Juxtaposition of the Armenian and Chinese people in the Dutch 17th century engraving
A talented Dutch illustrator, engraver, and poet of the late 17th century and early 18th century Jan Luyken lived and worked in Amsterdam. His engravings created for the cartographic 5-volume atlas “The New Marine Torch” published in 1681 as well as illustrations for the books “The Mirror of the Martyrs or the Bloody Theater” (1685) and “Crafts of Mankind” (1694), are considered monumental. In 1680, Jan Luyken created a series of amazing engravings depicting the letters of the ancient alphabets and their Latin names. Interestingly enough, the letters of the Armenian alphabet under the label “Armenisch Alphabet” found their place on the engravings
Armenia as the Bronze Age supplier of iron to China
The excavations of the ruins at a Bronze Age archaeological settlement of Metsamor in central Armenia have revealed a very large metal industry including a foundry with 2 kinds of blast furnaces. The foundry is known to have extracted and processed gold, copper, and several types of manganese, zinc, strychnine, mercury, and iron. Several huge underground caves were uncovered that are thought to have been storehouses for base metal. The first known iron in the ancient world was probably forged here, though it was not as commonly forged as bronze. The various metals from the foundries of Metsamor found their
Tiger in Armenian imagery: the embroidered piece from Ani
by Ani Margaryan The History Museum of Armenia houses an interesting artifact- a piece of silk textile, possibly a shred of the embroidered silk veil with the imagery of a lion and a tiger against the background of the Tree of Life motif. The object is dated back to the 12th-13th centuries CE. The content of this decorative artwork remains unknown, however, the Tree of Life might be interpreted as the symbol of fertility and the idea of family, and the placement of the lion and the tiger within the composition could be associated with the heraldic symbols echoing the
Tiger as an essential motif for Chinese rugs and carpets
The Chinese Tiger has for centuries been associated with the potent principles of courage, bravery, dignity, and sternness. The tiger was classed as the fourth in the military rank badge system of the Qing dynasty. The tiger was a symbol of bravery and courage, often used as a sign of military prowess and a protector of objects and people. Chinese paintings depicting a Tiger are often hung on a wall inside of a building, facing the entrance, determining them as creatures with apotropaic function. Tigers were often used in rug and carpet compositions, decorating Tibetan domestic spaces and shrines on the raised Kang
East Asian Cultural Exchange in Tiger and Dragon Paintings
Walking tigers and dragons depicted with water were popular visual compositions across East Asia, and for this reason, the specific origins of the Met’s paintings remain an enigma. The visual pairing of tigers and dragons has a long history in East Asia, appearing in the first hexagram, 乾 (qian), from The Book of Changes, thought to have been written during the Zhou dynasty (1046–256 B.C.). Here, the clouds trail behind the dragon while the wind follows the tiger. According to the book, the two creatures are commonly associated with Daoism: the tiger represents “yin” and the dragon denotes “yang.” Since this
