The ancient Etruscans thrived for some 500 years in central Italy before the Roman Republic was established in 509 BCE. The Roman-Etruscan wars resulted in the overthrowing of the last Etruscan king of Rome and the assimilation of Etruscan culture into the new Roman Empire. The statues make it clear that the Romans and Etruscans were not only co-mingling, but worshipping together at this sacred site. The Italian Culture Ministry describes it as a “unique multicultural and multilingual haven of peace” during a time when the civilizations were mostly at war.

A team of Italian archaeologists unearthed the bronze statues of human figures in September and October from the mud and waters of an ancient pool in San Casciano dei Bagni’s hot springs. Over 2,000 years old and almost perfectly preserved by the unique site conditions, the statues represent the largest deposit of bronze statues of the Etruscan and Roman age ever discovered in Italy.

They date back to between the second century BCE and the first century CE, yet their features are still sharp, and the inscriptions (in both Etruscan and Latin) are still legible. Among the statues are representations of the gods Apollo, his son Asclepius, and Asclepius’ daughter Hygeia, from whose name we get the English word “hygiene.” Back in 2020, when the dig first began, archaeologists discovered a large marble pool of an ancient sanctuary decorated with fountains and altars to these same deities.

Other findings include about 5,000 coins, small votive offerings representing body parts in need of healing, and bronze depictions of internal organs that are shockingly accurate. The findings indicate that Etruscan and Roman families prayed together at the sacred sanctuary of the thermal baths.

“The pool was a sacred place, only the religious custodians could bathe there,” says Ludovico Salerno, a member of the local archaeological association that participated in the work. “Sick people came to the sanctuary in the hopes of being cured and would offer gifts to the gods. It was a place of suffering, and it was a place of hope.”

Researchers have determined that Romans dismantled the sanctuary piece by piece around the year 500 CE, about two centuries after Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire. The statues were then laid at the bottom of the pool and covered with columns and slabs of marble in what archaeologists describe as a reverent and respectful burial.

Together, the findings provide an unusual amount of context for what life was like in that particular place at that particular time, potentially allowing scholars to rewrite the history of the transition from the Etruscan to Roman civilizations. “We can describe all the life, day by day here, through four or five centuries, so this is incredible,” says archaeologist Emanuele Mariotti.

Excavations will resume next spring, and the statues will be displayed in a new museum planned for the site.

The post Shockingly Well-Preserved Statues Unearthed in Italy Rewrite the History of Ancient Rome first appeared on Dornob.

Presenting at the country’s Southern Guild, her 12 massive and unique sculptures are collectively titled “iLobola,” the name for traditional South African marital negotiations between families to pay for a bride. Up until recently, that payment most commonly came in the form of cows, as represented in Poswa’s art by the horns attached to each piece.

“I knew I wanted to tell a story about ilobola,” says Poswa, who often draws on her Xhosa heritage in her work. “Because I was clueless, I needed to know how the whole process works, especially because this is something that would be a part of my life; if I’m not the one for whom lobola will be paid, then it will be for my daughter, or if [I have a son], he is the one that will pay lobola. So, somewhere, somehow, I will be involved; It’s part of who I am, it’s my culture.”

In the commercial economy of South Africa today, cows are no longer the main source of income for most tribe members, so cash is frequently exchanged instead as bride-wealth. And though some may raise criticism that the lobola custom treats women like a commodity, Poswa unapologetically defends it for its unifying abilities. Its purpose, she says, is “ukwakhiwa kobuhlobo,” or the building of relations between the two families.

“During the negotiation process, the families really get to know each other. They talk about what bonds the couple together and even identify potential pitfalls to the marriage. When the couple faces problems down the line, they have this safety net to turn to. I think it’s a really beautiful structure that brings stability,” she explains.

The statues are all roughly six feet tall and feature bright colors and patterns, along with individually shaped bases that hint at various human and animal forms. Constructed from hand-coiled clay and combined with cast bronze, the collection is just the latest in the Cape Town native’s career spent honoring her culture. One of her earlier anthologies, “Umthwalo,” paid tribute to the traditional women tasks of “gathering wood, collecting water, and taking bucket loads of clothing to the river for washing.” Another series, “Magodi,” looked at the sculptural forms of traditional African hairstyles. And of course, her “Ukukhula” pieces, themselves an examination of conventional male and female roles, were acquired by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) in 2019.

“There are many things you can call me,” Poswa notes. “I’m an artist, a businesswoman, a breadwinner, I am a mother, a daughter, a sister, and a survivor. My inspiration comes from my culture, and from the path I walked as a woman. I am the woman I am because of my heritage. I stand in tribute to the other women who have shared the load…I celebrate my heritage, and I forge my own way: my work is an act of intention, and this is what must be known about African women.”

Born in 1979, the artist studied surface deign at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology before opening the Imisa Ceramics studio with fellow ceramicist Andile Dyalvane in 2006.

Of her artistic process, Poswa explains that “working with clay is like a dance, it will follow if you lead it. But once it goes in the kiln, anything can happen. It’s like a grown-up child: you have to let go.”

