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Papier maché art
When we think of papier maché masks, we immediately think
also of the Venetian Carnival, but in the past the use of the mask was
widely spread amongst the Venetian noblemen, as it was a useful way to go around incognito, and enter the famous
'casini', the brothels.
Their typical mask was the tabarro, made
of a black silk hood, a lace cape, and a voluminous cloak, a
three-cornered hat, and the bauta, a white mask that almost completely
covered the wearer's face.
The use of masks was so widely spread that
already in the fifteenth century the artisans who produced them were
gathered in a specific "art".
Papier maché, in its two versions of pressed
or macerated paper, can be used to produce the most unthinkable objects,
from reproductions of paintings to objects for home decoration, from
ashtrays to wall medallions.
Thanks to the peculiarity of papier maché,
that is the low cost of its prime materials, its strong flexibility
and its light weight, it was used to imitate stuccoes and marbles, the
cost of which would have been much higher.
The theatre of the Renaissance and of the
Baroque, and the ornaments for Venetian celebrations exploited at the most the
peculiarity of papier machè, allowing great artists like Leonardo,
Palladio and Arcimboldo, to design theatrical stages and architecture
for many occasions.
Also sculptors created models which were
then made in papier maché.
The techniques that were used then, were
essentially the same which are used nowadays, that is, the paper was
pressed into plaster casts.
The great return of papier maché in Venice
arose surely thanks to the great demand of masks during the different
Carnivals that followed the year 1980, the year in which Carnival was
reborn in Venice.
The value of papier mache art is not in the
prime materials but in the skill of the artisan.
The masks and objects in papier mache which
we suggest, are made by the artisan Maurizio Monti, who used to work as a
restorer and even took part to the restoration of the 'Porta Della
Carta'
of the Doge's Palace in San Marco square. He has been producing for
several years these beautiful papier machè objects in his laboratory
situated in the district of Dorsoduro.
If you are interested in these products shop
online in our
eBay store or contact us via
email or via telephone on +3904155630890 or via fax on
+39041770134
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Gothic knight |
The Moon Mask |
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Leaf |
Violin |
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Turtoise
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Owl |
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Murrina Fish |
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Murrina Bra |
Murrina Bottom |
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