an amazing selection of the rare and the wonderful for collectors and connoisseurs to consider. It was an unusual box, known as a tea caddy, that caught my eye. It is amazing really that a single imported commodity like tea could inspire over two centuries of social ritual and production in the decorative arts.

Many antique tea caddies from the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries from England have a restrained style and shape and, what we would have described years ago as a certain je ne sais quoi. This phrase means quite literally ‘I don’t know what’. It is about trying to put into words why the object is so aesthetically pleasing to your particular eye. When this early nineteenth century number is open it is easy to see the lead foil lining, which originally helped keep the tea fresh, has been partly lost. Its value as a collector’s item today lays in its shape or form, its decoration and its style. It is 14cm high, 16.5 cm deep and decorated all over with Egyptian symbols against a rich gold background. It is a very appealing object and would provide a point of interest in any stylish interior.

The key to understanding the language of the ancient Egyptians, The Rosetta Stone

On the key façade of this caddy are a pair of Egyptian godlike images each holding an Ankh, an ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic character. The Ankh is believed to refer to the key of life, the key of the Nile or crux ansata, meaning ‘eternal life’.

Ancient Egypt and its culture declined and disappeared over two thousand + years before. The last vestiges of that living culture ceased to exist in AD 391 when Roman Byzantine Emperor Theodosius I (346 – 395) closed all the pagan temples throughout the Roman Empire. It was not until 1798 when French military leader Napoleon Bonaparte (1769 – 1821) invaded Egypt with his army and a huge team of creative artists and scientists in tow, that the ancient culture was re-awakened from its long slumber, much of which was covered in sand.

In 1799 one of his soldiers Lieutenant Pierre Bouchard discovered a slab of stone nearby to Rosetta. The stone was inscribed with a decree that had been issued at Memphis in 196 BC on behalf of King Ptolemy V. The fragment was carved with the same text in two languages, Egyptian and Greek. The same text was also displayed using three writing systems, hieroglyphic, demotic and the Greek alphabet. Here at last was the essential key to understanding this amazing civilization. It was a tremendous piece of luck enabling the French classical scholar, philologist and orientalist Jean-François Champollion (1790 –1832) to transcribe and unlock the ancient hieroglyphic code. It took him until 1822 to complete his work and after that other scholars could join in and help to interpret three thousand years of this amazing culture and its stories.

In England, especially following the victory over Napoleon at the Battle of the Nile on the 2nd August 1798, a growing passion for images and shapes from its shores became fashionable. During the Regency (1811 – 1820) of George as Prince of Wales and his reign as King George IV (1820 – 30) ancient Egyptian culture grew more popular because he loved fantasy, the fantastic and the exotic.

It further increased in popularity in the Victorian age as exciting discoveries revealed more and more information. The Scottish painter David Roberts (1796-1864) spent a great deal of time there. He went about recording through sketches and paintings, views of the remains of this intriguing culture as it emerged from the sands of time. His sketches made between (1838-40) helped fan the flames of desire for all things Egyptian. As a passionate pursuit Egyptomania would persist well into the twentieth century and climax with the finding of the tomb of the youthful Pharaoh Tutankhamun and all its amazing treasures.

This tea caddy is in the tapering style of an Egyptian architectural shape a pylon, which is surmounted by a cornice. The form was inspired by re-discovered ancient Egyptian buildings, such as the great gates of the Temple of Isis on Philae Island in the middle of the Nile. Pylon gates such as those at Philae played a critical role in the symbolic architecture of a cult building, which was associated with rebirth and recreation. The nineteenth and twentieth centuries saw Egyptian inspired pylon architecture employed for bridge building all around the world with the Sydney Harbour Bridge being one of the largest examples.

All the symbols decorously arranged on the surface of the caddy seemed to have been picked randomly when it was first made, without a real understanding of what they meant. This only serves to add to its charm. We would certainly hope that no one who has owned it over the centuries since it was made has been dispatched by imbibing its contents.

On its lid is an Egyptian sacred scarab (Scarabaeus sacer), or dung beetle with wings outstretched. The scarab played an important role in Egyptian creation myths and as a motif represents rebirth. It lay and rolled its eggs inside a ball of dung. Once buried the young consumed the fertile excrement until they emerged from the ground nourished and fully formed.

When ancient Egyptians observed this phenomenon they were fascinated, intrigued and confused and likened the little beetle and its rituals to the rising sun each morning coming from out of the earth to create a new day.

