SUGAR + MEOWS

Apr 28

Vreeland + red

Apr 8

Michael Hainey’s home

Mar 25

A collection of stickpins, consisting of:

a platinum topped yellow gold sword motif containing one pearl and 15 old European cut diamonds
a 14-karat yellow gold owl head accented with 28 rose cut diamond pin
a 10-karat yellow gold and oval cabochon cut coral weighing approximately 3.148 carats
a 10-karat yellow gold grape vine with nine seed pearls accented with six old European cut diamonds
a 14-karat yellow gold owl and moon design accented with two rubies
a 10-karat yellow gold and malachite scarab pin
a 14-karat yellow gold and two pearls within a serpent motif pin
a 10-karat yellow gold, opal and pearl in a pharaoh design motif
a 10-karat yellow gold and diamond floral motif pin
a yellow gold and diamond owl profile pin
a 10-karat yellow gold, opal and seed pearl floral motif pin
a 10-karat yellow gold greyhound head pin
a 10 karat yellow gold a pearl in textured leaf motif pin; a 10 karat yellow gold perched owl motif pin
a 14-karat yellow gold Egyptian profile pin
a 14-karat yellow gold, pearl, diamond and enamel calla lily pin
a 10-karat yellow gold, pearl, and azurite pin
a 10-karat yellow gold, ruby, and one old European cut diamond classical profile pin
a gold fan pin
a yellow gold and jelly opal pin
a 14-karat yellow gold and coral spider motif pin
a 14-karat yellow gold and diamond owl profile pin
a 10-karat yellow gold and opal pin
a 10-karat yellow gold, seed pearl and synthetic ruby pin
a 10-karat yellow gold, pearl and diamond pin
a 10-karat yellow gold, ruby and diamond classical profile pin
a 10-karat yellow gold and diamond Indian chief profile pin
a gold, diamond and pearl floral motif pin, and
a yellow gold and diamond serpent and alligator entwined design pin.

Mar 22

Kim Novak and James Stewart in Bell, Book and Candle (dir. Richard Quine, 1958)

Jan 25

Shawabty of King Taharqa

Nubian, Napatan Period, reign of Taharqa, 690–664BCE

This is a shawabty belonging to King Taharqa. The figure wears a bulging bag (khat) headdress with uraeus and has a long beard. Here the hands are opposed resting on the chest. In each hand the figure holds a hoe and a cord to a small bag slung over each shoulder. The hoe on the right has a narrow blade and the one on the left has a broad blade. The seed bags are incised with diagonal crossed lines forming a diamond pattern. There are nine horizontal lines of incised unframed text on the front of the body which do not extend to the back of the figure. There is a footmark on the bottom of the foot which is number three in Dunham’s typology for Taharqa, updated by Joyce Haynes (MFA, 2008). The object was broken in three pieces and is mended. This mummiform shape does not have a back pillar or base. There are several eroded spots on the front torso and legs.

The ancient Nubians included shawabtys in their tombs only in the Napatan Period, about 750–270BCE. These funerary figurines are based on Egyptian shawabtys, but differ from them in many features of their iconography. For instance, the known Nubian examples are only from royal tombs. Also, they have unique texts, implements, poses and are known to have the largest number of shawabtys included in one tomb. Their function, it is assumed, was the same as that of the Egyptian shawabty, namely to magically animate in the Afterlife in order to act as a proxy for the deceased when called upon to tend to field labor or other tasks. This expressed purpose was sometimes written on the shawabty itself in the form of a “Shawabty Spell,” of which versions of various lengths are known. Shorter shawabty inscriptions could also just identify the deceased by name and, when applicable, title(s). However, many shawabtys carry no text at all. The ideal number of such figurines to include in a tomb or burial seems to have varied during different time periods.

Provenance: From Nubia (Sudan), Nuri, Pyramid 1 (tomb of Taharqa) I E near door. 1917: excavated by the Harvard University–Boston Museum of Fine Arts Expedition; assigned to the MFA in the division of finds by the government of Sudan.

Jan 19

guildhall:

Iconoclastic

The Home of Dominique de Menil

When patron, collector, and activist Dominique de Menil built her house in Houston’s venerable River Oaks neighborhood, it caused quite a stir. Sitting amongst the lovely mock Tudors and otherwise tasteful manses, it looked more like a dry cleaner or dentist’s office to her neighbors. It also opened onto San Felipe Avenue, the rather unfashionable street usually reserved for service access or servants, and sat back on the lot surrounded by live oaks. Consistent with the patrician yet often controversial grande dame’s fashion, it was unexpected and challenging. Exactly what she wanted.

The house was designed and built by Philip Johnson and commissioned by John and Dominique de Menil contemporaneous with the building of the architect’s own iconic Glass House in Connecticut. Johnson also created interiors for the house, as was his practice. However, de Menil, passed on his equally minimal selections. Instead she commissioned couturier Charles James to devise the interiors, saying that she wanted ‘something more voluptuous.’

Today, the house has been restored in what has been called by Andree Putmann, ‘the most sensitive intervention.’ Original paint colors are intact or have been recreated, the eclectic collection of furnishings remain, and-of course-selections from the couple’s world-class modern art collection still hang. The house remains a part of The Menil Collection along with the main museum designed by Renzo Piano, The Rothko Chapel and the Twombly Pavillion.