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I am looking for a word to describe an elegant jewelry case I am building. It hangs on the wall, and looks like it is a framed painting when the door is closed. The word I am looking for would mean something similar to “not what it seems”, could be a musical or theatrical term. Ideas?
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The word I am looking for would mean something similar to “not what it seems”How about camouflage -- which humans copied from nature where it is known as "protective coloration". Nature had long since learned the value of camouflage and had clothed the animals so for their protection. Many examples among insects may be readily called to mind and the concealing coloration of the ground-dwelling birds, such as the Grouse and Nighthawk, is familiar. Whether the same principle can be applied to all birds, including those of brilliant colors might be of some question. We must remember however that the birds are not colored to be protected from us. We have, to some extent, become enemies of theirs, but they were not adapted for that contingency. We must interpret their coloring as far as possible in terms of how their enemies see them or how they see their enemies.http://www.nps.gov/mora/notes/vol10-7a.htmOf course, we all know about chamelons which can change their color. But I remember reading about a moth which looks like a Monarch Butterfly. Apparently, this moth's natural predators do not favor the taste of Monarch Butterflies, so this moth has adopted the costume of a Monarch Butterly to fool its predators. NOTE: This is known as "deceptive colaration" and it's the Viceroy Butterfly I'm thinking of which mimics the Monarch, not a moth. The viceroy and monarch were once thought to exhibit Batesian mimicry, where a harmless species mimics a toxic species. Studies conducted in the early 1990's suggest that the viceroy and the monarch are actually examples of Mullerian mimicry where two equally toxic species mimic each other to the benefit of each. Just goes to show you there's always something new to discover in the natural world!http://www.nhptv.org/natureworks/viceroy.htmSame thing with your framed picture protecting your jewelry, insearchof. However pretty the picture, the real treasure is always inside.* :) It occurs to me that this phenomenon is really the opposite of trompe de l'oeil. Trompe de l'oeil fools us into believing the treasure is on the outside. There is also "disruptive coloration", "aggressive mimicry" and "cryptic mimicry". http://www.nhptv.org/natureworks/nwep2a.htmWe humans seem to learn all our best tricks from lesser species. Maybe we're not as smart as we think we are. :) * BTW this isn't an original thought, so I don't want to take credit for it. In fact, for most people it's so common it's a platitude. A platitude is a lot like trompe de l'oeil, now that I think of it.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Your timing is perfect insearchofaword...Anu gave us the term last week "trompe-l’œil"
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Yes, belMarduck. But what insearchof has described isn't trompe de l'oeil, is it?
Trompe de l'oeil has nothing behind it.
This jewelry box has a framed painting which is actually a framed painting. It's not trompe de l'oeil.
It's just that behind the framed painting, there is something inside. It happens to be a treasure. The framed picture provides a sort of protective coloration for what would otherwise appear on the wall as a vault -- a sure giveaway [of treasure, inside].
Actually, it is more than protective coloration "sort of". It is actually protective coloration. It is a painting which protects the jewelry in the box behind.
The essential thing about trompe de l'oeil, as I understand it, is that it fools the eye into thinking there is depth when there really isn't any depth.
In fact, if you look at a trompe de l'oeil painting from a different angle, the illusion disappears. As Anu explained in his AWAD a week ago Friday, the viewer is supposed to discover that the painting is a 'trick'. That's the whole point of it. On the other hand, the purchaser of insearchof's jewelry box will not think it is any fun if a stranger discovers her jewelry behind the painting. :)
That's why I compared trompe de l'oeil with a platitude [mouthed by a hypocrite*]. If you scratch the surface of a platitude, there is not a trace of it in the person who mouthed it.
* Oops! Never got around to posting the association with "hypocrite". But a truism in the mouth of a hypocrite is a platitude. In the mouth of someone who actually believes what they're saying, it's an aphorism. :)
P.S. to Capfka [re post below].
I did not understand belMarduk to say that insearchof's jewelry box with framed painting was "trompe de l'oeil". I understood her to say that the term "trompe de l'oeil" is relevant to what we are discussing here, if only as a contrast to what we are discussing here, which, of course, it is.
In any case, belMarduk will let us know for sure, I'm sure. :)
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Pooh-Bah
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I think you're right, bel. I doubt if there's a specific word for a jewellery case with a tromp-l'oeil cover; they'd be too rare to be bothered coining one. It sounds intriguing anyway!
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Carpal Tunnel
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Mercurial...chameleonic...
But you want something specific, yes?
There's pentimento, a painting beneath a painting...but you have a case beneath a painting.
Fun problem!
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Fun problem!Like Faberge's famous eggs, Wordwind. :) The story of the jeweled egg started in St. Petersburg in the late 1800's. In keeping with the centuries old Russian tradition of celebrating Easter with three kisses and the gift of an egg, Czar Alexander accepted Faberge's idea of creating a jeweled egg with a surprise inside for his wife. The success of the gift resulted in an imperial commission for a Faberge Egg every year. This tradition was carried on by Alexander's son, Nicholas II, who presented his wife and mother with such eggs until 1917. The Russian Revolution in 1917 put an end to Czars as well as to Peter Carl Faberge'. Each egg Faberge' made was a masterpiece representing 100's of hours of hand-work. Although these imperial eggs bear his name, Faberge' never worked on them. He supervised talented artisans and controlled each step on the commissions, discussing every detail with all the work masters concerned.http://www.michaelsjewelers.com/jeweled_egg.html
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Carpal Tunnel
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Yes, belMarduck. But what insearchof has described isn't trompe de l'oeil, is it?
Trompe de l'oeil has nothing behind it.
This jewellery box has a framed painting which is actually a framed painting. It's not trompe de l'oeil.
Plu, I think trompe-l’œil fits quite well. Anu’s definition did not include a common use of trompe-l’œil, which is something created to look something like else – like the fern I described in my post in Weekly Themes. The pot, which is actually a speaker, is a trompe-l’œil, because it fools the eye into thinking it is a regular pot.
Trompe-l’œil means to mislead the eye. Insearch is making a jewellery box that fools the eye into believing that it is a painting.
Do you see what I mean?
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Trompe-l’œil means to mislead the eye. Insearch is making a jewellery box that fools the eye into believing that it is a painting. --- Do you see what I mean?
Yes, I do see what you mean, belMarduk. One can approach this from many different angles. :)
Still another way of looking at this would be to say the jewelry box is masquerading as a framed painting. This draws the analogy with hypocrite even tighter because, as I just discovered, "hypocrite" derives from the greek word for "actor":
Dictionary.com: [Middle English ipocrite, from Old French, from Late Latin hypocrita, from Greek hupocrits, actor, from hupokrnesthai, to play a part, pretend. See hypocrisy.]
HYPOCRITE
n: a person who professes beliefs and opinions that he does not hold
BTW a hypocrite has a jewel box too. But his jewel box is empty. He may collect jewels of wisdom, but none of them end up in his jewel box.
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