Latest news with #AlbrechtDürer
Times
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Times
The £100,000 silver rhino inspired by Dürer
With their fierce horns and tough hides, rhinos have a reputation for being nature's tanks. If that wasn't intimidating enough, now along comes one in silver. A new project from Asprey Studios and the British Museum is reimagining in precious metal the rhinoceros drawn in 1515 by Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528), the German painter and printmaker who is known as one of the Renaissance's greatest artists. The image, executed as a woodcut, spread widely through Europe, shaping how people thought the rhinoceros looked at a time when most people on the Continent had never seen the animal. That included Dürer. Despite its popularity, Dürer's rhino is inaccurate — showing armour-like anatomy that the real animal lacks. Dürer based his creation on written descriptions of the first rhino seen in Europe since ancient Rome — Ganda, who had been gifted to King Manuel I of Portugal by Sultan Muzaffar Shah II of Gujarat in India. The rhino's arrival in Lisbon prompted great excitement, with reports of it quickly reaching the furthest corners of the Continent. One such report, written by a merchant and circulated as a newsletter, reached Dürer in Nuremberg. Asprey Studio, established in 2021, is a digital and contemporary art gallery, design workshop and members' club that explores the convergence of physical craftsmanship and cutting-edge digital media. Unlike a traditional member's club, Asprey Studio's offering is not tied to a physical space. Instead, special gatherings are held at the Asprey Studio gallery in Mayfair and other global locations. Members enjoy a range of benefits, including early access to events and collections, VIP previews and tours, and the ability to showcase their art collections on a dedicated member gallery wall. As a bold new venture from (but separate to) Asprey — the 244-year-old British luxury jewellery house known for supplying everyone from Queen Victoria to Angelina Jolie — Asprey Studio carries forward a legacy of artisanal excellence while charting new territory in art and design through innovative technology. Dürer's rhinoceros is a case in point. Asprey Studio's master silversmiths have transformed the virtuoso two-dimensional drawing by Dürer into a set of 11 three-dimensional sculptures. They first consulted Dürer's original preparatory sketch in the British Museum. 'Dürer's Rhinoceros is a famous image that has been a part of the cultural imagination for centuries and has inspired countless versions, copies and adaptations,' explains Dr Olenka Horbatsch, the museum's curator of Dutch, Flemish and German prints and drawings. 'Dürer's Rhinoceros is one of the most iconic drawings and woodcuts in European art history. His artistic mastery remains unmatched,' adds Alastair Walker, the chief creative officer of Asprey Studio. 'We have added Asprey Studio's dimension to it, one that we hope inspires people too.' Each 40cm-long sculpture is made up of 90 individually crafted pieces of silver — and each of those pieces is worked using a variety of tech-forward techniques. 'We have used digital sculpting to replace traditional clay so several sculptors can work on it and work out how it will come together in production,' Walker explains. The number of pieces involved in each sculpture is unusual for a product made from silver. The piece's complex composition was one of the drivers behind the methods used. 'Each piece is precision arc-welded and meticulously hammered using classic anticlastic raising techniques [hammering metal over curved stakes in a way that causes the metal to curve in two opposite directions] with intricate hand engraving.' Asprey Studio's particular work combines digital innovation with longstanding technical know-how, with 'the finishing techniques that have been handed down from years of experience, that only Asprey Studio's silversmiths have mastered,' Walker says. The complex nature of the design and production meant that the first sculpture took eight months to produce in the Asprey Studio workshop in Kent. This sculpture has already sold for £300,000. Production of that sculpture allowed the silversmiths to learn what worked and what didn't — meaning that production time for subsequent sculptures has reduced to between three to six months. Of the remaining ten sculptures, only four will be available to purchase, each priced at £100,0000, the other six having already been snapped up by private collectors. The fate of Dürer's living inspiration was less sparkling. Set to fight an elephant by King Manuel — the 'armour' in which the rhino was clad for this spectacle may have been what confused Dürer's depiction — Ganda was subsequently packed of to Rome as a gift for Pope Leo X, although the boat sank and Ganda drowned on the way. To inquire about the sculptures, email info@
Associated Press
22-02-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
The Cost of Neglecting Digital Brand Protection
