I’ll spare you the corny puns on overplayed lyrics and get straight to the point: a Roman acroterion (decoration on the side corners of a sarcophagus or tomb) was recently put up for auction that looks weirdly like… Elvis.

Image from the UK Daily Mail

The picture speaks for itself.  Personally, having seen some of the crazy hairstyles Roman women wore (seriously, you will want to click on that link. Just as funny as Roman Elvis up there), I’m a little hesitant to go shouting about Elvis’s long-lost great-great-great-etc. grandfather walking around the Forum… but well, on the other hand, the resemblance certainly is there…

Either way, perhaps the most astounding fact of all this is that Bonham’s, a pretty reputable auction house, is indeed auctioning it off, and it is expected to sell for one million pounds.  See the article in the UK Daily Mail here. Thanks to Gabrielle for this bizarre but entertaining news story!

Wallcovering samples by Morris & Co. (London, England). From Left to Right: Wreath, Christchurch, Bramble, Apple, Ceiling, Honeysuckle; 1887. Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, New York City. Image from exhibition website.

Meandering aimlessly through museum websites earlier this summer, I came across a description of an exhibit at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum called Multiple Choice: From Sample to Product.  It wasn’t the name that drew me in, though — no, being the sucker for good, beautiful design that I am, it was an image of a French porcelain plate decorated with the various colors and glazes offered by the company.  If you are at all like me — that is, if you love paper, patterns, color combinations, interior design, lace, typography, things handwritten or things letterpressed, or really anything, for example, that’s ever been showcased on the lovely blog design*sponge — then you absolutely must go see this beautiful little exhibit.

Sample Book: The Della Robbia Papers, designed by O.W. Jaquis and published by P.P. Kellogg Division, United States Envelope Co., 1926. Smithsonian Institution Libraries. Image from exhibition website.

This is the story of the little exhibit that could.  It was supposed to close a month or two ago (or so the young woman at the admissions desk told me), but is staying open through September 1, and if you are in the New York area, you would do yourself a favor to go and see it.  It’s not perfect, and there are no brochures anymore and no catalogue ever created, but these tiny, delicate, carefully-cut scraps of paper, rolls of handmade lace, and hand-numbered wallpaper samples cluster in the basement gallery in an array of beautiful colors that spread around the room.  It will take you about a half-hour, an hour if you stretch it and read every description, to go through the exhibition; it’s a short trip, but well worth it.  I wish the section on the “origin of the sample book” had been first — it would have provided, perhaps, a better introduction — but it’s irresistible either way to anyone who’d like to look at a lovely collection of objects.  They range from samples of painted porcelain, to Japanese wallpapers, to lace, to artist’s tools.

Sample book: A Descriptive Handbook of Modern Watercolor Pigments, written by J. Scott Taylor and published by Winsor and Newton, Ltd., late 19th century. Smithsonian Institution Libraries. Image from exhibition website.

One of my favorite objects was this group of paper samples (above, left).  Zoom in on the image to see a close up of the paper — the colors are named the most exotic, strange words: burnt sienna is “tobacco”, a dark sky blue is “gobelin”, and my favorite, a gray-lavender, is “gloaming”.  If you need any word inspiration, this is the exhibit to go to — many of the samples, colors, and patterns are named with some lusciously descriptive words, like the “honeysuckle” or “bramble” patterns (above, right) by Morris & Co.

Also nice to check out at the Design Museum is the garden in the back.  The garden is as big as the floor of the museum.  Unfortunately, while they change exhibits (the Rococo show just ended), there’s only a small room with a selection of works from the permanent collection and this show that are open; but they have Friday night cocktails in the beautiful, sprawling garden.  Can you tell from this review how much I love this charming little museum?  Don’t even get me started on their great website, which has a blog, Youtube channel, and extensive websites on each of their exhibits… just get there yourself and immerse yourself in a world of samples!

Multiple Choice: From Sample to Product, at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, 2 East 91st St., New York City. | Now through September 1, 2008.

View of the Petrie Courtyard at the J. M. W. Turner exhibition opening, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY

A few weeks ago, I had the great fortune of being able to attend not one, but two members-only events at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City… and now I’ll bring them to you! These events, an opening and a Saturday morning lecture, were in conjunction with the Met’s newest exhibition, titled simply J. M. W. Turner.

The opening of the Turner exhibit was populated largely by an older crowd than me, but it was a great opportunity to see the exhibit with a relatively small number of people.  The show itself is exhaustive, a seemingly complete monograph on the artist and his many different works — from watercolors to oil sketches to full-blown oil paintings, and represent works from all the various periods of his life.  Simply by walking through the early galleries, you can see exactly where Turner’s art is heading; from the bright red reflection of a shirt on the sea, to the churning waves of a darkly-lit night, the vortexes and aureoles of Turner’s mature work looms. It is a great opportunity to get a glimpse into Turner’s entire career; not just the swirling, near-Impressionistic works he is famous for, but his realistic, haunting early watercolors and pale, ambiguous unfinished last works.

The members-only lecture was packed into the Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium at the Met and I was told it was the first in a while that was standing-room only.  The lecturer was an assistant curator in the 19th Century art department, and she was bubbly and excited about the show and Turner.  She had a great account of the usually-reclusive Turner’s tendency to paint the majority of his works during “varnishing days” (three days before the English Salons, or art showings, when the works were hung but not open to the public).   She threw in a few more fun facts, too, and had a killer ending.

Organized in conjunction with the Tate Britain (whose Turner Bequest makes up a majority of the works shown), the exhibition is likely the last-ever Turner retrospective in this country, so try tomake it to New York this summer to take in this very accessible, beautiful exhibition.  (While you’re there, visit the Pietre Dure show; review forthcoming!)

J. M. W. Turner at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Fifth Avenue at 82nd St., New York City) | Now through September 21, 2008.