Thursday, 8 August 2019

A miniature gueridon tutorial: 1. "I wanna see your face painted black"....

Hello my friends. 

Perhaps you recognise this line from 'Paint it black' by the Rolling Stones? Don't worry. I am not morrose, lovelost or depressed. But that song keeps popping up in my head when I work on this next little project.



Many of you will know gueridons. A type of sidetable/ pedestal which were quite popular from the 17th century onwards. They were highly decorative and there stem could have the shape of a collumn, a balustre or the carved figure of an animal or a human. The human figures were, depending on the size of the Gueridon, either shaped as putti, Cherubs or full grown people/ mythical figures. Blackamoor was the name given to those where the stem was carved and painted like African natives. Like the pair beneath which I found on the site of Sotheby's. Although some examples with Asian or North American Indian figures do exist. Those are very rare however. 


source: http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2013/19th-century-furniture-n08983/lot.246.html

You may know that Mulvany and Rogers also used pairs of beautiful blackamoors made by John Hodgson in some of their dollshouses. Their version(s) of Versailles has them for example. The photo beneath depicts them, though not in a Versailles setting. 


source: https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/john-hodgsons-pair-blackamoors-signed-1800396916
For a large countryhouse like Huis ter Swinnendael a pair of this kind of gueridons or torchères may still be a bit too grand but I believe that Carel Polyander Zonneschut could have brought them back from his ambassadorship in Paris. So with that in mind I started sketching...


Remember the two 'clock angels' I bought at a fleamarket last year and used to adorn a wall mounted clock? I did not quite know what to do with them. Their faces did not have the right proportions for classical angels. And their bodies were quite elongated. A few weeks ago I got the idea of trying to turn them in a pair of gueridons/ blackamoors. But how should I proceed from here?



First I had to rid them of there wings. They are made in the second half of the 20th century and made from a cheap alloy called spelter. So if my attempt should fail, the loss of them would not be that great. I took a pair of plyers to hand and ripped the wings of their back.


It is not as cruel as it sounds. Luckily they did not feel a thing. ;-) Next I proceeded to repair their backs. I shaped the 'wounds' of the remaining wingattachment with needlefiles, and used filler paste to fill the holes. Lastly I used coarse and fine grade sandpaper to smooth them up. Now they were ready to be painted.


Then I aplied black enamel paint to blacken their bodies. I tried one with black and one with gold coloured hair. I sticked with the gold. The tone difference between the black and gold is always quite apealing. Blackened and gilded bronzes are to be found in almost every antique shop or grand house.  My gueridons will not be real blackamoors in the sence that they are gold haired putti.

But where to go from here? The bases and the crowns and how I will make them will be shown in part 2. Be well and enjoy the summer!

Huibrecht

17 comments:

  1. I suppose the great philosophers would tell us that even angels have to suffer to become something even more beautiful. And in your creative hands they are well on their way! Can't wait to see what you come up with!

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    1. Hello Jodi,

      I quite like that idea. luckily they did not feel a thing. I myself had to think of lucifer and the fallen angels when I pried of their wings.
      And for the result? I will do my utmost best. :-)

      Huibrecht.

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  2. what a wonderful idea Huibrecht, and a very interesting result, I look forward to the future!

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    1. Thank you Claude, I hope that the end result will not dissapoint. There is still much work to do.

      Huibrecht

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  3. Jij ook een fijne zomer, Huibrecht! Ik ben erg benieuwd naar de sokkels en kronen die deze engeltjes krijgen.

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    1. Dank je wel Monique. Op dit moment is het heerlijk zomerweer. De sokkels en kronen zijn de grootste uitdaging. Ik ben nu daarmee aan het experimenteren.

      Huibrecht

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  4. BRILLIANT!!!!
    I love that you have come up with a practical usage for these two previously forlorn figurines. Your new plans will infuse new life into them as a Distinguished Feature within your miniature setting and I can't wait to see how you do it!

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    1. Thank you for your kind compliment Elisabeth. It bugged me that I had no purpose fore these figurines. When I bought them I thought that they could adorn the Roof like on het Nostell Priory dollhouse. But decided against that because their proportions were not quite right. I hope to be able to show more progress soon.

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  5. How inventive, they will make a room so grand ! Cannot wait to see the next stage ! huggsss Mrs M

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    1. Thank you Mrs. M. I hope the result will live up to its expectations. :-) The current phase involves wood and clay and is quite experimental at this moment. :-0

      Huibrecht

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  6. I suppose those two putti were happy being turned into something so special because they gave their wings so willingly... ;O) A fantastic inspiration and a great way to transform your inspiration into an awesome miniature. And I really like that you've also made up a story how they came into the estate.

    Greetings
    Birgit

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    1. Hello Birgit, I don't really know if they gave their wings willingly but they did not resist at least. :-)

      And as for the story, I like to write short stories from time to time. I have not just made up a story how these gueridons ended up into the estate. I have written (in véry broad strokes) an entire family history (spanning 7 generations) to help me fill and decorate the house. :-0 I'm afraid that my imagination does not know where to stop. :-)

      Huibrecht

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  7. Très réussi, j'adore aussi le mariage de l'or et du noir. Curieux de voir l'objet terminé, à bientôt donc :-)

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    1. Merci beaucoup Jean-Claude. La partie facile est faite. Maintenant je travaille sur la partie difficile. J'espère ne pas être déçu par le résultat final.

      Huibrecht

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  8. Iets met bloemen en groen een guirlande van de ene in de andere hand en die ander uhhh toch maar geen luit maar iets van een gieter... lijkt me wel leuk, ben dus heel benieuwd wat je ervan gaat maken!
    Veel plezier met creëren!
    groetjes van Marijke

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  9. Dank je wel Marijke. Ik ben inderdaad aan het kijken of ik iets in de handen van de ene putti zal stoppen of niet. De luit is heel lastig te verwijderen dus ik ben bang dat hij toch blijft zitten. :-)

    Op dit moment ben ik druk doende met figuurzaagjes en klei. Kijken of het lukt wat ik wil dat gaat lukken.

    Huibrecht

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