Tag Archives: English China

‘Our Forefathers, Our Loss’ – Panthera Pardus Orientalis

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'Our Forefathers', Amur Leopard, 'In Homage to the Last Great Carnivores of Eurasia', 2013, Biro drawing by Jane Lee McCracken

‘Our Forefathers’, Amur Leopard, ‘In Homage to the Last Great Carnivores of Eurasia’, 2013, Biro drawing by Jane Lee McCracken

One of the most endangered big cats in the world in the world inspired Biro drawings for my plate diptych of Amur Leopards.

European exploration from the 15th century onwards saw the beginnings of plundering the natural world and its legacy that has been inherited to date. A fragmented drawing of Rembrandt’s etching, ‘The Windmill’, 1641 symbolises the depiction in European art during the 15th to the 17th centuries of new and exciting discoveries from distant lands and represents man’s fascination with collecting and hunting exotic species.  As few as 45 Amur Leopards exist in the wilds of Ussuriland in Russia at present and only an estimated 7-12 individuals remain in China.

'Our Forefathers' and 'Our Loss', Amur Leopard 'In Homage to the Last Great Carnivores of Eurasia' luxury fine English china plate series

‘Our Forefathers’ and ‘Our Loss’, Amur Leopard ‘In Homage to the Last Great Carnivores of Eurasia’ luxury fine English china plate series

Still photographs taken of the leopard from Cartier’s 2012 advertisement, ‘L’Odyssée de Cartier’, Bruno Aveillan depict the beauty of leopard species’  in ‘Our Loss’ and convey the possible loss of wild leopard sub species such as the Amur Leopard whilst questioning the training of wild animals to perform for human gratification.

'In Homage to the Last Great Carnivores of Eurasia', Luxury Fine English China Plate Series by Jane Lee McCracken

‘In Homage to the Last Great Carnivores of Eurasia’, Luxury Fine English China Plate Series by Jane Lee McCracken

For plate enquiries please contact:

jane@janeleemccracken.co.uk

For plate sales please visit THE NEW ENGLISH

'Our Forefathers', Amur Leopard, 'In Homage to the Last Great Carnivores of Eurasia', 2013, Biro drawing by Jane Lee McCracken

‘Our Forefathers’, Amur Leopard, ‘In Homage to the Last Great Carnivores of Eurasia’, 2013, Archival Pigment Print

For luxury Archival Pigment prints made to order by the UK’s best master printmaker Jack Lowe Studio please visit my shop

'Our Forefathers' and ''Our Loss', Amur Leopard 'In Homage to the Last Great Carnivores of Eurasia', luxury fine English china plate series by Jane Lee McCracken

‘Our Forefathers’ and ”Our Loss’, Amur Leopard ‘In Homage to the Last Great Carnivores of Eurasia’, luxury fine English china plate series by Jane Lee McCracken

 

 

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‘Shh, it’s a Tiger!’ – Amba, Guardian of the Forest

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"Shh, it's a Tiger!", Siberian Tiger, 'In Homage to the Last Great Carnivores of Eurasia', 2013, black Biro drawing by Jane Lee McCracken

“Shh, it’s a Tiger!”, Siberian Tiger, ‘In Homage to the Last Great Carnivores of Eurasia’, 2013, black Biro drawing by Jane Lee McCracken

As part of my china and print series ‘In Homage to the Last Great Carnivores of Eurasia’ the first Biro drawing in the Siberian Tiger diptych was inspired by two things – a drawing by an old master and an iconic image of India.

‘Landscape with a Woodland Pool’, Albrecht Dürer, 1496

The synonymous image of a Royal Bengal tiger bathing in a pool in Ranthambore National Park, India with its majestic ruined palaces, was the basis for my Russian fantasy of the Siberian tiger. Albrecht Dürer’s beautiful and beguiling drawing ‘Landscape with a Woodland Pool’ 1496, a photograph of a forest pool in Ussuriland and Ivan Shishkin’s painting, ‘The Forest of Countess Mordvinova’, 1891, form the inspiration for the background drawing layers, creating the fantastical setting for a bathing Siberian Tiger.