As a symbol the scarab came to represent Khepri the Sun God, who was the god of all creation and had the ability to be reborn. The Sun God was the dominant deity of the ancient Egyptian religion. He had the ability to take on other different forms as well as that of Khepri who would attach falcon’s wings to his body when he wanted to fly. In ritual a scarab with outstretched wings was placed in the wrappings of a mummy so that the sun would continue to shine on the departed soul’s journey to the afterlife. It was laid upon the recipient’s breast so it would assist when they were standing in the judgment hall of Osiris, god of the Underworld. It helped secure exemption from the possible performance of an evil afterlife.

Perhaps the most famous example of what is now known as the heart scarab, is the superb yellow-green pectoral scarab found among the entombed provisions of the most well known of all the Egyptian Pharaoh’s Tutankhamun.

On one side of the box are the interlaced coils of a cobra, slithering at very great length. Wadjet the cobra goddess was associated with ancient Lower Egypt and the Nile delta representing the “fiery eye of Re”. Starting in the Middle Kingdom the Uraeus, or rearing cobra, appears on the crown or headdress of royalty.

It is a protective symbol because ancient Egyptians believed the cobra would spit fire at their approaching enemies. An array of hieroglyphics and symbols are painted on the other two sides. They are used purely for decorative purposes. It’s all just a lot of fun really, but it does help make the object desirable for any collector or connoisseur of tea caddies. All the elements decorate a box that for much of its life contained leaves of tea, a drink first introduced into England in liquid form during the seventeenth century via the English East India Company. When tea leaves finally began to arrive in some quantity at London they were stored in metal canisters, inside tea chests shaped like trunks. These days we seem to use the word ‘caddy’ as a collective term for all tea containers when in reality a ‘tea caddy’ is very different from a tea chest. A tea caddy was a container in its own right. The word caddy derives from a Malay Chinese word “kati” which means a measure of tea weighing about a pound and one third.

The earliest tea caddies in England were made in timber, usually with painted or inlaid decoration. This might consist of flora, fruit, shells and many other designs. Shapes could be square, rectangular, oval, six or eight sided. Other sought after wooden caddies were in the shape of different fruits, mostly apples and pears.

A tea chest was bigger than a tea caddy. It had room inside to contain a pair of inner ‘caddies’ together with a cut glass blending bowl to mix the tea leaves in. Designing your own blend was important and became a symbol of status. If you were very lucky the London store Fortnum and Mason, which had been founded in 1797 would sell it. At Fortnum’s Tea was its first specialty product and their website says today that it remains ‘close to our hearts’.

By the end of the eighteenth century as the industrial revolution was swinging into gear more and more households were able to afford and drink tea. This means that at the time this charming little caddy was made there was a growing demand for more fabulous containers to store the precious tea leaves in and, to keep them both fresh and safe. Let’s hope this delightful number finds a good home so that it can continue to convey the message and story of its cultural journey for a very long time.

Carolyn McDowall, October 2011 The Culture Concept Circle

What: English Regency Style Tea Caddy
Where: Martyn Cook Antiques, 78 Renwick Street, Redfern Sydney NSW
Contact: Martyn Cook +61 (0) 2 9699 3499
Opening Hours: Monday – Friday 9 am to 5.30 pm Saturday 10am to 5.30 pm

Related posts:

1. Antique & Art Dealers Association Show at Sydney in Spring
2. A Hidden Jewel – The Nicholson Museum Sydney University
3. What is an Antique?

In such a society religion was not limited to visiting a church once a week or to doing good works. It was integral to daily life permeating every aspect of it daily, both in the fields and in the house. This placed a constant awareness and emphasis on the presence of divine powers whose benevolence needed to be constantly sought through a multitude of prayers and ritual sacrifice.

Professor David O’Connor and Professor Andrew Wallace-Hadrill have spent a great deal of time excavating and conserving the archaeological sites of Abydos in Egypt and Herculaneum in Italy, respectively. Both sites continue to yield discoveries invaluable to classical historians and the world at large.

These two beautifully illustrated and authoritative books fill a significant gap in the literature on the ancient world. Abydos is by Professor David O’Connor. He has been involved in research on this important archaeological site in Egypt for over 40 years. Abydos is the burial place of the first of its Kings and numerous Pharoahs and also a cult center for the god of the dead, Osiris. The Temple of Seti 1 at Abydos was an important spiritual site and every ancient Egyptian wished to make a pilgrimage their once in his lifetime, much like the ancient Greeks wanted to visit Olympia.

