France · Book arts; Leather craft; Paris heritage
Reliure d'Art Parisienne
The making of luxury art bookbindings in the Paris tradition — hand-sewn book blocks; goatskin or calfskin leather covers tooled or inlaid with mosaic designs; gold-tooled spines; marbled endpapers (CRAFT-0998 cross-reference); gilded edges (dorure sur tranche). Paris bookbinding reached its apex in the 18th century (the reliures of the royal library) and was revived in the 20th century as a fine art form through the mosaic binding tradition developed by Paul Bonet; Pierre Legrain; and their successors.
Risk level: Vulnerable · Not listed
The making of fine leather gloves in the Paris tradition — cut from peau de chevreau (kid leather) or peau de porc (pigskin) in a single piece per hand, stretched over a wooden glove form, and hand-sewn with a specific saddle stitch.
The making of luxury hats (chapeaux de Paris) — specifically the haute couture millinery tradition of the modiste, who creates made-to-order hats using blocked felt or straw blocked to wooden hat forms (formier), wired and draped fabrics,…
The making of luxury buttons for haute couture — from natural materials (corne de bélier — ram's horn; galalithe — milk protein plastic from the early 20th century; mother-of-pearl; wood) and from cast metal, enamel, and fabric-covered…
The making of crystal perfume flacons — cut crystal and mold-blown crystal bottles for the major Paris perfume houses (Guerlain; Chanel; Dior; Hermès).
The making and restoration of precision mechanical watches and clocks in the Paris tradition — historically distinct from the Swiss tradition in its emphasis on decorative arts integration (enamel dials; engraved cases; guilloché…
The making of luxury fans — the assembly of the monture (fan sticks, in ivory, mother-of-pearl, tortoiseshell, or wood) with the feuille (fan leaf, in paper; silk; or lace) in the Paris tradition.
The illumination of pages with gold and color on a framework of geometric pattern drawn by hand with a two-legged compass and a straight ruler.
Abstract painting built on Arabic letterforms, the approach of the wider Arab art movement known as hurufiyya, as developed in Oman by Anwar Sonya, directly credited as one of the founders of the Omani Art Movement and considered the…
Vessels, translucent wall panels, lamps, table surfaces and framed images made from plant fibers formed in water (banana, waru and gamal, chosen according to the piece), related in principle to the Asian practice of forming a sheet from…
Jianzhi (剪紙 — 'scissor paper') is the Chinese paper-cutting tradition maintained in Taiwan by Hokkien and Hakka communities — a tradition brought from Fujian Province and adapted to Taiwanese Buddhist, Taoist, and folk religious contexts.
Hanji, Korean mulberry paper, cut into strips, twisted into tight cords and twined like basketry into vessels, lanterns, shoes, quivers, brush holders and trays.
The illumination of manuscripts, calligraphic panels and documents with gold and color.