Ornamental woodcarver
Rococo Style of Ornament
ROCOCO WOODCARVING ,Commissioned by the Museum aan het Vrijthof in Maastricht
A rococo style ornament for the core collection of the Museum aan het Vrijthof in Maastricht (NL).
Patrick Damiaens has been a professional woodcarver for 25 years and is well versed in ornamentation and the carving of ornaments. He was exclusively commissioned by the new Museum aan het Vrijhof in Maastricht (NL).
After careful consideration, the curator of the Museum aan het Vrijthof and several sponsors decided to purchase one of his artworks. This piece is to become a part of the core collection of the Museum, which surely is to be regarded as a great honour. The Museum aan het Vrijthof in Maastricht has recently been renovated and is now three times as large.
The Museum has devoted a section to the arts and crafts of the 18th century. Interestingly enough it’s not only about the artwork on display. Over the past few months, the entire history of the creation and development of this art piece was captured by a Dutch film crew.
They will now edit the footage, providing the Museum with an educational film to accompany the artwork. This allows the visitors of the Museum to gain a better understanding of the complexity of Patrick’s profession. The opening of the Museum aan het Vrijthof will take place on 15 March 2012, on the eve of the TEFAF 'European Fine Art Fair', which is also the main sponsor of the Museum.
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| article in a Belgian newspaper |
'The museum Aan het Vrijthof 'in Maastricht (Netherlands)
'Made in Maastricht'
The main focus of Museum
aan het Vrijthof is ‘500 Years Made in Maastricht’; 500 years of
creativity and enterprise. By means of authentic stories and tangible
memories from five centuries of arts and crafts and manufacturing
industry, the history of Maastricht’s cultural identity is presented and
visualised. The witnesses’ views on the events and conditions of their
time express the spirit of the age and allow the visitor to reflect upon
history.
The visitor starts his journey through 500 Years Made in
Maastricht in the recent past. He is taken from room to room through
time in a reversed chronology, all-in line with the buildings’ history.
Each guest will be given an RFID chip (Radio Frequency Identification).
This chip traces the exact position of the visitor and can be tuned to
the language of preference. The building will respond to the visitor’s
presence, without any action required by the visitor. This technique
allows you to see and hear bygone times in a subtle and invisible way.
Artistic craft during the ancien régime
Around the 1850s,
Maastricht is much like it was three centuries earlier with regard to
the social and economic viewpoint. The guilds, which were called trades
in Maastricht, were flourishing. Knowledge and skills were passed on
from teacher to pupil, and consequently maintained and supervised by
means of a form of self-regulation. Next to that, the trades offered an
interpersonal cohesion between their members. Guild members were sworn
members, which implied that they were committed to each other by means
of a mutual oath. ‘Sjariteit’, solidarity and cooperation were the key
notions. The trades did not only pursue to regulate the professional
lives of their members, but also their political, religious, social and
private ambitions.
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| Maastricht |
In these days, the Maastricht elite surrounded themselves with the finest furniture, silverware and timepieces in order to hold up their social status and embellish their daily lives. Eighteenth-century Maastricht was a city of artisans d’art, of decorative craftsmen, which we know by name now – except for the furniture makers – as they provided their objects with signs or signatures. Silversmiths, clockmakers and furniture makers, together with their colleagues in the Euregion, have translated the French Regency style in their own specific way and produced silver candleholders by order of the elite, and sometimes even as a series.
With respect to decorative weaponry, Maastricht weapon
makers have been renowned as early as the seventeenth century, a time in
which exclusive ivory pistols were sent as gifts to European courts.
The eighteenth century has mainly seen oak pistols equipped with subtle
and elegant carving, which were worn as a showpiece.
Text Museum aan het Vrijthof.
Website : http://www.museumaanhetvrijthof.nl
From a block of oak, Patrick created a rococo appliqué with the head of an angel. The design of the ornament – provided on paper by the curator – was made up in German rococo style. Patrick has endeavoured to create something of great beauty. Height: 33cm. Width: 25cm. Thickness: 5cm. Made of oak.
The following pictures show a few of the stages of the development process.
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| The actual basis, this is our example |
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| There will be a sketch made |
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| Sawing with the jigsaw |
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| Shaping the asymmetric palmette |
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| The modeling of the flowers |
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| The modeling of the Putti's head |
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| The Rococo Applique is done |
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| Rococo carving for the Museum at the Vrijthof |
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website |
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| Member of Pearls of Craftsmanship |