List of Royalty at Abydos in the Hall of Kings. It bears cartouches of all the rulers from the 1st dynasty up to and including the rule of Seti I in the XIX dynasty somewhere between 1294 and 1279 BCE

On the walls of the Temple of Seti 1 at Abydos was a record, or list of names of seventy-six sovereigns from the old and new kingdom. A few are missing because they were later erased from Egyptian history such as that of the female pharoah Hatshepsut. Then there was the pharoah who only believed in one god, monotheist Akhenaten. His successor was the boy king Tutankhamen, whose treasure has ensured we will know and remember him. And then Ay, the enigmatic character who succeeded him.

Egypt’s pharaohs began building their tombs at Saqqara during the 3rd Dynasty (2686 – 2613 BCE). This was when a new tradition was established where a separate tomb and enclosure were combined into a single complex. In this volume David O’Connor, widely acknowledged as the world’s greatest authority on Abydos tells the story of excavations and exciting finds in his own voice.

Abydos is one of the most enduring sites in southern Egypt. It was of immense importance to ancient Egyptians for thousands of years and has yielded up many fabulous artifacts now in museums around the world.

Eminent British archaeologist Sir Flinders Petrie arrived at Abydos in 1880. He excavated many of the most important archaeological sites in Egypt during the nineteenth century such as Naukratis, Tanis, Abydos and Amarna.

At Hawara from 1888 Petrie also found papyri of the 1st and 2nd centuries and, north of the pyramid a vast necropolis where he uncovered 146 portraits on coffins, all dating to the Roman period including a very attractive Roman lady he dubbed the ‘Jewellery’ girl’.

David O’Connor went to excavate at Abydos in 1967. He was hopeful of expanding Petrie’s research. However it would be 20 years before he got a great result.

Who says you can't take it with you...sailing off into the afterlife in style

In 2000 at the turn of the new millennium he made a quite startling find, fourteen ancient boats buried in their own brick lined boatsheds (enclosures) next to the tomb of a still unknown king.

The world’s oldest surviving wooden boats had been expertly crafted and functional when buried. Just like the servants who were buried with their pharoahs the boats were meant to provide their owner with essential services in the afterlife. Today through the continual efforts of a dedicated band of archaeologists and their helpers Abydos continues to reveal its hidden treasures. David O’Connor is Lila Acheson Wallace Professor of Ancient Egyptian Art, Institute of Fine Arts of New York University.

Herculaneum is by a man on a mission – Andrew Wallace-Hadrill MA, DPhil, O.B.E., FBA (1951-) Master of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, former director of the British School at Rome and head of the Herculaneum Conservation Project. Together with his colleagues, Wallace-Hadrill wants to conserve Herculaneum so that work on this ancient site can continue as long as possible. Herculaneum was discovered when building a well in the 16th century and excavated from 1738 onward. Works have been ongoing, albeit sometimes restricted, well up to modern times.

Unlike its sister town of Pompeii, Herculaneum following the eruption on the 24th August 79AD of the volcano Vesuvius nearby to Naples was almost perfectly preserved, right down to the tiniest detail. Mud engulfed the site and while harder than the ash that covered Pompeii to remove, it helped to preserve the remains in pristine condition. Removing it without damaging the remains is a process that has been refined over the past 250+ years.

The thing the two sites have in common is boatsheds. It was long thought nearly all the inhabitants of Herculaneum had managed to escape. But in 1982, when the excavations reached the beach area of Herculaneum, archaeologists discovered the remains of hundreds of skeletons huddled together in 12 boat houses facing the sea. Further excavations in the 1990s confirmed at least 300 people had taken refuge in the chambers where they had died due to a temperature of about 500°C

Andrew Wallace-Hadrill has excavated at both sites and for he and his colleagues today it is a race against destructive weather and flooding that is the main challenge. You cannot get closer to the Roman world than in its excrement and Wallace-Hadrill excavated a cesspit at Pompeii to reveal that both rich and poor in ancient Rome both had a decent diet. It included sea urchins to nuts and figs, eggs and chicken. He discovered all sorts of information, including the fact residents of both cities were taller than the average height of the people living at Naples today.

The ancient city of Herculaneum lies underneath a modern-day suburb of Naples. The parts excavated are only about a third of the entire site. It has been difficult for Dr Wallace-Hadrill to expropriate the land to further excavate the enormous site of the Villa dei Papyri at Herculaneum on which the famous Getty Villa in California was modeled.

