Articles

Black Forest Carvings

 Many assert that Black Forest wood carvings are a distinctive style of decor that originated not in the Black Forest of Germany, but in the Swiss Alps. The Black Forest style or "Brienzerware" we ...

Color Blindness in Art

Color blindness, or color vision deficiency, affects about 1 in 12 men and 1 in 200 women. It is most commonly caused by a gene mutation on the X-chromosome but can occur due to accidents, age, med...

Chauncey Jerome and The Industrialization of Time

Prior to the industrial boom of the 1800s, time (for the average man) was measured by daylight, punctuated by sunrise and sunset, regardless of the time of year; meals were eaten when hungry and be...

Governance and Goodwill: The Resolute Desk of the Oval Office

Looking forward to election day, we've seen a lot of images and iconography of the American government lately. The White House, the Oval Office, and even the Resolute Desk within the Oval Office. ...

Halloween's Irish Roots

As with many mainstream holiday traditions celebrated in modern America, it's difficult to discern the origin and purpose of many of the ways in which we celebrate Halloween. There is always a vagu...

Egyptian Revival in the Victorian Era

While its popularity had ebbed and flowed for decades, Egyptian Revival architecture and style was most popular from 1880 to 1930 and then continued to heavily influence the Art Deco period. Egypt ...

The Tradition of Dowry and Marriage Chests

The dowry chest has been used across cultures all over the world for thousands of years. First mentioned in Hammurabi's Code (circa 1750 B.C.), a woman's dowry refers to the payment given by a brid...

Equine Art Through the Ages

Horses are one of the most commonly depicted, and earliest represented, subjects of art. Our partnership with horses has benefited humankind for the last 10,000 years - from war, to transportation,...

The Value of Mahogany

Mahogany has a beautiful wood grain that darkens over time, giving warmth to any space. It's been favored by carpenters for centuries because of its durability and the ease of carving it. It's well...

Margaret Tafoya, Mother of Southwest Pottery

Margaret Tafoya, born 119 years ago today, was the matriarch of Santa Clara pottery. Serving as the bridge between the old and new ways, Tafoya was an experimenter. She was most known for the size ...