I have always been interested in ancient cultures and the splendid artistic legacies they left behind. Ancient Egypt with its stylized elements and bright colors I find to be particularly fascinating. I am not alone. Europe and the west’s love affair with ancient Egypt design elements, including the scarab beetle, began in the 1740’s when the English clergyman Richard Pococke published a two volume description of his travels in the ancient world. This renewed focus on the area led Napoleon Bonaparte to bring a large group of scholars and artists with him during his invasion of Egypt in 1798. Bonaparte’s mission was unsuccessful, but his rag tag group of scientists created thirty six volumes of sketches and descriptions published between 1809 and 1813 upon their return to Europe. The publication of this beautiful collection and the discovery of the rosetta stone caused the interest in Egyptian style and culture to reach a fever pitch. Even more explorers and attention were drawn to Egypt in the following century and Egypt mania reached it’s height in the 1920’s with Petrie’s discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamen. Another style prominent during this time and one to which I am also very attracted is Art Deco. I love the twenties for this blending of the ancient and more recent past and it is this combination that inspired the earrings pictured.
funkylollipop 