Excavation work at the Villa dei Papyri recommenced in 2007 after an eight-year gap, because they discovered two extra floors to the building. It was funded by a £1.5 million grant from the Packard Humanities Institute, founded by a scion of Hewlett Packard computer empire and by a £2 million-a-year grant from the European Union and Region of Campania. However it is now in abeyance again, due to flooding.

The Villa dei Papyri where charred scrolls containing the writings of philosopher Philodemus of Gadara and several other fellow Epicureans were recovered. The difficulty today is that most of it lies underneath Naples modern town hall. Many of the cellars of Herculaneum’s modern houses are also only a metre or so above the Ancient Roman ruins. Purchasing back people’s houses to reach more remains is not really an option.

Remains of the painted head of a warrior found at Herculaneum 2010

It was Greek colonists during the 8th century who first established trading stations throughout Campania, that part of Italy which is south of Rome.

The Romans called Campania Felix, the happy land because of its exceptional fertility, proverbial beauty and ideal climate.

It eventually passed into the control of Italic tribesmen who moved down from the mountains of the interior and intermarried with the Greeks. All were quick to learn the lessons of civilisation and the union, to coin a phrase, was a fruitful one.

It resulted in a culture, which in varying proportions was both Greek and Italic, aesthetics + passion, a powerful combination. The encounter between the Roman world and Greek Hellenistic art resulted in an enthusiastic appreciation of beauty as an end in itself.

Roman aristocrats throughout the first century flocked to the countryside of Campania to escape the stresses and strains of urban life. At least until the year 79 and the eruption.

The excavation to date at Herculaneum has revealed not only treasures but also well-preserved buildings and a wealth of information about how Romans lived, worked and why they died. When the tunnels were dug into the city during the 18th century they brought up all sorts of fabulous statues and frescoes from the walls. Last year, the first complete painted statue ever found, the head of an Amazon warrior was unearthed near the also recently found Basilica.

If Professor Wallace-Hadrill is successful and conservation and excavation continues hand in glove at Herculaneum they may yet find more important public records of life on papyri.

Excavated remains of a house at Herculaneum, the rest goes in under the hillside beneath the modern city

Abydos by David O’Connor has been released and is available at www.bookoffers.com.au

Herculaneum by Andrew Wallace-Hadrill has been released and is available at www.bookoffers.com.au

Carolyn McDowall, March 2011

Related posts:

1. The Culture Concept Circle – You Tube Channel
2. CIVILISED: At the Beginnings of Art
3. EVOLUTION OF ART, DESIGN & STYLE
   Course Outline

Cupid and Pschye - Sculptor Antonio Canova in Le Louvre at Paris

The story about the classical pairing of Psyche and Cupid is about the soul being pursued by desire. What more inspirational work of art could we have for artisans making love jewellery than this superb sculpture in the Louvre at Paris. Commissioned by Colonel John Campbell in 1787, purchased by Joachim Murat in 1801 and carved at Rome by sculptor Antonio Canova in 1793 when he was 36 years of age, this amazing work captures our imagination provoking an emotional response. Surely his skill at injecting stone with human emotion is rivaled only by that of old master sculptor Michaelangelo.

Realism is the antithesis of Romanticism. Romance is not about being ‘rational’. It is all about being ‘emotional’, which was at the heart of most aesthetic creative experiences during this time. The arts, architecture and timeless traditions from many other cultures were also held up to scrutiny for their noble and uplifting characteristics, as well as for exploiting their picturesque qualities.

Brooch by Rene Lalique 1904-6 Gold, enamel and fire opals. V & A Museum at London

The Romantic era originated in the second half of the eighteenth century in Europe, peaked around the middle of the nineteenth century and then petered out, albeit slowly until the advent and establishment of the movement known as Modernism. This gained momentum in the latter part of the nineteenth century, had its first creative climax in the Edwardian period and again in the 20′s and early 30′s following World War I, especially in America.  There it evolved into becoming an important aspect of pop art and the advertising world set around Madison Avenue, New York where in the late 40′s and early 50′s there was a great need for graphics that were easy to produce, eye catching and simply stylised.

Style movements in the evolution of creative art, design and culture do not neatly end one day so that the next one can start a day later. The late eighteenth and nineteenth century in England, across Europe and America was a period overlaid with many complex movements in art, literature and music. Intellectual ideas and social change also impacted on their development and ensured that the whole period was a melting pot of creativity. The revival of the ‘classical’ ideal with the acceleration of considered archaeology during the latter half of the nineteenth century, elevated notions of goodness, unrequited love and the pursuit of perfection. An admiration for the ancient Medieval past in England espoused Gothic notions of horror and awe of vampires and the undead.

