TABLE OF CONTENTS
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Fo r e wo r d introduction
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16
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A Brief History of Obelisks project – o b e l i s k
clock
Studiolos, Renaissance Italy project – I pa d E a s e l
Palladian Style, Renaissance Italy project – Pa l l a d i o T o t e B ag
Venetian Mirrors, 17th Century project – M i r r o r
M o s a i c P l a n t e r
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32
36
40
The State Bed, 17th Century England project – Ta s s e l B l a n k e t
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Chinoiserie Style, 19th Century England
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A Brief History of Greenhouses
Grottoes, 18th Century Europe
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project – C h i n o i s e r i e P e d e s ta l
project – “G r e e n h o u s e ” C o ff e e Ta b l e
project – G r o t t o
J e w e l r y B ox
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Rococo Style, Early 18th Century France project – Wa l l f l o w e r H a n g i n g s
The Secret Compartments of Louis XIV project – S e c r e t W i n d o w C a b i n e t
Josiah Wedgwood, 18th Century England project – J a s p e r wa r e H e a d b oa r d
Gustavian Style, 18th Century Sweden project – G u s tav i a n C l o c k
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64
68
72
Federal Style, 18th Century America project – F e d e r a l
Mirror
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Empire Style, Early 19th Century France
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project – Em p i r e - I n s p i r e d P l at e s
Gothic Revival, 18th century England
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project – G o t h i c H e r a l d r y P i l l o w c a s e
Victorian England, 1837-1901
project – V i c t o r i a n C a r d b oa r d C a n d l e s t i c k
Shaker Design in the United States project – S h a k e r H a n g i n g L a m p
Native American Trade Blankets
project – N at i v e Am e r i c a n N a p k i n R i n g s
William Morris and the Arts and Crafts Movement project –
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96
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A r t s a n d C r a f t s W o o d b l o c k L a m p
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Art Nouveau, France 1890-1910 project – B r a n c h
a n d C r y s ta l C h a n d e l i e r
Weiner Werkstätte, Vienna 1903-1932 project – C a s t
M e ta l S w i t c h p l at e
The Bauhaus, Germany 1919-1933 project – B au h au s S h o w e r C u r ta i n
Art Deco Ocean Liners, 1920s and ‘30s project – A r t D e c o m o b i l e
(o r P i ñ ata )
Hollywood Regency, america 1930s project – h o l ly w o o d H a n g - I t- A l l
108 120 124 130
TE M PLATES BIBLIOGRAPHY DESIGNER BIOS SOURCES F OR SUPPLIES
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A Brief History of Obelisks I n 1 8 8 1 , b e f o r e N e w Yo r k C i t y h a d e l e c t r i c i t y, b e f o r e t h e B r o o k ly n B r i d g e
The obelisk was transported from the docks of Manhattan on the 96th Street to its final location in Central Park, a trek which took four months to complete.
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was finished, and before the word “skyscraper” was even part of the English lexicon, one of the oldest skyscrapers in the world was erected in Central Park. Originally constructed in Ancient Egypt in 1500 BC, before it traveled 6,000 miles to Manhattan 3,500 years later, where it still stands to this day. In Ancient Egypt, the obelisk was considered to be a sacred homage to the greatest Egyptian deity, the Sun God, Ra. These monolithic structures weighed hundreds of tons and stood as tall as 100 feet, with a tapered rectangular shaft and a pyramid on top. They were erected in pairs outside temples as a testament to the might of their gods and pharaohs. Obelisks were carved out of the ground using small balls of a hard rock called dolerite, which they used to pound away at the pink granite, pulverizing it and slowly creating a trench around the would-be obelisk. Once the trench around the obelisk was completed, the workers tunneled underneath to free the shaft from the rock. It was a painstaking and treacherous process. After carving, the obelisks were hauled to the banks of the Nile where the spring floods made it possible to transport them to the intended temple site. Once at the site, the obelisks were raised vertically, most likely under the watchful eye of the pharaoh. The obelisks were partially decorated at the quarry, but subsequent pharaohs would add their own inscriptions over time—an ancient form of tagging—until they became completely covered in hieroglyphics. The Romans were the first culture to become infatuated with Egyptian relics. After they subsumed Egypt into their Empire in 30 BC, they became obsessed with all things Egyptian and had a particular affinity for the obelisk. Like any new homeowner, the Romans began to move things around to suit their needs, and even went so far as to transport ancient obelisks down the Nile and across the Mediterranean Sea so they could sprinkle them throughout the Roman Empire. In fact, the Romans moved so many obelisks from Ancient Egypt that today there are more obelisks standing in Rome than in Egypt. In the late 18th century, a similarly powerful interest in Egyptian relics was sparked by Napoleon’s military campaign in Egypt. In addition to his military troops, Napoleon brought with him an unprecedented 167 scholars and intellectuals. The antiquities that they collected and brought back to Europe resulted in a flurry of publications that set off an Egypt-o-mania craze. In addition to the Ancient Egyptian artifacts in European museums and private collections, two obelisks were brought to Paris in the 1830s, and one was brought to London in 1878. If New York wanted to position itself as a world class city on par with the great capitals of Europe, it needed to have an Ancient Egyptian obelisk too. That the newest city in the world came to possess one of the oldest relics in the world seemed only fitting to New Yorkers. After all, it was 1879—the Gilded Age—a time of overwhelming economic growth, prosperity, and possibility.
