{"id":524,"date":"2012-08-23T21:02:00","date_gmt":"2012-08-23T21:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cinnamonstudio.com\/blog\/2012\/08\/23\/magical-mirrors-and-special-shells-2\/"},"modified":"2012-08-23T21:02:00","modified_gmt":"2012-08-23T21:02:00","slug":"magical-mirrors-and-special-shells-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinnamonstudio.com\/blog\/2012\/08\/magical-mirrors-and-special-shells-2.html","title":{"rendered":"Magical Mirrors and Special Shells"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n<\/p>\n
\n There is something
\nirresistible about a mirror.  It
\ndazzles, it shines and it reflects light so that you can see your own image
\nwhen you open your compact.  Who can
\nresist checking yourself out when passing a mirror in a store in the off chance
\nyou have become the twin of Audrey Hepburn, while crossing the parking
\nlot.  (I happen to think Miss Hepburn
\nwas the most beautiful and classiest woman). 
\nShiny elements are so attractive they are used in luring us to buy lurex
\nand satin and dresses with rhinestones, not to mention diamond baubles to wear
\nto the palace.  Advertisers have a field
\nday with mirrors and reflective surfaces.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nThe
\nearliest mirrors were hand mirrors and by the 1st<\/sup> century CE they
\nwere made to reflect the whole body. 
\nThese early mirrors were made of highly polished metal.  The use of glass, which was then backed with
\na metallic coating, was perfected by the Venetians during the Middle Ages.  Today mirrors are made by applying a thin
\ncoating of aluminum or silver onto a plate of glass in a vacuum.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nTo
\ncertain ethnic peoples mirrors play a very different role, one of
\nprotection.  Some believe, especially in
\nthe Islamic world, that mirrors can trap the Evil Eye holding it forever. And
\nbecause mirrors can also refract (refraction is bending the light ray) it can
\ndisperse the power of the Evil Eye.  To
\nthose unfamiliar with the concept of the Evil Eye, it simply means that some
\npeople possess the power of harming others merely by looking at them.  I believe I have actually met such
\npeople.  So it is not unusual to find
\ntextiles embellished with small mirrors or other reflective objects in NW India
\ninto Afghanistan, Central and Eastern Europe and W. Sumatra  where there is a history if Islamic
\ninfluence.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nSo
\nonto the Special Shells.  The cowrie
\nshell of the mollusk cypraea moneta, is one of the most powerful of all
\nembroidery embellishments thought to possesses magical powers of protection and
\nto bring good fortune to the wearer of the garment.  The white cowrie is found in the Indian Ocean around the Maldive
\nIslands. This shallow water species is found around reefs and rocky
\nshores.   It was widely accepted as
\ntrade and currency.  The shells were
\nembroidered onto royal robes of Africa and headdresses and animal trappings
\nfrom India to the Middle East.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nIt
\nis in the textiles of India that the combination of small round mirrors and
\ncowrie appear most often.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n

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\n<\/a><\/div>\n

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\nThe
\nmirrors, originally small bits of mica, now glass or even plastic, are held in
\nplace with a few cross stitches and then securely fastened with a button-hole
\nlike stitch.  They are not scattered
\nrandomly but are usually found to be placed as the eye of an embroidered animal
\nor the center of a flower.  <\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
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\nThese plastic “mirrors”, ready for use, were purchased as craft supplies<\/span><\/div>\n
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\nWoman’s embroidered head scarf<\/span><\/div>\n
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\nEmbroidered tables cover. Note the mirrors as eyes of the birds and elephant and also as centers of the flowers<\/span><\/div>\n
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\nAnimal forehead cover. Mirrors and cowries shells are used.<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

 There is something irresistible about a mirror.  It dazzles, it shines and it reflects light so that you can see your own image when you open your compact.  Who can resist checking yourself out when passing a mirror in a store in the off chance you have become the twin of Audrey Hepburn, while crossing…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-524","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinnamonstudio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/524","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinnamonstudio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinnamonstudio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinnamonstudio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinnamonstudio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=524"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinnamonstudio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/524\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinnamonstudio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinnamonstudio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinnamonstudio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}