Embracing the exotic had a boost, especially following the opening of Japan to the west by American Commodore Perry (confirmed with the Treaty of Kaagawa in 1854). Designer Rene Lalique researched mediums of glass and enamel, producing a design dialogue exclusively his own. He worked in a new stylistic languaged, which was based on sinuous interpretations of forms in nature we now know as Art Nouveau. He also championed non precious materials, producing dramatic pieces that influenced and inspired others

Rene Lalique’s early production was retailed by famous jewellery houses, including Boucheron and Cartier and he dedicated himself to developing a personal and completely original style. Art nouveau was short lived in jewellery design lasting from about c1895 to c1910 and his pieces clearly prove that he had a complete grasp of the style in which nature and its association with femininity was the leitmotif-  the aim was to evoke, rather than realistically portray or copy nature.  The human form, minutely sculpted in gold, was an important theme and personifications of the idealised female beauty were particularly popular meant to portray carefree elegance.

Love Jewellery in the V & A Museum at London

Romanticism was all about escaping the mundane aspects of real life and burgeoning industrial ugliness, especially in England. There the sleek tenets of Modernism were trying to take hold amongst the confusion. Led by luminaries such as arts and crafts genius William Morris and his Pre-Raphealite associates, jewellery design used materials that provided an alternative to what many believed were flashy diamonds.

The delightful ring illustrated was a romantic present donated to the V & A by authors Geoffrey and Caroline Munn. Curators tell us the French word ‘pensées’ means both pansies, as painted on the bezel of this ring, and ‘thoughts’, although in this case the pansies stand for ‘pensez’, meaning ‘think’. The flowers and words taken together read ‘Pensez à votre ami’, ‘think of your friend’. Geoffrey is the BBC’s expert on Jewellery for the Antiques Roadshow and has written many definitive books on jewellery.

Cupid & Pschye Cameo British Museum

This final in our series about Love Jewellery has us now entering a world well on the way to becoming global …

…one in which cameos had yet another revival. Carved from various materials  lava, conch shells, coral, various man made materials as well as sardonyx and chalcedony – comprising of semi precious gemstones such as moss agate, carnelian, heliotrope and onyx they were surrounded in a gold frame to be worn as a brooch or pendant on a gold chain. They were an indispensable aspect of any lady of quality’s costume.

Stunning Collection 19th century archaeological Jewellery V & A Museum London

During the last fifty years of the nineteenth century any lady of fashion visiting Italy would consider her tour of Rome incomplete if she did not call into Castellani’s shop near the Spanish Steps to acquire a piece of archaeological revival jewellery.

Early in the eighteenth century a retail premises for fine archaeological jewellery had been founded by Roman antique dealer, goldsmith and designer extraordinaire Fortunato Pio Castellani (1794-1865). He pioneered the classical revival in his Roman workshop and he and his sons would inspire others to produce stunning examples throughout the century.

Detail of Brooch by Castellani, Glorious Antique Jewelry NY

Superb Bracelet by Castellani Glorious Antique Jewelry NY

Castellani approached antiquity with an open mind and together with his sons, Alessandro (1822-1883) and Augusto (1829 – 1914) became world famous. Their jewellery was enormously popular in England, extensively imitated there as well as in Italy, France and the United States.

Concerned at declining standards of craftsmanship Fortunato Castellani had become interested during the late 1820′s in Etruscan jewellery, seeking to learn the method of producing its granulated gold.

This was gold used as decoration on the surface of jewellery by fixing minute round grains to the metal base. The grains were made by pouring into water molten gold, which formed drop like granules. An alternative method was placing gold cuttings in a crucible with charcoal and heating and rotating it so the gold formed small spheres.

They were then soldered onto the object by a technique that meant the soldering was invisible. In the finest Etruscan examples minute gold granules sometimes only 0.25 mm were sprinkled on the surface. The technique had been long forgotten and people were fascinated with its rediscovery.

Pendant by Carlo Giuliano V & A Museum London

Agate Scarab Pendant by Giuliano in the Egyptian taste

In his workshops Castellani trained many new goldsmiths and they produced outstanding works. It is disputed by some scholars that Carlo Giuliano was perhaps one of them.

Curators at the V&A Museum at London, which has a collection of Giuliano jewellery, have published that he accompanied Castellani to London after probably training in his workshop at Rome. Whatever the story about these two jewellers they are now renowned for the superb quality of the objects they produced and collectors clamour to find them.

