Pasiphäe

Bound by Nicky Oliver

Pasiphäe - A Play
Golden Cockerel Press
Bound 2016 for the Designer Bookbinders International Competition.

Bound in Hewit's Fair Goat, dyed with leather dyes using a miniature sponge to create a mosaic style pattern. Sewn on tapes. Acrylic wash and gold leaf top edge. Double silk endbands. Suede flyleaves. 22crt gold leaf to front and back boards. Black leather onlays.

Pasiphäe; the immortal daughter of the sun god Helios, wife of King Minos of Crete. Legend has it that her husband displeased the god Poseidon. As an act of revenge, Poseidon cursed Pasiphäe to fall madly in love with Minos' prized white bull. To satisfy her lust for the creature, she employed the services of the great craftman Daedalus to create a wooden cow - so that she could be 'coupled' with the beast. The result of which was the birth of Asterion, better known as The Minotaur. The book when opened reveals Pasiphäe's torso entwined with large golden bull horns. The recessed wooden veneers and vellum represent the cow.

You can see more of Nicky's work on her web site, Black Fox Bindery