'Countess Mordvinov's Forest (Лес графини Мордвиновой)', Ivan Shishkin, 1891, Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia

‘Countess Mordvinov’s Forest (Лес графини Мордвиновой)’, Ivan Shishkin, 1891, Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia

At the edge of the lake sits a Dacha birdcage from my own collection.  Reclining inside is a Siberian tiger, further suggesting the image of Royal Bengal tigers shading inside Indian palaces but also indicating the thousands of tigers kept in captivity in comparison with so few remaining wild tigers.  A giant Siberian tiger sweeps through the forest background, emulating the Udege and Nanai name for the tiger “Amba”, ‘Guardian of the Forest’.  Breaking through the forest is a cavalry of Red Army soldiers symbolising the devastation wreaked on the Siberian Tiger population, which was almost extinguished by both Red and White Armies around Vladivostok during the Russian Revolution.

'Shh, it's a Tiger!', luxury fine English china plate by Jane Lee McCracken

‘Shh, it’s a Tiger!’, luxury fine English china plate by Jane Lee McCracken

On the right walks a tiger beside an Udege woman from a still photograph I took of ‘Amba the Russian Tiger‘, 2008, Gordon Buchanan, proclaiming the fragility of not only the tiger population but the indigenous people of Ussuriland.  The tiger in the pool looks beyond a sniper rifle hidden in the foliage, outside the picture towards ‘Bang!’ the second drawing in the Siberian Tiger diptych.  A skull with a bullet hole depicted in ‘Bang!’ indicates what the tiger in the pool is watching, a tiger hunt!

'In Homage to the Last Great Carnivores of Eurasia', Luxury Fine English China Plate Series by Jane Lee McCracken

‘In Homage to the Last Great Carnivores of Eurasia’, Luxury Fine English China Plate Series by Jane Lee McCracken


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For plate enquiries please contact:

jane@janeleemccracken.co.uk

For plate sales please visit THE NEW ENGLISH

'Shh, it's a Tiger!', Archival Pigment Print

‘Shh, it’s a Tiger!’, Archival Pigment Print

For luxury Archival Pigment prints made to order by the UK’s best master printmaker Jack Lowe Studio please visit my shop

 

Luxury Fine China Plate Series Arrives at THE NEW ENGLISH!

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'In Homage to the Last Great Carnivores of Eurasia', Luxury Fine English China Plate Series by Jane Lee McCracken

‘In Homage to the Last Great Carnivores of Eurasia’, Luxury Fine English China Plate Series by Jane Lee McCracken

I am delighted to announce the arrival of my luxury fine English china plate series “In Homage to the Last Great Carnivores of Eurasia” at the home of cutting edge ceramics,  THE NEW ENGLISH

‘In Homage to the Last Great Carnivores of Eurasia’ is a set of finest English china platters designed from my original black Biro drawings.  It celebrates the beauty and majesty of threatened and endangered species across the Eurasian continent whilst highlighting their depletion through wildlife crime.

The set includes eight designs each with its own complex layers of symbolism relating to the species the design depicts.  Diptych subjects include homage to Grey Wolves, Amur Leopards, Siberian Tigers and Brown Bears.

'Our Forefathers', Amur Leopard luxury fine China plate by Jane Lee McCracken

‘Our Forefathers’, Amur Leopard luxury fine English China plate designed by Jane Lee McCracken

Made in Stoke-on-Trent in England, the historic home of fine British ceramics, by prestigious ceramic designers The New English, each platter measures 280mm diameter and is a limited signed and numbered edition of 200.  Made to order, plates are available as sets or as individual pieces.  New limited edition platters of Eurasian species will be released later this year.

Plate-Shh-ItsATiger-Front

‘Shh, it’s a Tiger!’, Siberian Tiger, luxury fine English china plate designed by Jane Lee McCracken

Enquiries: jane@janeleemccracken.co.uk

Orders: THE NEW ENGLISH

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