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Author Topic: Problem with lighting Walsh mother of pearl  (Read 590 times)

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Offline Bernard C

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Problem with lighting Walsh mother of pearl
« on: May 09, 2012, 08:05:47 AM »
At the National on May 6, Janet and I decided to devote one complete three-shelf unit to Walsh mother of pearl, probably the first time that such a display had ever been seen since it was made a century ago.   We'd recently been lucky buying it, so we had enough stock to make a lovely display.

The main reason was, of course, to sell some of it.   But there was a secondary reason.   Most Walsh mother of pearl is in simple vessel shapes, and it's very difficult to see how it was made.   Fortunately some of our current stock is in more complex shapes such as footed, stemmed and footed, and fluted (epergnes and trumpet vases), all of which make it easy to see how it was made.

So I tried it out, first in our dining room window, then on the opposite wall, and last on a side wall.   All three locations were fine with the glass looking fabulous, bursting with iridescent colour.   Not so at the National, where the colour just disappeared.

It can only have been the lighting.   We were using 60W Halogen lights at one end of each shelf.

How should we have lit this display?

Bernard C.  :-\ 
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Text and Images Copyright © 2004–15 Bernard Cavalot

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Offline KevinH

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Re: Problem with lighting Walsh mother of pearl
« Reply #1 on: May 09, 2012, 09:43:32 PM »
With a set of carefully placed small candles! Seriously.

Nearby candle light adds back areas of the iridescence that can get lost under general lighting.

But you probably would have had the organisers reaching for the fire extinguishers had you tried that at the National! So maybe not the best solution for that type of environment. ::)
KevinH

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Offline glassobsessed

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Re: Problem with lighting Walsh mother of pearl
« Reply #2 on: May 09, 2012, 10:58:13 PM »
For iridescence to show well it helps if light is bouncing off the surface of the glass, presumably it is a reflective property. If you put a strong lightsource behind an iridescent item and light passes through the subject then the iridescence is usually lost.  When photographing iridescent stuff I usually use a dark background.

Try experimenting at home and no backlighting them I guess. Perhaps replicate the conditions at the National as much as possible, not much daylight was there? At least one seller had lights that stuck out a bit and shone back towards the glass from in front of the shelf.

John

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Offline flying free

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Re: Problem with lighting Walsh mother of pearl
« Reply #3 on: September 15, 2013, 12:47:35 PM »
I find they look best on a mid coloured wooden surface rather than glass or white.  Daylight definitely shows the purples and peaches in the iridescence better than any lights I have on them.  I use 1970's funky candleholders as stands for mine as it shows them off better I think :)
they look quite small in the pics but actually all the pieces are large ... but the picture is larger so diminishes them.

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