Carlo Giuliano and his sons Carlo Joseph and Arthur Alphonse arrived in London c1860 and at first opened a manufactory in Soho before opening a retail premises in 1874 in Piccadilly, producing exquisite jewels in the neo-Renaissance and archaeological revival taste.

One of his most colourful English patrons was the wife of the Prime Minister.  Margot Asquith, Countess of Oxford and Asquith was a socialite, wit and author whose works were not always critically accepted.

The most famous review of Asquith’s work came from New York wit Dorothy Parker, who wrote, “The affair between Margot Asquith and Margot Asquith will live as one of the prettiest love stories in all literature”as well as wife of the Prime Minister. She certainly horrified Giuliano’s London staff by sitting on the table swinging her legs when considering new additions to her own jewel collection.

An interest in Egyptology was greatly enhanced in England at this time by the work of the indefatigable Miss Amelia Edwards, who founded the Egyptian Exploration Society. Carlo Giuliano and his sons over the years brought vast numbers of impressive antiquities to London, including Egyptian scarabs and faience, which were collected by Carlo Giuliano and mounted in jewellery.

Art Nouveau Snake Motif Locket

Arthur Alphonse Guiliano not only inherited his father’s business but also left his wife to live with the woman he loved and whose children he had fathered. When Carlo Giuliano died (1895), the business was handed down from father to sons, remaining open until 1914.

For many of the jewellers of this time the return to nature resulted in a rejection of the antique and metaphors for love rejected in favour of an often morbid eroticism, in which women were associated with the insect world, sleep and death, metamorphosis and sapphism. These were considered at the time extremely risque and quite without precedent in the history of jewellery design.

Bow Brooch in the Garland Style by Cartier

Louis Francois Cartier (1819-1904) opened his shops in London and New York in 1902 and 1909 respectively. His jewels were delicate, had finesse and complemented the clothing designed by the Worth Brothers, the most fashionable of all the Parisian couturiers. They dressed all the most fashionable women of their day in delicate softly coloured silks; lilac, pink, yellow, mauve, straw and hydrangea blue.

Cartier encouraged his designers to consult original eighteenth century pattern books and also wander through the streets of Paris taking sketches of eighteenth century architectural detail.  This type of inspiration resulted in the garland style, one he made his own and others copied, with swags, bows and trails of diamond set flowers characterize it.

Platinum was also coming into wider use. It didn’t tarnish, was useful in that it contributed to the development of jewellery that used a minimum of metal as it was quite a bit heavier and stronger than gold. It maximised the use of diamonds as in Cartier’s Bow Brooch, which was inset with panels of carved quartz crystal

Edwardian Garland Paste Necklace

Garlands, laurel wreaths, bow knots, tassels and lace motifs were among Cartier’s most favourite decorative devices and his royal, aristocratic articulate, light and insubstantial creations were received with great enthusiasm by his clientele on both sides of the Atlantic and copied by others in semi precious stone and paste.

World War 1 began in 1914 and profoundly changed society. A new mode for living emerged – lets live and forget the past, The fashions and values of pre war society changed with freedom of expression a new rule. When the war ended women, proud of their emancipation also stayed on in their jobs favouring a masculine look, characterised by a thin, flat silhouette and short hair cut. Cutting a woman’s hair at this time was a dramatic social change, as they were encouraged to keep it long until they were married. Accompanied by the emergence and flourishing of a revolutionary style of fashion, design and illustration the reality of this change was a great deal for many people to deal with.

Actress Gertrude Lawrence

Gone was the overpowering opulence of the late Victorian period and the quiet gentle elegance of Edwardian times. In its place were clear, clean lines of angular geometric shapes, refined detailing and super draftsmanship and craftsmanship. It was the beginnings of the jazz age with racy music, retro design and the emancipation of women now looming large.

Brooch by Cartier Rock Crystal, platinum and diamonds

The ideal jewel of the 1920′s  had to complement a particular dress, or a particular woman and was chosen to suit her tastes, lifestyle and features. Actress Gertrude Lawrence was photographed by Cecil Beaton revealing the sense of drama and confidence women of the age exuded. The popularity of pearls encouraged a group of Japanese scientists, led by Mikimoto, to develop the technique of pearl cultivation.

