There’s no getting away from the amazing-ness of plastic jewelry. I
return to it often because it’s so incredibly striking. Gold and
platinum and diamonds and precious gems are not everything. Well …
to some I guess they are. After all … you don’t hear Mamie saying:
Gloria … dahling … get Sedgewick to pull out the limo … I saw
an exquisite piece in plastic at the five and ten and I just must
must have it. On the other hand …
Okay. Pick a head. Any head. You. There. What kind of head? Egyptian
head? Okay. You got it. Let’s go.
We’re back in France … circa late 1930. The world center of
fashion is bustling. Get yer brooches. Circular brooches. Hey there
my little Cherie. Perhaps you would like a little Egyptian Head
resting on your bosom? Titter titter. But she approaches. She picks
up the plastic brooch. She is young. Yet her sense of taste is
exquisite. Perhaps she is more than she appears to be. She puts it
carefully back and says, how much? The game begins.
The Egyptian head in profile has a headdress and ornaments in shades
of orange, dark green, and blue. Palmettes framing the profile
contain the same coloring. The whole thing is bordered by a
two-color hatched band. Does he have a name, she says. He must have
a name or I can not buy him. Max, says the hawker. His name is Max.
They grin. I will buy Max, she says.
Today … somewhere in Paris … Max is in a private collection. He
is made of molded plastics and stamped metal. It is an amazing
creation … this plastic Egyptian head … amazing because it’s
plastic … and how did they do that is what I want to know.
It’s a short Tidbit … this Tidbit of Max who could just as easily
have been Tutan-something-or-other. Short … yes. But worth a
look-at.
For those of you who are new to this thing called Tidbits…may I
direct you to my home page at www.tyler-adam.com where you will
scroll down the left side menu till you get to the area that says
Tidbits Graphics … and then click on the link that says: Max …
where you’ll see an image of a circular brooch in plastic of an
Egyptian head … model unknown and fabricator unknown.
And there ya have it.
That’s it for this week folks.
Catch you all next week.
Benjamin Mark
-- http://www.tyler-adam.com --