Sunday, May 04, 2008

Lyre on Navy Blue Background

When I was presenting the vintage musical ties in my collection, I completely forgot about this one, and it's probably the best of all! Yesterday I was looking for a musical tie to wear to church, and amongst all my modern ones, I came across this vintage beauty, always one of my favorites, and suddenly realized I hadn't put it up here on the blog. A major oversight.

I think that when I get ready to post next week, I may post-date this entry, so that it is moved into the slot created by my not posting a tie week before last. That way, when folks scroll through the entries, it will fall into place with the other musical ties. But I'll leave it here for now, so that anyone looking for a new entry this week will find it.

The lyre is a symbol of music, and as such, often appeared in hymnals and on other musical publications, used in a symbolical manner. This particular example very likely does not really depict a playable instrument, but is also a symbolic representation.

Note also the elaborate brocade pattern woven into the fabric. I will admit that I adjusted the contrast on the image slightly, to bring out the brocade more clearly. In reality, the brocade is almost exactly the same shade as the rest of the tie fabric, although plainly visible, especially in the right light. It has the effect of changing appearance in the light, so that at one angle the brocade appears lighter (as in the scan), but turned at another angle, the brocade pattern appears darker, and the rest of the tie fabric seems lighter. It creates a VERY rich effect.

The tie has only one label extant, which is printed directly onto or into the fabric on the reverse side of the large end, and it reads somewhat enigmatically "Crecian Art."

2 comments:

Rob Caldwell said...

Will,

I just wanted to say that your collection of ties rock! Thanks for sharing them with the rest of us.

Rob Caldwell

Will said...

Hi Rob,

Thanks so much for your kind comment! I'm glad you've enjoyed the collection. I certainly enjoy seeking out these ties, collecting them, AND wearing them, too. I also enjoy posting the pictures of them, and writing about them. Comments such as yours make it even more worthwhile!