Colonial Portraiture—Costumes and Backdrops
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Today we are familiar with the props found in a commercial photographer's studio: dresses, hats, toys, chairs, and even painted or photographic backdrops of snow scenes or sunlit meadows, and cozy interiors or grand salons.
American and European Design - 1920 to 1960
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
In the 1920s, the influence of European modernism—the decorative styling of French art deco, or art moderne, and the functional purity of Germany’s Bauhaus school—began to transform American design.
Art from Industry: The Evolution of Craftsman Furniture
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Alongside the highly ornamental, largely conservative chairs which had sustained the firm in the waning years of the 19th century, in July of 1900 the Gustave Stickley Company introduced a line of “New Furniture” designs at the Grand Rapids Furniture Exposition. At the time, few would have expected this collection of startlingly different “furniture novelties” to result in a wholesale shift in the company’s production within the course of the following year.
The Furniture Industry in the 1890s (United States)
GENERAL DESRIPTION
Hard times came to the American furniture industry early in the 1890s. A financial crisis—the Panic of 1893—hit the United States economy that year and led to severe recession. From 1894 through 1898 unemployment remained at a very high level—above 10 percent.
Timor
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Timor, with its eastern location in the Indonesian archipelago, has a unique position among the Lesser Sundas (a group of volcanic islands) —not only because it is the largest of the islands, but also because of its political situation.
Sulawesi
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Sulawesi’s strange, spread-eagled shape is the result of a geological collision between its eastern and western halves, originally separate landmasses, which occurred between thirteen and nineteen million years ago.
Indonesia
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Modern Indonesia is the world’s fourth most-populous country, comprising almost two hundred fifty million inhabitants speaking more than three hundred different languages. The majority (approximately 86 percent of the population) are Muslim, but sizable minorities practice Christianity, Buddhism, and Hinduism, in addition to various ancient animistic traditions.
Flores
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Flores, a Portuguese word for “flower,” is the second-largest island in East Nusa Tenggara, stretching for twenty-five miles from west to east. Sumba lies to the southwest, Timor to the southeast, and Sulawesi to the north. This island’s topography is varied, encompassing coastal lowlands and rugged volcanic mountains that rise to over seven thousand feet.
Sumba
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Sumba, once called Sandalwood Island, lies to the southeast of Sumbawa and southwest of Flores. Its population of six hundred thousand is primarily Christian, though a sizable but diminishing percentage continue to follow traditional religious practices (marapu) and adat law.
Lampung Province, Sumatra
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Lampung province in southern Sumatra is known today as one of the most densely populated and also one of the poorest parts of Indonesia. This current poverty forms a dramatic contrast to its recent past. Travelers who visited the region in the 19th century, for example, would often be awestruck by the impressive display of beauty and splendor.