02/21/2025, London, GB // KISS PR Brand Story PressWire // A company can have multiple assets: from large facilities and vehicles to unique designs, ideas, and solutions. But, perhaps, the top asset of them all is your brand — something that people will discover, appreciate and stick to for years to come. So, protecting your brand is the top priority. Otherwise, there definitely is going to be someone copying your aesthetics, name, product/service packages, website address, or do other types of harmful corporate mimicry. We'll explain what types of brand abuse there are and what to do to avoid them. 1. Blatant fakery The market of counterfeit goods is worth $2 trillion according to the National Crime Prevention Council. This is the most popular type of brand abuse: there are even YouTube tutorials that tell how to make money from selling fake Beats by Dre or Jordans. 2. Scamy websites Scam websites are another prevalent method of mooching off of legitimate companies. Typically they imitate your brand to: Sell cheap counterfeit. Perform phishing attacks. Collect money and provide nothing in return. There are four main types of this fraud: Fake shop It looks exactly like yours and even has your logo hammered to its frontpage. Plus their prices are much lower than yours or than the market average. In reality, they sell terribly made stuff or simply collect payments and disappear. Phishing platforms These also artfully mimic a real company's website only to collect people's sensitive data: names, addresses, credit card details, etc. Typosquatting According to Antispoofing Wiki, typosquatting is a malicious practice of disguising decoy web-addresses as legit ones. They do so by registering misspellings/variations or hyphenated URLs of the original domain. is a bright example: it targeted PayPal and hijacked some unwatchful people's credentials. Cybersquatting Wherever a company's right for a domain name expires, it can be quickly intercepted by someone else. Alternatively, cybersquatters can occupy domain names to either create a phishing website or sell them to the brand owner at a gargantuan price. A similar case was observed in India, when the dairy company Amul got targeted by the squatters, who used its name in a number of fake domains. 3. Patent infringement Patent infringement refers to copying, distributing, and profiteering from the patent without the holder's consent. And this story is as old as the hills: Albrecht Dürer's patented know-hows were violated 500 years ago by Marcantonio Raimondi. Today it happens even more often. For example Finnish Nokia and China's fifth in popularity phonemaker Oppo have reconciled only recently over the 5G patent disputes. In a company's case a patent can be anything: from a unique almond dough recipe for macaroons to a breakthrough algorithm for backing up data. As long as it's generating revenue, it's a legitimate target for the 'patent sharks'. 4. Honorable mention: Dupes You know a situation when you see a bottle for your favorite soda from a distance, come closer to grab it and then realise… it's a knockoff pretending to be some classic beverage. This phenomenon is known as 'dupe': a deliberate copying of aesthetics, packaging, logo, and other pivotal nuances pertaining to another popular brand. Sadly, duping isn't illegal per se: you can find at least 20 known clones of Coca-Cola sold worldwide. But there are still some ways to fend off the pesky dupes: hosting trade-ins, promoting brand education through social media outlets, performing second-hand resales, and so on. The potential damages Now let's see what the neglected brand protection can entail. 1. Lost profit When a buyer can find a cheap knockoff with your name (or at least a scarily similar logo), they will prefer it over the pricier original in most cases. 2. Damaged reputation Even if you have nothing to do with scamming and phishing, the fact that someone pretended to be you will still leave a bitter aftertaste. Besides, most people really don't like figuring out who is actually to blame and charge at Yelp to spam negative comments. 3. Unnecessary costs Whenever a problem appears — loss of consumer trust or legal violation — a company has to pour in extra finances in litigation or damage control. As a result, the company's profit margin can face a significant shrinkage. So, what to do? Good preparation is half the battle won. And with perfect preparation you may see no battles at all. So, you need to follow these steps to avoid potential brand abuse: 1. Protect the copyright This implies that everything related to intellectual property — product and company names, logos, advertising content — is duly protected with the copyright. In case you have none, your intellectual property will become an easy prey — in the worst scenario, an unscrupulous competitor can steal the intellectual property and have it copyrighted to their name. So, if it happens, according to the letter of the law, it's you who will be the perpetrator. 2. Leave the cybersquatters no chance It can be pricey and tedious, but you still need to claim as many domains featuring your brand name as possible (apart from your main domain). The same strategy applies to social media: register accounts and channels before your company gets enough exposure online. 3. Set a bounty fee In case your company is sought after, you can decrease multiple threats with a simple trick. Invite your clientele, as well as random people, to report all cases of mimicry, counterfeit sales, or scam to you, so you can take further action. This is how Paypal and many other companies tackle fraud. As a reward you can offer discounts, free trials, and other incentives. 4. Optimize the search engine results Rivals can use keywords — including your brand name — to attract customers, while parasitizing on your reputation. If such a company has been detected, you can report them to Google and they will lose their 'toppermost' position in the search results. Another good idea is to invest in search engine optimization (SEO) and bid on your brand's name. This will allow your company to appear on the front page of the relevant search results and prevent customer stealing. Protect the Important
