The meaning of R.A. in the description of a painting or print of one

I recently received a question from a Cameo Creations Collector that may be of interest to others. So I thought I would post my response. I was asked what the meaning of R.A. was that you sometimes see in regards to painting descriptions. R. A. means "reproduced after". Essentially it means the portrait was painted as a classical reproduction of a well-known work by a famous artist. For example, If I was a painter that was painting after the time of Rembrandt and actually "reproduced" one of Rembrandt's paintings, I would note my endeavor as reproduced after the same work name by Rembrandt. It's sort of like giving proper credit to the original master. Yes, you are acknowledging the painting is one of your originals but it's composition was copied from an existing work.

The image at left is a print of a Cameo Creations portrait of Countess Hochnstein by Vincent Nesbert after (R.A.) an original by Carl Ferdinand Stelzner.

Women In Art

By accident I stumbled across this video on YouTube in my recommended video list. I found it a fascinating combination of technology (morphing) and beauty, both music and images)

Small English collectibles

As a remembrance of my English grandparents, I collect items made in England. I have small saucers decorated with detailed and colorful colonial scenes and fish bone plates featuring detailed renderings of Currier and Ives prints.

I particularly enjoy my collection of English egg coddlers produced by Royal Worcester. An excellent reference site I use to identify the pattern of my egg coddlers is: http://www.coddlers.com. Although antique stores frequently charge as much as $22 for the large coddler and $18 for the small ones, I have been able to find them for as little as $2 and pay an average of $12 - $18 for them. They seem to be more plentiful on the east coast than here on the west coast. I was told by a shopkeeper in Charleston, South Carolina that they were a popular wedding present in the late 19th and early 20th centuries on the east coast. I have also noticed that there is usually a distinct difference between the large and small version of a single pattern. Here on the west coast, the most plentiful pattern seems to be "Birds". My current collection includes the patterns Evesham, Lavinia, Birds, Bournemouth, Torquay, June Garland, Louise, Strawberry Fair, A Skippety Tale, Pershore, and Woodland. I would be interested in any of the other patterns featuring naturalistic images of animals and flowers (I don't care much for the stylistic). I would really like to add one of the "Old Game Series" pattern to my collection (if the price is right).

I was in an antique store in the little town of Monroe a few miles north of here (Eugene, Oregon) and saw some beautiful porcelain jar lids, that originally capped jars of English fish paste, adorned with detailed Victorian scenes. The antique store wanted $325 each for them.

So, when my sister and I traveled to London last spring, I kept an eye out for them and found a wonderful one complete with the jar as well at the Portobello Road Antique and Street Fair for only 48 pounds (about $96 U.S.).

Civil War figurines and miniatures

In 1993, my husband and I helped my daughter move to Charleston, South Carolina. After we got her settled in we had a chance to do some site seeing. We toured Boone Hall Plantation where the miniseries "North and South" was filmed and took a launch out to Fort Sumpter. On the weekends, the old slave market in downtown Charleston is converted into a thriving flea market and street fair. There I found some figurines of Civil War soldiers made out of a resin created with pecan shells.

I bought five of them and wish ever since I had bought all the seller had as I have not been able to find any more since then. The pecan resin takes paint very well and I was quite pleased with my first effort. I even added gray streaks to the beard and mud smudges to the boots.

I also discovered that the Franklin mint produced some beautifully detailed resin "Gone With The Wind" miniatures. I was able to win the bid on several of them up on Ebay. Some of them come glued inside a small ornate bell jar but I actually prefer the stand-alone versions.

Victorian figurines and miniatures

I have always admired the graceful feminine fashions of the Victorian era so I have been naturally drawn to any figurines I encountered dressed like the men and women of that period. I began by collecting Victorian figurines by Home Design. The Home Design figurines are really nicely detailed and I have found them for $20 or less.

On Ebay, I also found some exquisite Victorian lady Christmas ornaments from Louis Nicole in the $20 range, too. At my local flea market, I happened upon a wonderful set of snow white Victorian children figurines. They were priced at only $25 but I walked on by then returned the next day and they were marked down half price. Even though my display space was at a premium, I couldn't pass them up. I later saw them at a Department 56 store for a lot more than the $12.50 I paid for them! I had similar luck with a beautiful Lenox china figurine. I had previously admired several at an antique store on the coast with price tags of $125 each. Then I saw one in mint condition at the flea market for $50 and talked the vendor down to $35!

The Franklin Mint has produced some wonderful Victorian miniatures. These beautifully detailed miniatures were produced by the mint in 1984.

Each vignette stands about 2 3/4" high and depicts a scene from the upperclass social life from 1898 to 1908 - garden parties, ice skating, attending the opera, the theater, the races, etc. The figurine at the left is entitled "At the Cafe-Concert 1906". I had to bid on them individually on Ebay but managed to acquire them for between $7.95 and $10.95 each.

Historical playsets

As I browsed Ebay in search of other historical collectibles I became interested in collecting and painting detailed vintage playset figures. The Louis Marx Company produced a variety of beautifully sculpted playsets during the 50s and 60s that are now highly sought after by adult collectors. I particularly like figures from the Ben Hur playset and the Medieval Knights and Vikings from the Prince Valiant and King Arthur playsets. I also saw a picture of Eskimo figures from the Alaska playset that are nicely detailed and in dynamic poses. I content myself with buying selections of figures since a complete vintage Ben Hur playset now commands almost $1200. An excellent source of information about these playsets is Playset Magazine.

I stumbled across a link to history teacher Ron Barzso's playset website. Ron's attention to detail and selection of activities depicted in his early American, French and Indian War and Civil War playsets are truly outstanding and his prices are quite reasonable.

Since I am particularly interested in ancient history, I have sought out playsets produced by an Italian company, Atlantic, in the 1970s. I prefer 1/32 scale figures as they are easier to paint than tiny 1/72 figures and I have paid an average of $37 per unpainted boxed figure set for them. The Atlantic sets come in a box with a fold out mini history lesson including reference pictures of painted figures that are quite helpful. So far I have been able to obtain the Roman Legions, the Roman Gladiators, the Trojans, the Greek Acropolis set, the Greek infantry, the Greek cavalry, and the Egyptian Pharaoh's Court.

I also learned from a playset figure artist to use model railroad layout materials to create "grass" on the stand the figure rests upon for a more natural look (like the Black Watch playset figure above).

Glorious Egypt

"I see wonderful things!" - Howard Carter, 1922.

I have been fascinated by ancient Egypt since I was a young girl. I saw my first Egyptian mummy when I was 16 and visited the Museum of Natural History at the Smithsonian. I was not daunted by his crumbling nose and withered body. Although I didn't get a chance to see the original King Tut's treasures when they toured the United States, I found the "Splendors of Ancient Egypt" exhibit fascinating. It was the first time I had ever seen a Faiyum mummy painting and found it so beautiful. It reminded me of Greek orthodox religious icon paintings and, in fact, I have read since then that Greco-Roman mummy portraiture did influence subsequent religious paintings.

Since then I have been fortunate enough to have visited the Getty Villa in Malibu, California and viewed their mummy portrait collection and recently I returned from New York where I saw the spectacular collection of mummy portraits and masks at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

In addition to surrounding myself with reproductions of Egyptian art like those displayed here, I also collect books set in ancient Egypt by such authors as Margaret George (Memoirs of Cleopatra), Judith Tarr (Lord of the Two Lands), Wilbur Smith (River God), and Lynda S. Robinson. I even used my experience with artificial intelligence software to create a virtual Cleopatra.