(This was the New York of the John D. Rockefellers, J.P. Morgan, and Andrew Carnegie.) William Henry Hurlbert, editor of the New York World, spearheaded the idea of obtaining an obelisk by enlisting the support of several key politicians, which resulted in the American consul-general in Egypt, Elbert Farman, spending more than a year gently pressuring the Khedive to give New York City an obelisk. He finally conceded, and plans started to get underway. William Vanderbilt financially supported the project to the tune of $102,576, and Commander Gorringe, veteran of the U.S. Civil War, engineered the means by which the 69-foot, 220-ton obelisk would move from Egypt to New York. This wouldn’t, however, be the obelisk’s first journey. The obelisk destined for New York City was one of a pair carved from Egyptian quarries to mark Thutmosis III’s (r. 1479 BC to 1425 BC) third jubilee, which was a special anniversary of his reign. In 12 BC, Caesar Augustus moved the pair of obelisks from their original temple site to Alexandria. The pair of obelisks, nicknamed Cleopatra’s Needles, remained together until 1877, when the British transported one of them to London—a move that proved disastrous. In a shipwreck that killed six people, the obelisk became lost off the coast of Spain and had to be rescued and towed to London, where it was finally erected in 1878. The overseas voyage of the second obelisk took just over a month and was much less eventful—it was the land journey that proved to be tricky. The obelisk was transferred from the ship to a barge at Staten Island, which then sailed up the Hudson River. It would take nearly four months to move the obelisk from the unloading point on 96th street to the site in Central Park. It was so heavy, the engineers had to constantly devise new ways to move it. Ultimately, the obelisk inched along a track; gangs of men were hired to remove the track beams from behind the obelisk, grade the ground in front of the caravan, sink the anchors for the stationary block, and reposition the track beams, all on a route that was carefully planned in order to minimize the number of turns the obelisk would need to take. It was the greatest show in town, and New York became gripped by obelisk fever. Crowds stood by, gawking at the massive rock, and street vendors set up moving stands that traveled alongside the obelisk. Many observers came with hammers and chisels, until these souvenir seekers became so out-of-control that a 24-hour guard had to be hired. Finally, on January 22, 1881—a full 15 months after the pilgrimage had begun in Alexandria—a crowd of 5,000 people gathered in the snow to watch the erection of the obelisk in the park. Great care was given to ensure that its orientation to the sun was exactly the same as it had been in Alexandria.
Pharaohs added their own inscriptions to obelisks—an ancient form of tagging—until they were completely covered in hieroglyphics
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Obelisk Clock by T i m o t h y L i l i e s Our culture’s captivation with Ancient Egypt continues to this day, and obelisks still pop up frequently in modern décor (usually in the form of bookends or mantle decorations). Obelisks also appears in more unexpected ways, like the clocks shown here. Designer Timothy Lilies used pointed obelisk-shaped Post-It flags in a variety of neon colors to create a decorative element across the faces of clocks. The clock itself, which marks the movement of the sun, is a little nod to the obelisk’s original purpose: To honor the Sun God, Ra. INSTRUCTIONS
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There are usually three to four tabs holding the clock’s cover in place; pry them back with the head of the screwdriver until the cover comes free. It’s not necessary to remove the hands or ticking mechanism as you attach the stickers, you can simply move the clock hands out of your way as needed.
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Your design will be based on a straight line. To create this line, lay down a strip of painter’s tape anywhere on the clock’s face. This will establish a consistent first row of stickers on which you will build the rest of the pattern.
M ATERIALS
Clock with a plastic (not paper) face and a removable plastic cover (see Resources, page 000) Post-it Arrow Flags, 1/2" size (available online or at any office store) TOOLS
Flathead screwdriver
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Attach a lengthwise row of stickers along the edge of the tape, making sure to keep the
Painter’s tape
spacing as even as possible. (When you eyeball the spacing, it won’t be perfect, but the
X-Acto knife
naked eye will not pick up discrepancies in the finished piece.) When you get to the end of the row, the last sticker may go beyond the edge of the clock face. Trim carefully with the X-Acto knife so that it meets perfectly at the edge of the clock’s face or the plastic rim.
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When the first row is complete, remove the painters tape. For the next row of stickers, reverse the direction in which the arrows point. Keep 1/8” to 1/4” of spacing between the rows. Keep laying down successive rows of stickers, alternating color, direction, and even varying spacing if it looks good to you. When thinking about your design, make sure to consider which parts of the numbered clock face you want to show, and how much you want to cover up.
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When you’re done placing the stickers, set all the hands of the clock back to 12; this will ensure that when the clock starts ticking again, everything will move at the proper rate. Snap the plastic cover back into place and you’re done!
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