The first cultivated pearls appeared on the market in 1921 and notwithstanding the strong  opposition from natural pearl merchants, quickly became a typical feature of the 1920′s. Worn both day and night either alone or combined with precious or hard stones important technical advances facilitated superb combinations of surfaces, metals, gems and colours. Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Moderns in Paris in 1925  lent its name to the terminology Art Deco.

The aim of the exhibition was to promote a ‘social art’ or better still, establish a closer working relationship between art and industry. The war effort advanced technology quickly so designers found many new avenues for surmounting the challenges of production, paving the way for imagination and innovation. While Cartier always embraced new fashion the aim was at maintaining moderation, style and balance to meet the tastes and requirements of a privileged elite, their target market

Coco Chanel Fashion Leader

An avant-garde woman during the 1920′s and 1930′s wanted a style of jewellery inspired by designs such as those of the exciting Ballets Russes, exotic forms of Oriental, African and South American art and other contemporary movements in art that reduced each object to utilitarian lines. The new standard for excellence in jewellery design was led triumphantly by the trusted and established firm of Cartier. Coco Chanel was the rage designer in France at this period. Her classical two piece suits were accompanied by yards of strings of pearls, natural or imitation.

Gold and gilt chains also became the indispensable accessory for all fashionable women. In some ways the modern movement that began c1880 was endeavouring to correct the retrospective phase of the nineteenth century but in the end ended up inspired by finds from antiquity began returning to it.

Fueling the change was the discovery of King Tutankhamun’s tomb in November 1922, which set the western world on fire. Carter’s excavations would reveal stunning jewellery especially his famous gold mask, gold pectoral, armlets, diadem and rings among all the other wonderful objects.

Cartier, Boucheron and Van Cleef and Arpels were all firms strongly influenced by a fascination with Egypt and they inspired gem cutters to experiment with new shapes.

Silver and Lapis Lazuli Sautior

The favourite necklace of the 20′s was the sautoir, a long rope decorated with a tassel of a pendant. Produced in many materials; diamonds, pearls, coral and so forth and it was the ideal accessory for the low waisted dresses of the time.

This stunning example is silver, with lapis lazuli beads, silver scarabs moonstones, sapphires & diamonds.  The pendant opens to reveal a watch

Silver and Lapis Lazuli Sautoir Open to reveal Watch c1920

Lapis Lazuli is a gemstone with a grand past. Archaeologists have established that this deep blue stone was popular thousands of years ago with the people of Mesopotamia, Egypt, Persia, Greece and Rome. In the Middle East it was thought to have miraculous powers. It was among the first gemstones worn as jewellery.

The Egyptians loved it and even crushed it to a powder that when mixed with water could be painted on the ceiling of their tombs with the addition of gold stars. The Far East, India and Persia continued as very strong influences on Jewellery throughout the 20′s and 30′s and Chinese mother of pearl inlaid plaques were often used in creations of oriental inspiration. American socialite and divorcee Mrs. Wallis Simpson married her King in 1937 and became the Duchess of Windsor. An enthusiast of jewellery, fashion and the prevailing modern style she led fashion the world over.

Duchess of Windsor

He had stunning jewellery fashioned for her by Cartier, Van Cleef and Arpels, Belperron and Harry Winston and gave it to her in love.  First as a Prince, then as King, and finally as a Duke the inscription ‘My Wallis from her David’ says it all. What more could any woman want than a man who would give up being a King for love.

The Wall Street crash of 1929 in New York and the consequent economic crisis changed life dramatically all around the world. The creations of the mid 1930′s before World War II exhibit an opulence of gemstones and designs unknown in the previous decade as jewels became larger and bolder as consumer confidence returned. After the War designer, wholesaler, retailer and diamond cutter Harry Winston became the world’s largest individual dealer and leading connoisseur of diamonds.

Elizabeth Taylor wearing the Taylor/Burton Diamond set by Cartier

Elizabeth Taylor as Cleopatra

Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor set the world on fire when they met on the set of the movie Cleopatra. They became a world famous celebrity couple when they met, and married, divorced and married again with Richard showering Elizabeth with jewellery, including a wonderful array of diamonds, some purchased from Harry Winston.

The most stunning single 69 carat stone that became known as the Taylor/Burton diamond was originally owned by Cartier Inc. who paid the record price of $1,050,000 for the gem at auction. Richard Burton bought the stone the next day for Elizabeth Taylor as he wanted to give to her with love for her 40th birthday present.