More photos of “iLobola” and Poswa’s other work are available on her Instagram page @zizipo_poswa.

The post Zizipho Poswa Tackles South African “Bride-Wealth” Tradition Through Ceramics first appeared on Dornob.

Born in Australia and currently based in Mount Maunganui, New Zealand, Young draws inspiration from the scenery he’s been surrounded by his whole life. A boat builder by profession and surfer in his spare time, he says he’s driven by an enduring love for the ocean and a fascination with the relationship between humans and nature.

Each piece starts as a drawing, then a miniature three-dimensional model. Young creates templates and makes custom jigs to guide his glass cutting process with a glazier’s hand tool. The glass he uses is clear, but since light passes through multiple layers, it takes on shades of blue that grow deeper as the layers get thicker. That gives each sculpture the nuance that enhances their sense of realism, while the solidity of the concrete provides an interesting contrast. Each bronze piece begins as a hand-carved wax sculpture before it’s cast in metal.

“I do a lot of thinking before I even start to draw or cut,” Young says. “I work with 2D shapes and have to figure out how to translate that into a 3D finished piece. Sometimes my starting point changes dramatically as I have to find a way to layer the glass to create certain shapes.”

“The way I use the glass enables me to portray so many different elements of my conceptual ideas,” he adds. “Lighting plays a large part in the presentation of my pieces. When lit from beneath, the light reflects and gives off the illusion of the piece being brought to life. I hope viewers might imagine the work as something ‘living’ that creates the illusion of space, movement, depth, and sense of spatial being. I like to play with the irony between the glass being a solid material and how I can form such natural and organic shapes.”

The sculptures, which have names like “Watchful Gaze,” “Contemplation,” and “Sea of Separation,” are more than just pretty depictions of oceanic scenes. They explore an array of emotional themes that become apparent when you look beyond the (literal and metaphorical) surface, like loneliness, isolation, and the precariousness of human life on Earth. Young’s latest collection, “Sentiments of the Sublime,” aims to forge connections between the artist and the viewer “in a moment of awe and nostalgia.”

Young has previously exhibited alongside well-known glass artists around the world, and he’s currently represented by galleries in Melbourne, Auckland, Singapore, and New York. His pieces are in demand and sell as fast as he can produce them, but if you’re really in love with them and want a way to bring one into your home, he also sells original prints for $180 to $250 USD. He’s also available for collaborations and commissioned pieces, if you’d like to see him bring an idea of your own to life.

The post Carved Glass Sculptures by Ben Young Capture the Spirit of the Ocean first appeared on Dornob.

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Emerging technologies like 3D printing and computer-aided parametric design can produce visually stunning results, but sometimes it feels like something’s missing. That ‘something’ is almost always a human touch. When you lose a connection to craftsmanship, you lose a certain soulfulness, too.

Purcell Rodrigues avoids this feeling of emptiness by combining the strength and complexity afforded by technology with the heft and character of much older fabrication techniques, like bronze casting. Unusual and creative, the works offer a refreshing change for those who are tired of seeing the same old midcentury silhouettes rehashed year after year.

He calls his aesthetic “tradition redefined,” offering up the monolithic Seismic cocktail table as a prime example, “the lovechild of antique granite and cutting-edge CNC marble fabrication.”

Other standout designs include the Khepera Bench, which features legs that began as a computer model, “evolved” into physical sample through additive or subtractive manufacturing, and were made into a pattern to create the wax parts for casting. “Then, from the rough ceramic mold, an exquisite object materializes ready for finishing and patina.”

The Phalanx Loveseat and Tray features a soft microfiber cushion tucked into a leather-wrapped frame for both comfort and durability, which reaches around either side to offer two built-in wooden side tables. The result is a sleek silhouette that does away with the need for additional clutter.

The sculptural bronze legs of the Horta Console look like artifacts from Ancient Crete refined for the modern era, stretching up from the ground to support a black marble surface. The striking Bias Hooded Bed includes a multi-dimensional faceted headboard that feels like a protective shelter, and the Wesley Sconce sees a topography of rounded metal plates layered over a light source to intriguing effect.

The designer says he was encouraged to pursue both creative and entrepreneurial skills as a child raised by a graphic designer and a businessman. He says he used to disassemble his toys “to get to the bottom of how things were made, what was inside them, and how they worked. It was about the process of creation, the making.”

Now, with Atelier Purcell, Purcell Rodrigues offers access to his designs to customers in the US and UK via his online store. To see the pieces in person, check out Dennis Miller in New York City, De Sousa Hughes in San Francisco, and Thomas Lavin in Los Angeles and Laguna Beach, California.

“Alexander Purcell Rodrigues Design is an award-winning interdisciplinary design studio based in London and Los Angeles focused on delivering elegant design solutions through a combination of detailed research, a respect for the functional demands of contemporary life, and expertly-sourced materials that combine to interpret and reflect the client’s unique requirements. The studio looks to define a new aesthetic language for the luxury sector.”

