The Celts were the ancient inhabitants of much of Europe. A spiritual people, their rich mythology and symbolism later merged with the Christian beliefs they embraced to create a distinctive art seen especially in Ireland and Scotland. The Celtic Cross is known throughout the world as the emblem of Celtic Christianity and it can be considered the symbol of Celtic-ness itself. Celtic Crosses began to appear during the fifth century A.D. Its shape is derived from a pagan sun symbol, the sun wheel, which later became a symbol of the Christian Godhead. The sun wheel was originally a cross surrounded by a circle with a center stone representing the sun and mock suns at the four quarters. The stone at the center of the circle also represents the navel of the world. The stone pillar of the cross also embodies phallic and fertility characteristics. The cross represents eternal life; its horizontal axis being the earthly world and the vertical axis the heavenly world coming together as the union of Heaven and Earth. Celtic Crosses are imbued with continuous and interwoven knot and spiral motifs symbolizing the continuity of life, death and rebirth. The Picts (meaning the painted ones) were a powerful tribal federation north of the river Clyde, Scotland. Known for their sophisticated stone carvings, their style of crosses was characterized by having animal images.
Almost
all of our items come with a
history card or string history card that provides background on the history,
mythology, location and main characteristics of the ancient original.
Many items come boxed in elegant color
gift boxes. We are progressively including more items in color boxes.
Museum Reproductions Information:
History of Art Reproductions:
As far as we know, the history of art reproductions
takes us back to Imperial Rome where bronze and marble reproductions of Greek masterpieces
served as decoration for lavish Roman Villas and Gardens. The art of casting is
thousands of years old: Terracotta’s, Bronzes and ancient glass were cast from molds.
Closer to our time in the mid 18th century coinciding with the search for new artistic
styles which took inspiration from the roots of classic art (neoclassicism) and
the discovery of Herculaneum in 1738 and Pompeii in 1748, archaeological reproductions
reappeared all over Europe. As a result of French expeditions to Egypt during the
nineteenth century, a casting facility was set up next to the Louvre Museum where
many important archaeological pieces from ancient Egypt were reproduced. Following
the example of the Louvre, other leading European museums began to reproduce some
of the masterpieces in their collections thus initiating a trend that continues
until today.
Art Reproduction Craftsmanship:
For the making of art reproductions, masterpieces
have been chosen from the best museums all over the world, The Louvre, The British
Museum, The National Museum of Athens, The Egyptian Museum Cairo, The New York Metropolitan
Museum of Art. We only use materials and techniques that can achieve the best quality
in reproducing original works of art to obtain very fine pieces, up to the last
detail. Our sculptures are cast in a variety of mediums: Bonded Stone, Polyresins,
and Bronze. The finish of each reproduction, is always hand-made and showing craftsmanship
and historical sense, is the work of an artisan. It is the task to present to the
people of today the legacy of those ancient civilizations with all the beauty and
mystery of our ancestors again in front of our eyes and at the reach of our hands.
There is several steps that must be taken before a museum reproduction sculpture
can be made. Most of our items are original artworks created by our sculptors, carved
out of clay, stone, or wood. Once the original is carved, a mold is made, usually
out of silicon. Crushed stone in a liquid resin medium is poured into a silicon
mold where it solidifies into a hard stone that reproduces all the detail and texture
of the original. All the finishes are done by hand. Many finishes include color
detailing, a labor intensive process where colors are applied with small brushes
by our skilled artisans.
Museum Reproductions
