More British Museum Beasts

Working on the Beautiful Beasts blog has made me question why we want to make images of animals at all and on Saturday I had another couple of hours in the British Museum. I go to read, as much as to look and draw.

Of course, the use of animal imagery in art, design and utilitarian objects warrants a lifetime of study, each culture having its own different beliefs, magic and symbolic systems. But on Saturday I particularly wanted to look at the Egyptian mummified animals and then a quick visit to the fabulous “Beyond El Dorado Power and gold in ancient Colombia” exhibition of exquisite golden and ceramic artefacts.

The animal mummies in Egypt were prepared for various reasons; a favourite pet to accompany you, an offering to the appropriate animal god or as food in the afterlife. In the main animal mummy case are cats, small crocodiles, falcons, a baboon, bronze relic boxes for a snake and an eel, a beautiful ibis case and fish “coffins”. There is nowhere to sit, so it’s a matter of drawing on the move while dodging the crowds .. the lines are a bit wobbly!

Everyone is fascinated by the cats. One in particular has a smile. One apprehensive little girl wanted reassurance that they were really dead.The linen wrappings are very beautifully executed with contrasting coloured cloths in a geometric pattern.

In another case were two forlorn bulls which don’t attract much attention, so I could wedge myself in a corner by the case to draw.

“Bulls were sacred to several gods. The famous Apis bull at Memphis was considered the earthly manifestation of Ptah, through which he issued oracles” from the British Museum Website

 

The wisdom of the bull..

Beyond El Dorado

On to the El Dorado exhibition which was packed. It was impossible to stand and draw without getting in the way of the tide of people, so I just made a few notes

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This is an exquisite little gold staff decoration. From the British Museum Website.

“The exhibition will explore the complex network of societies in ancient Colombia – a hidden world of distinct and vibrant cultures spanning 1600 BC to AD 1600 ….The remarkable objects displayed across the exhibition reveal glimpses of these cultures’ spiritual lives including engagement with animal spirits though the use of gold objects, music, dancing, sunlight and hallucinogenic substances that all lead to a physical and spiritual transformation enabling communication with the supernatural.”

There were some interesting snake related items. I was particularly pleased to read that snakes were revered as they seemed able to move easily between the elements of earth, water and sky (through jumping) and through the shedding of their skins were linked with concepts of renewal…..Go snakes!

 

A few notes of the lovely little ceramic figures from Lake Guatavita. A5 sketchbook.

There is so much material to work with and so many ideas to pursue. If you are ever in need of inspiration, a trip to the British Museum is the answer, but take a sketchbook not a camera. You will see much more.

More Silk Road Horse Mono prints

I did a redraw from my sketch and worked on some more prints. Working from a sketch again and again is like Chinese whispers and the image will change as you go. It’s so much better than going back to your original, unless you are looking for accuracy. Let the image and your marks develop in their own way.

 

I think you need to do lots and lots of experiments and be prepared to throw away lots of paper. I have many rejects. Some are too dark, some too light, some get blotches in the wrong places etc etc, but the possibilities are endless.

This image was printed twice, once wiping out some areas and then drawing on the plate again and running it through the press. It spreads the line in places which sometimes is wonderful and sometimes not.

Printing inks on Japanese Paper A4

This image (I forgot to reverse the drawing :)…) was worked on both in line with a pen and roller on the plate, which is how the blobs of ink got there. All of the prints so far are with waterbased inks.
Things are all very experimental and endlessly surprising.
I really like them.

Silk Road Horse 2: Mono prints

Using the sketches of the stucco horse from the Museum I made some simple monoprints.
Each of the prints below are a result of slightly different inking, slightly different drawing pressure and single or double printing.

 

It’s the first time I have tried this technique and I am delighted by the sensitivity of the mark. There is a lithographic feeling about them, which to me is very beautiful.

I have become really interested in the implied connection between the horse and the figure, so I’ll be working on that some more this week.

Silk Road Horses from the British Museum

Last week I spent a few hours making some sketch notes in the British Museum. I was really looking for dragon inspiration and as you would expect, I did find beautiful dragons in the Chinese Rooms, but I was also very taken with two fragmented horses from the Silk Road display.

 

My sketch of the spotted peg leg Tang period horse. It is “made of painted clay and wood and was found buried in a tomb near a major Silk Road administrative centre”.

“Horses on the move

The Tang dynasty (AD 609–918) was the golden age of the Silk Route. The capital, Chang'an (today Xi'an), at the eastern end, was the largest and most cosmopolitan city in the world at that time. Foreign traders, craftsmen and diplomats from all over took up residence in Chang'an and the other principal trading centres of China, which greatly benefited from the material trade and foreign cultural influences of these interactions.
But all of this could not have been possible without the beasts of burden which carried goods in either direction along the Silk Road.”

from The British Museum Website here

The other horse is a much smaller fragment of stucco. Initially it was the beautifully curving arch of the neck that I liked and then saw the two disembodied arms which, I like to think, are affectionately encircling the horse’s neck. Enigmatic and beautiful. I decided to spend this week on Beautiful Beasts exploring this little horse and its long gone rider.

 
My sketch from Thursday 13th Feb. The Museum label says

“Fragment of a horse.
Ming-oi, near Shorchuk, 8th-10th c. CE. Stucco with traces of paint.”

My sketchbooks and the Silk Road horses, the small stucco one is hidden behind frame of the case.

On Saturday 15th I returned briefly and made a couple more sketches

This is the little stucco horse again but this time I included the figure next to him. I am struck by how these physically unrelated pieces seem to have some sort of interaction.
As did the figure positioned by the two great Tang ceramic Horses which have the centre of the gallery in a glass case with camels and other figures. 

A5 sketchbook pen and ink

This man has his hands raised as if holding the reins of one of these wonderful creatures and yet they don’t seem to have bridles.

I had sketched them on Thursday too ..irresistibly beautiful things with their thick necks and sloping bodies and those fine slender heads. Two larger visitors in the background

 

“Two horses and a groom, made of brown, green glazed earthenware, from the tomb of Liu Tingxun (d. 728).”