The Venetian Paper Reliquaries of Patty Grazini

Rosalba Carriera (1673-1757), an artist who painted the portraits of all the nobility throughout Europe. 

She tragically lost her eyesight at the end of her life. This is one of the portraits she painted. Below is a tool box and stand constructed entirely of paper which might have held her brushes.

I've always thought of my friend, Patty Grazini as someone who would be equally comfortable living in the Victorian or Edwardian era, but as nobility, as she would be revered for her rarified talents. She works tirelessly all year long to craft a group of paper sculptures based upon a theme—often of real events or real people. This year, she again has a new exhibition of exquisite paper constructions currently on display until December 21st at the Curtis Steiner Gallery in Seattle's Ballard neighborhood. Her latest new works are inspired by historic reliquaries, or sacred relics made to honor the dearly departed. 

     Patty explains the theme of her new group of paper sculptures by saying, "I wanted to create memorials that were reminiscent of the reliquaries that I saw while traveling in Italy over the years."

     For this new group, Patty chose to memorialize ten notable women from Venice "who lived in an age of extreme decadence and beauty—during the long decline of the Venetian Empire in the 16th to the 19th centuries." The ten women she chose to honor with her own imagined paper reliquaries were noted for their contributions to the arts and culture of Venice, yet their legacies have been nearly obscured by history. Each piece is accompanied by a small handmade book with a quote by these remarkable women, or one of their contemporaries.

     I believe this must now be Patty's tenth annual exhibit at the Curtis Steiner Gallery and the fifth time I've reported on her annual exhibitions in this space, and each of her shows have been impressively staged like a walk through history, fabricated entirely of paper. The stories she tells of people are true—and whose lives she characterizes in period paper garments, with personal possessions, and furnishings—each produced in exquisite detail by twisting, embossing, folding, decorating and manipulating beautiful found papers and ephemera. Magnifying glasses are definitely encouraged. All of these artworks seen here, and more are for sale, and yes, they are made entirely of paper. You can learn more about Patty and her work at this link, and read some of my past posts of Patty's paper productions here. 

Caterina Cornaro (1454-1510).
Through and arranged marriage, she became the last queen of Cypress.

Beads, baubles, jewels, and stones are mounted in metal-like settings, all made of various found, decorated, embossed, distressed and marbled papers and ephemera which Patty has collected from her travels and from friends.

Elena Cornaro Piscopia (1646-1684), was the first woman
in the world to earn a doctorate degree. Here, Patty Grazini features her quilled pen,
inkwell and eyeglasses as a tribute to her life's work. 

  

  

Gallery owner, Curtis Steiner is an exemplary artist himself.
Not only is he a curator, painter, calligrapher, jewelry designer, and sculptor,
but he also constructs the most imaginative window displays of paper each year. This year's display features a paper garland of large, gold leaves made of folded text pages above a display of
his hand lettered holiday cards. The white tramp art table below this is made of old
wooden thread spools—another sight to behold.

Joyful Holiday Greetings

I could not let the holiday season slide by this year without some seasonal best hits from some of the 20th centurys' most notable designers. Leading off here is an accordion four-panel card by Alex Steinweiss, the inventor of the album cover. Steinweiss (1916-2011), who spent much of his career designing for Columbia Records, preferred to just put a bow on it. I'm just sorry I didn't put this on my own xmas list, but it's still available here if anyone is feeling overly generous. 

This 1958 holiday card by Dutch designer Dick Bruna (b.1927-) was designed for Pastoe, a furniture company in the Netherlands. 
::via Centraal Museum

This undated Christmas greeting found here was illustrated by Erik Nitsche (1908-1998.) Though there is little record of its origin, Nitsche often signed his work which to a small degree, has helped to preserve his legacy. This seasonal design is rather unusual for Nitsche, who is more widely known for his bold, daring, and modernist artworks produced for the General Dynamics company in the 1950s and 60s. Below is another unusual holiday piece found here, which he designed as a circular in 1936 for the F.A.O. Schwarz Toy Company, titled the St. Nicholas Special. These are both great examples illustrating Nitsches' broad range of styles and lettering. 

Last up is a particularly handsome holiday card from 1955, designed by Scottish designer, Robert Stewart (1946-1995) for the famed Dovecot tapestry studio in Edinburgh. 

     You can find a seasonal sampling of last year's best hits here. May all of these timeless holiday treasures brighten your day!  

::via Writing Warp & Weft

Confectionery Delights from Vienna

Long after the flavor of a fine chocolate disappears, the packaging remains as a treasure to savor for years to come. Many are just as irresistible as the chocolate treats they contain. Choosing a favorite box design is like picking a favorite chocolate, but this Julius Meinl Pralines box from Vienna with the Russian motif and lovely hand lettering rates high. Many of the designers' names are long forgotten sadly, but the beauty of their ephemeral packaging compelled someone to save these boxes for decades. All of these paper confectionary containers and more are available from this Antique Pool dealer in Vienna. They truly belong in a chocolate museum somewhere.

A small box with embossed design to hold liquor-filled bonbons from Heller.

Oscar Pischinger, manufacturer of chocolate wafers and cakes.

Demel, the oldest Viennese confectionery, was founded in 1799. They are admired as much for their decadent chocolates and candies as for the packaging designed by Swiss baron Federico von Berzeviczy-Pallavicini (1909-1989). Pallavicini was a visionary artist and designer, and studied fine arts in Vienna where he was strongly influenced by the Wiener Werkstätte movement. In the late 1920s, he was introduced to Demel by architect and designer Josef Hoffmann—launching his career as a visionary designer of wrapping papers, packaging and ornate window displays. Pallavicini's work is consistently recognized by his use of lively overall pattern and hand lettering with a distinctively flamboyant style. His box designs with hinged lids seen above, are likely dated sometime in the 1930s. 

In 1936, Mr. Pallavicini married Klara, the Jewish niece of owner, Anna Demel, in order to protect her from the menacing threats of Nazism. She was allowed to enter a convent under his name and survived the war. Pallavicini moved to Italy in the late 30s and pursued a career as a magazine illustrator and art director. He later settled in the New York and worked as an art director for Elizabeth Arden, an interior designer for Helena Rubinstein, a stylist for Look magazine and an art director and illustrator for the short-lived, but highly-admired Flair magazine. After Klara died in 1965, Pallavicini managed Demel until 1972, when he sold the family firm. Some of his package designs continue to be in use today.

   

The last 3 images are for a very rare unfolded cardboard candy box designed by Pallavicini. It characterizes a "Punch & Judy" puppet theater when properly assembled. Below are a few additional early Demel box designs pre-dating Pallavicini's work.

Word & Letter Play

A 1910 spelling game from Germany. 
Bonus points kids for texting in black letter! Hint: mind the word gaps. 

Source: Antique Pool

A rewarding game of wordmaking and taking from 1877 with an 

even more rewarding wood engraved label design.

Source: The Big Game Hunter

A charming crossword game from 1954.
Source: Etsy Paper Creations

 A French wordgame of strategy using letter tiles.
Source: Etsy lestrictmaximum 

Construct the alphabet and a cottage tower at the same time with 
The New Alphabet Game from 1850.
Source: The V&A Museum 

The Super Spelling Card Game from Sylabex.
Source: Etsy Kipperbone 

Scrabble's 1972 Alphabet Game featuring a questionable 
child labor practice of lugging large letters.
Source: eBay