Have you ever wondered what those funny looking symbols on Duncan McClellan’s works are
Duncan took some time to sit down and explain the inspiration behind these symbols and what intrigued him about them.
First off, these are actually Ancient Alchemy symbols. Duncan informed me, as he was flipping through a book on symbols one day, a certain symbol he came across caught his eye. Researching a little further, Duncan found out, that specific symbol was the Ancient Alchemy symbol for “Gold”. That specific symbol caught his eye because he knew it would make a beautiful graphic design. Spending more time researching these symbols, he came across a grouping of them that were elements or processes that could make up the formula for glass. Obviously, this was very interesting to him. Since then, he has incorporated these symbols as “part of the visual fabric ” for his blown glasswork. Here are a few examples of Duncan’s “Alchemy” Series.
Alchemy provided the beginnings of chemistry, and certainly helped to develop the apparati of chemistry. It is part of the history of science, which is the history of human interaction with nature, and humanity’s attempts to harness the power of nature for very human needs and wants. Alchemy began as a form of scientific and philosophic practice in at least two distinct locations. It developed in both Egypt and China, independently of one another. In Egypt, alchemy is tied in with the fertility of the Nile River basin, fertility being referred to as Khem. By at least the 4th century BCE, there was a basic practice of alchemy in place, probably related to mummification procedures and connected strongly with ideas of life after death. Much early information on alchemy was lost when the Christians invaded Egypt and burned the library at Alexandria. According to legend, though, the god, Thoth, was the originator of alchemy in Egypt, and when the Greeks assimilated alchemy into their own practice, Thoth became Hermes-Thoth, who wrote the forty-two books of knowledge, one of which covered alchemy. Hermes’ symbol was the caduceus, serpent staff, which became a primary symbol of alchemy, and eventually medicine. Alchemy would not make an appearance in Europe until the 8th century when Muslims finally brought alchemical knowledge with them to Spain. The first European text to mention alchemy appeared in roughly 1050 CE. and, while Egyptian, Muslim, and European practitioners were certainly interested in the elixir of life, there was a more noticeable focus on creating gold from other substances than was found elsewhere. Gold was perceived to be the perfect metal, with all others being less than perfect. The pursuit of the transmutation of lesser metals into gold was thus also the pursuit of the perfection and transmutation of the human spirit.
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