Renamed the Taylor-Burton diamond she first wore it publicly at a party for Princess Grace’s 40th birthday in Monaco. It just had to be diamonds…as they are forever and,  after all, everyone knows they are a girl’s best friend. In 1978 Elizabeth Taylor sold the Taylor/Burton diamond to build a hospital in Botswana.

…and if I give away all I have and if I deliver my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing…Love is patient and kind; it bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things…faith, hope, love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love…1 Corinthians 13

Carolyn McDowall©The Culture Concept Circle, 2009, 2010, 2011

This is the final part of a four part series. Read the rest of this series.

Read the 4 Installment Series in Chronological Order

Love Jewellery – Rome to Renaissance

Love Jewellery – Restoration to Revolution

Love Jewellery – Regency to Revival

Love Jewellery – Romantics to Retro

Bibliography

The Bible
Memoirs of the Private Life of Marie Antoinette by Madame Campan 1823 Henry Colburn & Co & M Bossange & Co
The Last Medici Harold Acton Macmillan 1980
The Triumph of Love Geoffrey Munn Thames & Hudson 1993
Louis and Antoinette Vincent Cronin Harper Collins 1974
Works of Jane Austen Jane Austen Folio Society 1975
Mme de Pompadour Nancy Mitford Hamish Hamilton 1968
Six Wives of Henry VIII Antonia Fraser Weidenfeld & Nicolson1996
Folio Golden Treasury Various Poet Folio Society 1988
Madame du Barry Joan Haslip Grove Weidenfeld 1991
Understanding Jewellery David Bennett David Mascetti Antique Collectors Club
All the Queen’s Men Neville Williams Cardinal 1974
Elizabeth 1 From Contemporary Documents Maria Perry Folio Society 1990
Treasures of the Medici Anna Maria Massinelli Thames & Hudson 2000
Gem Kingdom Paul Deautels Grossett & Dunlap 1971
Henry VIII and his Court Neville Williams Chancellor Press
Splendors of the Roman World Anna Maria Liberati Thames & Hudson
Civilization Timothy Potts Australian National Gallery 1990
Meditations on Love Sister Wendy Beckett K Publishing 1995
V & A Museum Website

Related posts:

1. Love Jewellery from Cupid to Cartier
2. Love Jewellery – Rome to Renaissance
3. Love Jewellery – Restoration to Revolution

Masks of the Pharoahs Psusennes 1 and the boy king Tutankhamun

Early progressive civilisations around 5600 years BC were sited on the plains of the Indus Valley of Pakistan, around the convergence of the Lower Tigris and Euphrates rivers near modern day Iraq and in the Nile Valley at Egypt. They practiced primitive forms of agriculture and animal husbandry by hunting prey, learning to tether and pen animals, look after grazing animals with sheep and goats among the first to be domesticated.

They collected fruits and berries, raised crops, propagated grasses as cereals and they learned to plait fibres. They used them to make gathering bags to collect their produce and for fastening garments to protect themselves from the harshness of the elements. Finally from being nomadic they established permanent settlements developing houses from simple mud and beehive huts to the more sound foundations of post and lintel construction.

The one basic pre-requisite they shared was developing an ability to emerge from the hunter gatherer stage to producing enough food to free up some people from tilling the fields in order that they could devote time to other pursuits, including establishing early forms of government, securing the safety of the people and developing a written vocabulary.

We highlight the ancient Egyptians who were pioneers in the art of adornment, especially the creation of jewellery.

Purchase individually

Evolution of Art Design and Style - Civilised: At the Beginnings of Art

Video: Day 1 Cradle of Civilisation

Day 1 of our video course. Delivered in 2 parts for easy viewing, this includes two M4V video files that can be downloaded, and viewed as many times as you like.

Price: $4.99

Updating cart

Podcast: Day 1 Cradle of Civilisation

Day 1 of our course. Delivered in 2 parts for easy listening, this includes two MP3 audio files that can be downloaded, and listened to as many times as you like.

Price: $1.99

Updating cart

eBook: Day 1 Cradle of Civilisation

Day 1 of our course. Delivered as an eBook in 3 formats: ePub, mobi and PDF, this eBook can be read on most eBook readers.

Price: $2.99

Updating cart

Read the product FAQ

Read the Terms & Conditions

Save by purchasing 10 sessions as a Complete Series

Related posts:

1. CIVILISED – At the Beginnings of Art – Day 3 Precincts of Power and Glory
2. CIVILISED – At the Beginnings of Art – Day 2 An Arcadian Ideal
3. CIVILISED – At the Beginnings of Art – Day 4 Conversion, Cornerstone and Civilized Life