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When she was nine years old, Bradley was captivated by a bronze sculpture she saw in the window of an art gallery she was walking by with her mother. Noticing her daughter’s fierce interest in the artwork, her mother quickly enrolled her in art classes, and it wasn’t long before Bradley’s natural talent caught the attention of a professional artist who was on the selection panel of a competition run by the local foundry. The competition was open to high school students in the county, who were invited to submit a clay sculpture that, if selected by the judges, would go on to be cast in bronze. Bradley won the contest, and so began not only her relationship with the metal itself, but also with the local foundry, which would go on to become one of her main collaborators throughout her career. Bradley has cast many of her pieces with this very foundry over the last 25 years, and her relationship with the workshop is both professional and personal.

Among other things, Bradley considers bronze to be a fascinating and versatile material. In a recent interview with My Modern Met, she explained: “Bronze is unique. There is no other material I have found which is so soft, yet so strong. So lasting, and grows colorfully rich with age. It has an amazing history dating back to 2500 BCE. To be among the artists who work in bronze — becoming a brother and sister of many, among such an extended timeline — is truly profound. In the 20th century, we learned how to weld bronze. Now we can weld even the smallest pieces onto delicate details, and they stay rigid, is quite exciting.”

Bronze has certainly proven to be a reliable ally in Bradley’s work, and many of her sculptures would be difficult to cast in another material. This is especially true of the works she is most well known for, which feature cracks and openings in their bodies to allow a bright yellow light to shine through, making them come alive with electricity. These pieces, which include the famous “Expansion” and other works like “Illumination, Half Life,” are intended to remind viewers that everyone has something powerful, or a kind of driving force, inside of them. Working with artisans like the craftsmen in the foundry has enabled her to bring her visions to life, and she says that the best work comes from the artist’s ability to let go and allow experienced technicians to advise them how to best realize the things in their head.

The post Paige Bradley’s Electrifying Bronze Sculptures first appeared on Dornob.

The highly unusual silhouette paired with the mirror finish creates an effect that changes the house’s appearance altogether so that it’s never experienced the same way twice. It looks different from each vantage point, time of day and day of the year, as well as with the weather.

Within the volumes created by the shifting and folding ribbon are nestled individual spaces enclosed only with large glass planes that virtually disappear so the house appears nearly transparent and provides occupants with geometrically framed views of the meadows and distant foothills.

The sharply angled visuals of the exterior are continued inside with walls, cabinetry and built-in furniture handcrafted from locally harvested oak planks that help distinguish the kitchen, living, dining and sleeping areas without cutting them off from each other. 

“Studio Libeskind was approached by a client that wanted a mixture of the avant-garde and the cozy. The Studio responded with a tour-de-force clad in mirror-finish, bronzed stainless steel.  The cladding was specified to accentuate luster and exaggerate the changes of light and season. The interior is solid stained white oak.”

“Within the scrolling of the ribbon, enclosure is achieved via large glass planes that at junctures virtually disappear.  There are porches on every side and from the interior, unimpeded picturesque views of hay meadows and distant foothills. The interior finishes, cabinetry, and built-in furniture are custom handcrafted from locally harvested oak planks.  These elements, along with subtle elevation changes in the concrete floor distinguish the kitchen, living, dining, and sleeping areas without separating them.  Circulation throughout the home is seamless and free-flowing, a theme which carries through in the nearly-nonexistent distinction between inside and outside.”

The post Spiked Sundial: Ultramodern Bronze House by Daniel Libeskind first appeared on Dornob.

As impressive as a metal sculpture and stylish as the steps of some private submarine, this beautiful stairway by Italian manufacturer Sandrini Scale is as much a work of art as it is of design. Looking up or down, the effect is a series of spirals within one another – smooth railing, then edged steps, then smooth again at the curved structural core and edged where the ends of the treads pierce the shaft.

The spiral staircase design comes in stainless steel as well as bronze, brass or copper, an optional gold or silver leaf finish, brushed or polished look, or what might be the best of the bunch: a weathered and rusted Corten steel look that would work well for an urban loft, which in turn seems like the perfect place to install one of these staircases.

“The staircase plays a fundamental role in the aesthetic balance of a house: it is, in fact, an architectural element that connects different environments and must therefore represent a transition also on an external level. To achieve this result in the best way it is necessary to carefully study the environments themselves and develop a tailor-made project that takes into account the spatial and aesthetic needs as well as the preferences and tastes of the inhabitants.”

“Those who, like Sandrini Scale, follow a philosophy of craftsmanship, consider each work performed original, with its own history and characteristics. The commitment and professionalism that shape it lead to excellent qualitative and aesthetic results, worthy of a true work of art.”

Still not sold on the solid-metal option? Sandrini Scale also has an assortment of cool contemporary cases with all of those minimalist touches for a modern home interior: floating glass or wood treads, straight-cut metal rails and so forth, though none quite so unique as the Etika described in the images above.

“Sandrini Scale has been designing and manufacturing staircases for interior and exterior furnishings since 1972. Active throughout Northern Italy, the company provides design and stylistic, technical and architectural consultancy services, construction and installation of customized interior and exterior staircases.”

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